So, we're watching Modern Family and I'm halfway through Season 1.
S1E13 Fifteen Percent
Jay still has trouble with his son being gay and introduces Cameron to his friends as a 'friend of his son'. To get back at his father, Mitch tells Jay that his friend Shorty (Chazz Palminteri) is gay. (He's not.)
Manny is preparing to meet a friend he met online... only for her to be an adult woman.
Claire is having trouble with the technology stuff in their house. So to prove that it's not that hard, Phil teaches Haley how to use the home theater system.
Rating: 7/10
Thoughts:
Sweet Dylan. The smart (perverted) was not to say anything to Claire. Anyone else would have just let Claire keep walking around in underwear.
This Whitney girl basically falling for a kid... then later for a gay man. Awww.
To me, Jay is trying. Like Mitch said, his dad is growing... but not too much. Do I agree with the fifteen percent? Not really.
S1E14 Moon Landing
Haley broke up with Dylan. Claire is meeting with an old friend of hers (Minnie Driver). At first, Claire thinks that Valerie is jealous of her, but it turns out that her friend is pitying her. She begins to rethink her life when she shows Valerie her house except they're having one of their days where everything is chaotic.
Jay and Cam play racquetball together, and while changing, their butts touching. "Moon landing."
Gloria is hiring Mitchell as her lawyer because of an incident. It turns out Gloria is a bad driver and nobody is willing to tell her.
Rating: 6/10
Thoughts:
I don't blame Claire for that meltdown.
Touching butts with your boyfriend's father is mortifying. It reminds me of that episode in Friends when Chandler sat on his father-in-law's naked lap.
I'm starting not to like Dylan. But teenagers gotta teenagers, I guess?
Being a bad driver is only funny in a sitcom.
S1E15 My Funky Valentine
And Haley and Dylan are back together again.
Jay is taking Gloria to a comedy show even if Gloria wants to go salsa dancing. Jay finds the guy funny until the comedian (David Brenner) starts making fun of him.
Claire and Phil are in a hotel for Valentines Day and they try out roleplaying as Juliana and Clive Bixby, who are both married, and are about to have an affair. It works and things go well... until they don't.
Mitchell is stressing about work when Cameron wants to be romantic. Since Jay and Gloria are going out, Cameron volunteers to look after Manny. Mitchell ends up helping Manny and himself.
Rating: 8/10
Thoughts:
Phil has his moments of crushing on Gloria but it's pretty clear that he's in love with Claire. He's really smooth.
I must have missed it but what kind of lawyer is Mitchell? Environmental law specialist?
The look in Cam's eyes implies he wanted Mitchell to do something to help Manny.
Gloria and Claire are obviously friends now that they got the gold digging thing out of the way.
I wouldn't have thought Claire would be going with that kind of roleplay though. She's obviously a control freak so...
S1E16 Fears
The opening where the family reveals their fears... also reveals their personality.
Haley is about to take her third attempt to get a license.
Alex is nervous about her school dance.
Phil and Luke try to see what the "collection" is under their house.
Cam invites Lily's pediatrician Dr. Miura (Suzy Nakamura) for brunch. Lily finally says her first word... "Mommy."
Manny doesn't want to go to a party, which takes place at an amusement park. Gloria tries to make him face his fear of roller coasters.
Rating: 6/10
Thoughts:
It's pretty sad that Manny's fear is dying alone.
Do American teenage girls really think everything is out to get them? or just Haley?
Being invited for brunch by a patient's parents is weird.
Oh is the stereotype Asian women are bad drivers?
I cannot make myself go into a small dark space. I'm claustrophobic.
S1E17 Truth Be Told
Phil's old girlfriend Denise (played by Judy Greer) is in town. Claire tells Phil that Denise is probably reconnecting just so she could make a move on him. To prove her wrong, Phil invites Denise to their home... and quickly realizes Claire is right.
Jay accidentally kills Manny's turtle. Not wanting to make the same mistake by owning it, he lies to Manny. Obviously, Gloria is not pleased and tries to make Jay tell Manny the truth.
Mitchell is called to work on Saturday. Frustrated, he ends up venting about his boss to Cameron while waiting for the green light... and said boss coincidentally ends up in the next lane.
Rating: 8/10
Thoughts:
We know by now that Phil is the "cool" dad: fun, spontaneous, lives life in the moment, unconventional. Which is why it's a little surprising to know he dated Denise and Claire at the same time (There was an overlap, he said.)
Cameron supporting Mitch's spontaneous decision is sweet.
Are you really siblings if you don't tell them they're adopted?
S1E18 Starry Night
Claire is freaking out because her kids are being her kids again. Luke has a project he hasn't done, and Haley needs 40 cupcakes.
Mitchell is seeing his usual meteor showers with his dad (which is something they could do together - which is rare), but to his surprise, Manny is tagging along.
Which leaves Cameron to hang out with Gloria. Cam is desperate to make it right with Gloria after having a huge faux pax with her weeks ago.
Rating: 9/10
Thoughts:
Does Jesse Tyler Ferguson have a cold in this episode? Because it seems like it. It wasn't mentioned that Mitch has a cold or did I miss it?
I'm also wondering now. Phil has to be a big shot realtor to support his family with three kids in Los Angeles on his income alone since we know Claire is a housewife.
Also the possibility of him and Luke having ADHD has been obvious from the start. Even Haley has tendencieis.
We rarely see Manny interacting with either Mitchell or Claire, so this is nice.
SE19 Game Changer
It's Phil's birthday. All he wants is an iPad, but Claire fails to buy him one.
