One of the things I love about Modern Family is that it’s not only quotably funny, it’s situationally funny. Like tonight, for instance — I roared with laughter through the entire cold open, but I couldn’t pick a quote from it, because it wasn’t the lines that made me laugh, it was the situations the characters were in.
From Phil getting manhandled by Jay (while he was enjoying Gloria and Claire hugging far too much), to Cam shooting the film, to Haley rubbing the battery on her head, there’s something special that happens when the entire extended family interacts. Therein lie the situations.
You want quotes? Let’s break it down to pairs of characters, because that’s where the rich quotes happened tonight.
Mitchell and Cameron, discussing Mitchell’s resentment for Claire:
“And Mitchell is still upset because Claire quit the team right before some meet.” – Cam
“Some meet? The 13-and-under regional championship. Just the Emerald City at the end of my yellow brick road.” – Mitchell
“Oh, you did it.” – Cam
“What?” – Mitchell
“You made figure skating sound even gayer.” – Cam
Maybe your favorite was the classic Phil line, when he was discussing sports with Luke:
“Last year you said basketball was going to be my sport.” – Luke
“Look, I’ve said a lot of things I wish I could take back, but I can’t.” – Phil
No one sticks it in his mouth quite like Phil.
And then there are the lines they sneak in, when you least expect it:
“It doesn’t matter to you because you had your own moments…. You had cheerleading and high school plays and making out with the quarterback….” – Mitchell
“Oh come on, you made out with him too.” – Claire
“Yeah, but we had to keep it a secret.” – Mitchell
The comedy in Modern Family is so well-rounded, from the situational to the quotable. There’s definitely a moment in every episode for everyone to relate to and subsequently laugh at. And I think I laughed out loud in this episode even more than usual.
Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Nov 04, 2009 @ 22:08 EST5EDT
“Guilt fades. Hardware is forever.” – Jay