Some shows appear and disappear almost overnight; Others become institutions. Modern family Is in the latter category: More than five years after it finishes, it’s still one of the most watched shows on Disney+ globally.
Modern family Run from 2009 to early 2020, and like every show with so many seasons, it is fair to say that it lost some of its freshness over time: Where Season 1 has a star 100% assessment from the critics of Rotten Tomatoes, the last season – season 11 – only reached 80%. But it is still a much higher rating than many rival sitcoms and there is still much to praise.
Here’s why Modern family is a modern classic and one of the best Disney+ shows – or best hulu shows if you are in the US – throughout the time.
Why this family is worth getting to know
Modern Family Seasons 1-6 (Trailer) – YouTube
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The first season created the prerequisite for the show. An unidentified (for us) movie crew follows Dunphys around to make a fly-on-wall documentary about the extended family: mother and father Claire and Phil and their three children; Claire’s father Jay and his much younger wife Gloria; Jay’s son Mitchell, his partner Cameron and their adopted daughter.
As you can see, the setup justifies the title: This is a thorough modern family, multi-generational, multiracial and inclusive for everyone. And if that was all the show was about, it would probably have been a disaster, preaching and worthy rather than punchy and funny. But the writing team is incredibly sharp, the dialogue and the set pieces are often funny fun, and the role crew is spectacular. And I think its warm and big heart really resonates with people whose screens are increasingly appearing to blow them up with bad news.
The nuclear crew is brilliant, and although some of the characterization comes close to stereotype – the camp Cameron, the edge -hooked Jay, the fiery Gloria – I do not think it has ever crossed from loving to problematic.
(Image Credit: ABC)
You get the real feeling that the authors care about and love the whole crew – and what a role crew it is. Ed O’Neill as Jay, Sofia Vergara as Gloria, Ty Burrell as Phil, Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Mitchell, Julie Bowen as Claire and Eric Stonestreet as Cameron are all lovely. And with the show that lasts so long – almost a lifetime for its youngest stars, most of whom were cultivated adults of the last seasons – got all plenty of time to grow.
The characters are all favorites for me but I think the show was most often stolen by Rico Rodriguez as Manny, the oldest young man ever to exist (and one that I can’t separate What we do in the shadows’ Similarly entertaining Guillermo, played by Harvey Guillén).
NPR expressed it very well and described season 1: “Good acting. Great writing. Human characters played by amazing actors. It can be the one twist network TV hasn’t tried often enough.”
Writing in Salon urged Heather Havrilesky us not to touch that remote control. “Between the snappy writing, great comic instruction and remarkable timing for all the actors involved,” Modern Family “is one of the rare comedies that never feels awkward or corny as it is about to run to a punch line … Laughter and families? These two have not come together on TV on a long time. And Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly loved it too. “Modern family is unique in the way it juggles so many players so deeply and makes each member of the role crew a living, complex character,” he wrote. “Oh, and it’s really fun too.”
All 250 episodes of Modern family are available to stream at Hulu and Peacock in the US and Disney+ in England and Australia.
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