Modern Family: Travels With Scout

Posted by: Diana Prano  •  April 29, 2010 @ 2:19pm

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

Need a good laugh? If comedy's your thing, run, don't walk to your DVR, computer or tv and you can thank me later! The writing is stellar and the cast, magnificent! It's one of those perfect shows that is already a modern classic. Modern Family offers a "mockumentary" view into the lives of the Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy family who've agreed to be interviewed by a documentary film crew. They live somewhere in sunny California, where everything is shiny-clean and perfect... until you scratch just below the surface, and you'll be itching for more. Jay, the patriarch lives with his new, gorgeous, Colombian wife and her son chubby, super-sensitive, old-souled son, Manny. Nearby is Claire, his nervous, wants to be the perfect Mom, daughter, her husband Phil and their three children. Also nearby is Mitchell, Jay's lawyer son who lives with his life partner, Cameron and their adopted Vietnamese daughter Lily! We've got the whole mix here. A big, warm, perfectly flawed family that you're going to want to visit every week!

This week, Phil's father shows up unannounced in his RV, with a dog, Scout, he can't keep because of his wife's allergies. This pushes Claire over the edge as usual and she plays both sides, smiling at Phil's Dad, being the perfect wife, while reading Phil the riot act in private. A lot like real life, for me anyway. She tries to get Phil to bond with his father (other than their usual, non-stop, joking repartee) when she catches his father crying like a baby in his RV. She thinks his marriage is in trouble, but really he's crying because he doesn't want to give up the dog, Scout.

Meanwhile, Cameron offers to fill in as a drummer for Hayley's boyfriends' band, eyeliner and all. Mitchell comes home from work and finds a "jam session" in the living room and a strange teenager feeding Lily her bottle. Jay takes Manny to see a horror movie starring an old friend of his son, and now Manny has to sleep in their bed because he's scared to death. When he tries to fix the situation by inviting the actor from the movie over, his broken doorbell makes his actor friend appear at the window with his fake rubber machete, sending Manny over the edge.

The funniest moment by far is the heated debate of Jay and his wife Gloria. Jay explains to Gloria what "real fear" is, "You want scary? When I was his age I lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis. I slept with a butter knife under my pillow in case I had to fight some Soviet colonel." Gloria wants to know, "Why would they come after a little boy?" in her heavy Columbian accent and Jay explains because he would know where the missiles are, which makes no sense. Exasperated, Gloria shrieks, "What are we talking about???" It's a perfect moment!

Other great moments are Cam playing drums at the gig and Mitchell, really getting into the groove after reluctantly agreeing to go. When Cam goes into a 10 minute drum solo, well you can just imagine. Hayley's boyfriend is a treat as well. So many great moments that I watched it twice! I'm obsessed, what can I say?This is the place you're always forgiven and loved, but where they never let you forget who you really are, warts and all. Give this show a look. It's already an instant classic in my house, with DVR priority and repeat, before-bed, nightly viewings, that lull me sweetly to sleep with a smile on my face. You won't be sorry!

Tags: Modern Family, Comedy, sitcom, mockumentary

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