Modern Family: Season 2 Episode 1

There's simply not enough praise that can be given to Modern Family. A comedy with a large cast, and yet no weak links or forgettable characters, is one to be applauded.

Season 1 introduced us to the 60-something old man's man Jay Pritchett and his 'modern family'. The show focuses on 3 sub families: Jay's nervous wreck of a gay son Mitchell, his flamboyant partner Cameron, and their adopted Vietnamese baby Lily; Jay's uptight daughter Claire, her dim but nice husband Phil and their three loud-mouthed children; and of course, Jay himself, his feisty (and much younger) second wife Gloria and her precocious son Manny. In short, a lot of people to get to know, and each one just as quirky and funny as the last.

Following in the vein of Arrested Development and The Office, Modern Family is not the most eye-catching, ‘wow-factor’ mockumentary in US TV, but its leisurely pace and casual approach to humour is what gives it its charm. Because of its loose setting and smorgasbord of character relationships to explore, the first year never once came up short of ideas, and the second kicks off to just as strong a start as ever.

All hell breaks loose when Claire and Phil try to take a day trip in an old family car, Gloria becomes jealous when Manny chooses girls over her, and, in what is by far one of the funniest storylines of the series so far, Mitchell tries to build a princess castle for his daughter whilst husband Cameron and father Jay look on in fear, as Mitchell, seemingly unbeknownst to him, wreaks havoc wherever he goes. Look out for a hilarious scene towards the end when Mitchell builds the castle around himself and then gets trapped. It all seems like perfectly simple sitcom scenarios, but the cast of Modern Family can make even the stalest of formulas seem new and heart-warmingly funny.

Although the characters rarely come into contact with each outside of their own sub families, the season premiere serves us to reintroduce us to these wild and wonderful people, and very quickly makes us fall in love all over again.



Airs at 8pm on Thursday 7th October 2010 on Sky1.

> Buy the Season 1 boxset on Amazon.

Reviewed by Joe Copplestone.