Ye Modern Family hai bhai. Review on ABC Network

Rarely have we found a sitcom that suddenly appears, brain freezes you and makes you guffaw so much that you’re on the floor holding onto your stomach which is literally splitting. Now, Modern Family may not be so much like how I described above, but it comes pretty close.

When I first started watching Modern Family , I had my apprehensions about it. Based on the latest spew of American Sitcoms that have come out on TV, I was not quite sure if this one would hit it off with the audience immediately but I was pleasantly pleased after watching just a few episodes of it.

Like all the major shows, a successful recipe for success that’s a must is an awesome Pilot episode. This one did not disappoint, honestly. What I like most about the storyline, the characters and the enactment of the scenes is that, it honestly does look like a real dysfunctional family. They have their good times, their bad times, their silly feuds, the misunderstandings and the capturing of the most important moments like the graduation of their daughter Alex or Phil’s birthday. Looking at that, you really do know that you’re looking at a preview of how you’re family is and watch it being portrayed perfectly by these characters.

So, here are the characters for you in their hierarchical order.

Jay Pritchett – The Head of the family and the one that kind of rules over everyone and everything. He has his own way of doing things and living his life which is sometimes not understood by his family. He is a loving husband to Gloria Pritchett, an understanding father to Claire Dunphy and Mitchell Pritchett and a kind of a role model to his stepson (Gloria’s son from her previous marriage) Manny.

Gloria Pritchett – Easily the best looker of the lot, Gloria is able to captivate an audience with a lot of ease. A lot of us would definitely fall for her thick Columbian accent and the way her affection for Manny and Lily (Mitchell and Cameron’s adopted daughter) that‘s portrayed throughout the show.

Phil Dunphy – The head of the Dunphy household, Phil is the dream dad for most kids. He has his own style of parenting which is more like peer parenting, in other terms being a friend to your kid rather than a parent. He’s always trying to impress his father-in-law Jay Pritchett who feels that his daughter Claire married a nut but on certain occasions, he shows a soft spot for Phil when he does something unexpected.

Claire Pritchett – Wife of Phil Dunphy and an over-the-top protective mother of Haley, Alex and Luke. Claire does a perfect job of a stay-at-home mom and keeps the entire Dunphy household in check. She’s the perfect wife to Phil and can understand him in her own sweet way which no one else does. At certain occasions, they both step into their Avatars – Julianna and Clive ( watch the series to understand better) and make the viewers go crazy with their antics.

Mitchell Pritchett – The gay son of Jay Pritchett, brother of Claire Dunphy, a partner to Cameron Tucker and co-parent of Lily Tucker-Pritchett, Mitchell is simply awesome. He’s gay and he’s hip. He’s also a very supportive partner when it comes to dealing with Cameron who always thinks that Mitchell is the guy and he’s the girl in the relationship. Mitchell has brilliantly managed to show his brilliant side when it comes to dealing with legal issues (he’s a lawyer) and be the perfect father for his adopted daughter Lily who by the way steals the show on many occasions.

Cameron Tucker – Cameron or Cam as he’s called on the show is the other side of the coin. If Mitchell loves his lawyer stuff, Cameron loves taking care of Lily and being the stay-at-home dad. He’s cool, he’s hip, he sometimes gets on the wrong side of people but he’s like a big lovable teddy bear. He and Gloria mix quite well together who sometimes feel that they both have to bear with their partners (Mitchell and Jay, respectively) more because they’re outsiders who are trying to fit in the Pritchett family.

Haley Dunphy – Haley is the oldest of the three Dunphy children and is a big fan of mood swings. She’s seventeen, has had a few many boyfriends, but is still the popular girl in school and a worry for her mother Claire who feels that her daughter has inherited her devil-may-care wild attitude. There are times’ however when you see the good side of her, like helping her brother and sister cook up breakfast for their parent’s anniversary and allowing her sister to wear her favourite sweater.

Alex Dunphy – Alex is the brainchild of the three. Being the middle one, she is brilliantly smart and able to disguise her motives very well, sometimes to tick off her older sister Haley or to get her brother Luke in trouble. She’s not the popular girl in school mostly because she’s very busy with her projects and assignments and has a very strict discipline when it comes to studies.

Luke Dunphy – The youngest of the Dunphy children, Luke is Claire’s nine year old son who she keeps referring to as her baby . What one realizes after watching a few episodes is that Luke is Phil through and through. The way he behaves on the show is very much like his father and that’s how well the writers have beautifully detailed in this show. Also, they are more like best friends’ which makes them gel well with each other.

Manny Delgado – Manny is a man-child. He’s twelve but he wears clothes like a twenty-five year old. He’s poetic, warm and intellectual. He also feels at times that his weight issues make him less attractive to women who he tries to woo. He has a secret crush on his step-cousin Haley who he tries to sometime advise on relationships and life. He and Jay are at loggerheads at times because of the vast difference in their age and thinking but at times; they manage to work things around. His mother Gloria is always calling him sweetly and he feels that her over-protectiveness about him makes him weak when he tries to impress girls with his charm.

Lily Tucker-Pritchett – The cutest of all the kids on the show, Lily is the adopted daughter of Mitchell and Cameron. She’s Vietnamese and very quiet. Her silence is literally golden. Whenever Cameron gets busy with certain activities, he always turns to Gloria who loves to cradle Lily in her arms and fuss over her. She has a very limited on-screen presence but the limelight is always on her and she’s on everybody’s mind.

In conclusion, I think Modern Family is one of the best sitcoms that have come out in the recent years and it shows just how dysfunctional our families are, but in a sweet way. The whole show is designed in a mockumentary style where the characters talk about how certain things feel to them and how t heir lives revolve around certain events.

My recommendation would be to start watching Modern Family ASAP. It’s one show you definitely don’t want to miss.

Cheers