Modern Family

The only reason I'm giving 9 and not 10 stars for this brilliant show, is because I do agree with many other reviewers who are saying that it was dragged out too long.

With shows as good as this one we often never want them to end, and neither did the cast and crew it seems after watching the farewell doco... but keeping it going for 11 seasons unfortunately does mean things start to get a bit repetitive and stale.

But in general, I think this show is one of the best comedy sitcoms I've seen in my 38 years. It's easy to watch, hilariously relatable and a nice break from all the extremely graphic blood, gore and sex and that is taking over our screens!

I love the themes of diversity and acceptance that were largely absent in the shows of my childhood, it's great to see these ideas becoming mainstream :)

All in all it's just a wonderful show, great writing, great cast. Loved it :)

The single most amazing thing about this series is that it never got tired or predictable, never got preachy, and has layers that can only be discovered if you watch it more than once. Okay, that is not a single thing. So sue me. But seriously, folks, the writing here is a study in mixing subtlety and the obvious. Every character is carefully developed and you will find yourself wondering which is actually your favorite after a few seasons. Even the guest stars shine, and the sprinkling of celebrities in later seasons must indicate that the show achieved a special status. It is probably not a surprise that Lloyd used to produce Frasier.

Modern Family is primarily a comedy that revolves around three families that are held together more by their virtue of acceptance and love than by the blood ties that connect them. Each character has been thoughtfully written out and played to perfection by a slew of actors who take your breath away. A family that is so imperfectly perfect that you draw the expectations for your own family - present or future - from their actions, morals, decisions and values.

It's a show where an old rich man marries a young woman of colour; where a white patriarchal figure accepts, not without his reservations, his openly gay son and his partner; where a gay couple gets its chance at parenting when they adopt an Asian girl; where we have a teenage pregnancy create the foundations of a loving family; where an old couple decides to give parenting a spin in the second innings of their life; where each child grows up emboldened with the confidence that his family is there to support him/her to become their own person.

What the show does impeccably well is throw societal expectations for a toss to underline only one thing - who we are and choose to be does not dictate the rightness or the wrongness of our being. The only this that does is the purity of our hearts. That is it. One episode after the other, we have the writers create interwoven and hilarious narratives into episodes that break stereotypes and societal conventions to showcase the meaningless of their existence.

Despite the seriousness of the central theme, the show is outright hilarious. It is witty - much too witty to understand every joke, every emotion, every retort in just one watch. The writing is spot on. It makes you live the characters and fall in love with each one of them - one episode at a time. It's made me pause the show because I had to laugh so bad. It has also made me pause to make way for a few tears which flowed without announcement, without purpose. The families, despite their eccentricities and unconventional way of being, are ever so relatable in how they love one another. The only way to truly love someone is to let them thrive in their own choices - that's what I learn from this show - every day.

It's unparalleled what this show has done for the people who were too scared to come out of their closets and the parents who were too scared to have a kid who did. I cannot recommend this show enough. You will feel a myriad of emotions when you truly embrace the depth of the stories and therein lies its beauty.

Give this show a chance. I really kind of watched it against my will, but figured I'd give it a shot. I bet out of a hundred pilots, I would like maybe one - this was that one. I literally laughed out loud at numerous parts - the way that it comes together is interesting / well-done - each couple has an interesting balance - great dialog (IMDB won't let me spell it with a "ue" at the end) - original characters - I'm impressed.

I don't think I've ever seen ABC come out with something in this vein. Normally their shows are a bit watered down, but this is edgy and as fresh as anything I've seen hit network TV. I know that comparisons to Arrested Development will be frequent, but I think that this has more structure. The characters aren't as wacky, but they're more believable and easier to sympathize with in my eyes. Tremendous acting, great kid actors - I forwarded the pilot to a bunch of people already, and I feel lucky that I got to watch it before it came out officially.

'Modern Family' more than deserves to be recongised as not only one of the best comedies of the 2000's, but also amongst the best ever.

Sharply written (by several 'Frasier' alum no less) and wonderfully performed by a fantastic cast, this show was near perfection for its first 7 years.

Like all good shows though it did decline in later years, while of course still being able to come up with exceptional episodes along the way, but the writers did seem to run out of logical new stories and ways of developing the kids when they grew up.

Overall though, this was a fantastic show, and one I will revisit regularly.