Analysis

Modern Family

Everyone loves watching a good comedy, and everyone especially loves watching one they can relate to. The show Modern Family is a perfect example of  this type of popular comedy. This show has been generating laughs for several seasons now, and continues to become even more popular, winning the Emmy Awards for best comedy 2 years in the row. The Modern Family producers create a comedic spin on family problems that any family can relate to. They cover a broad spectrum of topics from sports, family, dating, and politics. During an episode, there seems to be one overlying problem, with a bunch of spin off problems related back to the main problem. In many episodes the main problem was hiding an underlying problem or issue, and then the characters try to resolve it. We have all done this at one point in time. Something happens in our life that we want to cover up or keep from somebody else. In season 2 episode 13, “Caught in the Act,” the characters in Modern Family learn about problem solving by working through their issues in learning life lessons by covering up a problem, lying and then finding a solution.

Once a problem occurs, it can be hard to overcome. The episode starts out as Haley, Alex, and Luke all made a nice breakfast in bed for their parents for their anniversary. When the kids opened the door, they saw a little more than they wanted. They dropped the tray of freshly made pancakes and covered their eyes. They were all in disbelief of what they just saw. Claire becomes angry at Phil for not locking the door and gets upset that the kids saw them in the act of love making. Phil seemed not to be as worried, but on the other hand Claire was upset because she experienced a similar incident when she was a little girl. She had the same reaction and was "scarred for life". This was a problem she knew they needed to fixed. As a viewer, relating to this situation or one similar is easy to relate to. Everyone has a time when that they messed up and somehow it needed fixed. In the episode, Claire and Phil ended up trying to resolve the issue by having the infamous family meeting. Even though family meetings are gathering that nobody wants to have, the problem must be met head on. The embarrassment for Claire and Phil will always be there, but it is nothing they can't overcome.  The lesson learned is to overcome your fears and embarrassments and get back to a normal life. Writers Levitan and Richman aim at families to come together to solve their issues. Solving as a team leads to a better outcome. “We need a game plan, we need to map out exactly what we are going to say, because that is the only way I will be able to hold it together while our babies look at us with judgment and disgust”(Levitan and Richman). Figuring out the right game plan to resolve the problem most efficiently, and dealing with the issues involved allow everyone in the family to move on with life without being permanently scarred.

Lying about a problem is no good for any situation, but just trying to "cover up" is just as bad. Mitchell and Cam were at a friend's home for a play date for their daughter, Lily, when they end up spilling red juice on expensive, white, hand woven carpet.  They were in complete panic and had no idea what to do. “We are beyond blotting and rubbing, we've moved on to sweating and crying” (Levitan and Richman). Their first instinct was to move the furniture slightly so all the red stain would be covered up. However once the homeowner came back into the room, Mitchell and Cam couldn't keep it together. The gut retching feeling when  trying to keep back a lie. They couldn't keep from sweating and thinking about what just occurred. It got really funny when they kept talking and all their answers related to the spill in the carpet. For a viewer, it was hilarious, while to the homeowner it wasn't so funny because she had no idea what happened. Finally, the pressure mounted to the point and they both cracked. They couldn't keep it in and started going on a funny rant about the spill and how sorry they were. They were nearly pushed to tears offering to pay for the carpet, but the joke was on them. The homeowner wasn't mad. She started cracking up and saying, "this silly old thing, that can be fixed in no time" (Levitan and Richman). They were relieved at the homeowner's reaction. In this scene, the message was to just tell the truth. Covering up  a mistake is not the best way to deal with your problems. Do the right thing and tell the truth. The person may not even be mad, like this situation.  In addition, the person will have a greater level of respect for you, and the problem can be easily fixed. Knowing how to approach a similar situation like this one will be easy from now on. Do what’s right, tell the truth, and everything will be alright.

Jay and Gloria also had to deal with solving their own problem. Gloria gets upset at Claire in the previous episode and writes a nasty email to Claire. Jay tries to stop Gloria from sending it. Jay decided he would re-write the email in a much more professional manner. But accidentally, the message ends up being sent to Claire. “It's sent! Please come back” (Levitan and Richman). Jay races over to try to delete it by acting like he needs to use Claire's computer to delete a picture that was sent, but he was really trying to delete the nasty email. It was funny as Jay was trying to get the computer password out of Claire, but she was too frazzled about what the kids saw in their bedroom. The irony of the whole situation made it very funny. Gloria then races over to apologize to Claire for everything and says it happened to her and a friend too. Claire thinks that she was talking about the kids walking in during their lovemaking, but she was really talking about the sent email. The situation became real awkward, real fast. Once Claire realizes why Jay came over the family fighting began. All the episodes tend to end in a way where the whole family comes together and the main issue of the episode gets resolved. Once all the family comes together, they all realize that they are all hiding something and/or been in similar situations. It then dawns on them that they should rely on each other and help one another. They realize that they don't need to hide their problems or try to cover them up. Working together as a family to resolve all their personal problems, will help everyone in the future to deal with their own issues. Everyone becomes happy and knows that all their problems can be resolved, and all they need is family support to get it done.

Modern family continues to feature family and life problems that any average person will face with during their lifetime. There is so much we can learn and apply in our own life while getting our daily laughs. Its popularity continues to attract new viewers and now nightly. Watching  Modern Family teaches us how we should live our lives. Viewers never knew how much learning can be done from just a half hour comedy episode, but it is full of life lessons that can last a lifetime.

Works Cited

“Caught in the Act.” Modern Family Writ. Steven Levitan and Jeffrey Richman Dir. Michael Spiller ABC. WSYX  Columbus, 19 January 2011. Television