Jay is gifting Phil a Rosewood chest set and plays Manny. Since Jay is a sore loser, Gloria tells her son to let Jay win. Manny does at first, but Jay's constant condescending comments irk Manny and he crushes Jay in a few moves.
Mitchell and Cameron think there's a man in Lily's room, but it was actually one of their neighbors on the baby monitor. Cameron decides to meddle as always, and Mitchell is frustrated that he froze when he thought his baby was in danger and goes to Jay for help.
Rating: 7/10
Thoughts:
The whole iPad thing is sort of childish, but Claire did volunteer to get him the iPad. Phil was already planning on getting it himself and falling in line to get it. Claire didn't follow through on what she promised. When I have crappy days, sometimes when I really want something and then I don't get it, I just feel waves of disappointment, so I kind of get it.
Apparently Ed O'Neill really knows Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and this is him showing off.
Hmm Gloria being the sore loser after all feels a little hypocritical to me but this is a sitcome and she's hot, so...
S1E20 Benched
Mitchell and Cameron are having a hard time with their new arrangement. Mitch cannot stand staying at home and Cam cannot stand being away from Lily. Knowing his son is probably going insane staying at home, Jay insists he call his golf buddy Charlie Bingham (Justin Kirk) for a job.
Luke and Manny have a really mean basketball coach. When Phil and Jay confront the coach, the coach quits on the spot. Jay takes over coaching even if he only coached football and disregards Phil, the actual guy who coached basketball.
Meanwhile, Gloria and Claire have to deal with Manny and Alex not wanting to be seen with them.
Rating: 7/10
Thoughts:
I think my favorite moment is Mitch saying "...while I get to stay at home and plot the death of Dora the Explorer."
Okay, I'm starting to think that most of Mitchell and Cameron's storyline problems could be resolved by just simply talking to each other. Both of them suck in this episode.
S1E21 Travels with Scout
Frank drops in on the Dunphy family with a companion. Claire suspects something is wrong with her father-in-law, and she tries to convince Phil to make Frank talk to him.
Jay meets an old classmate of Mitch, who is now an actor. So Jay takes Manny out to see the movie... which is actually a slasher horror movie. Now Jay and Gloria have to deal with a traumatized Manny.
Cameron volunteers to help out Dylan's band as a drummer for a night. Obviously this is something that they didn't talk about.
Rating: 7/10
Thoughts:
Well Dylan is a good singer, I'll give him that.
Now that we know Frank a bit more, easy to see why Phil is the way he is.
Claire inevitably loved that dog. We all knew it.
I'm on Cam's side this time. He needs a hobby. Except for that predictable diva thingy. So Mitch 2 - Cam 1.
And then he says he wants to go on tour with the band all of a sudden. Nu uh. So Mitch 3 - Cam 1.
S1E22 Airport 2010
Gloria and Jay are heading to Hawaii for Jay's birthday.
Of course, the whole family is coming with them. But since this is the Pritchetts, of course there needs to be a little more shenanigans first:
Claire is nervous about flying on the plane with her kids.
Mitchell and Phil have to go back for Mitch's wallet.
Dylan is stuck inside the Dunphy house.
Haley thinks she's meeting her soulmate at the airport.
Manny is mistaken for another Manny Delgado, who is on the no fly list.
Jay is definitely not amused now.
Rating: 8/10
Thoughts:
WHY WOULD YOU SCHEDULE A PLAY DATE AN HOUR BEFORE YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE AIRPORT? If I was Mitch I'd be strangling Cam because why?! So it's Mitch 4 - Cam 1.
Yeah, where exactly do they think Gloria's money comes from?
S1E23 Hawaii
The family arrives in Hawaii.
Jay is greeted by his brother, who reminds him that their father died at Jay's current age now. Scared by the prospect, Jay starts working out and does a lot of physical activities to Gloria's chagrin.
Since they didn't have a wedding, Phil is determined to take advantage of the vacation and turn it into a honeymoon for him and Claire.
Mitchell wants to do a lot of activities but Cam doesn't.
Manny and Luke argue since Luke is a messy roommate and Manny wants to be organized.
Haley tries to drink (for the first time?).
Rating: 9/10
Thoughts:
Phil... we can see your wallet in your back pocket.
The ending is pretty sweet. Jay finally got to walk his daughter down the aisle.
S1E244 Family Portrait
Claire wants a family photo of their large mixed family. Of course, Claire being Claire, she wants it to be proper and perfect. Jay is soon annoyed by this, and in the end they get into a mud fight, which stains their clean white outfits. The family takes photo that are true to their wacky spirit, which Claire admits she likes more.
Earlier that day, Phil, Gloria, Alex and Manny go to a Laker's game. The kisscam shows both of them. Phil refuses, but Gloria think it's not a big deal and kisses Phil.
Luke has to interview Jay about his life in the 60s for a school project.
Cam is invited to sing at a wedding. Mitch hates small talk so he stays at home with Lily... only to be attacked by a vicious pigeon. Jk.
Thoughts:
IT'S KOBE! KOBE BRYANT!
Phil talking about the Kiss Cam is pretty funny now in 2025 after that whole Coldplay thing.
And even if he had a huge crush on Gloria, Phil is basically nervous the whole episode.
Mitchell is the second character I've seen who is scared of birds. The first one is Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory.
Final thoughts:
Overall, I like it. Nothing too crazy. It's funny.
My favorite character... would be Jay. Maybe I just miss my grandpa?
Favorite episode would be the Hawaii episode. I don't know, I just find that vow renewal ending sweet.
The Dora the explorer quote still cracks me up. I don't know why. I grew up watching Dora. There were so many times I wanted to plot her death too because why you gotta take so long to get to your destination, beech?
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