Modern Family

I'm not sure if everyone has been enjoying the new sitcom Modern Family on ABC. I know Katy and I sure have! If you have not been watching, you really should. It kind of showcases the love and dysfunction that most families deal with, but with a lot of laughter. Ed O'Neil plays the patriarch of the family, who has recently married a young 30-something latina bride who has a son who is about 10 years old. O'Neil has a grown son and daughter. His daughter is married to a bumbling but well meaning man. They have three children, two teen daughters and one son on the verge of becoming a teenager. O'Neil's son is gay and has a life partner. The couple also recently adopted a Korean infant.

I remember watching the first episode and thinking it was pretty funny. It was not until the end of that first episode that I realized the show was about one extended family and not three separate families. I guess I can be a little slow on the uptake. Now I think it is even funnier because of the extended family.

Phil, who is the husband of O'Neil's daughter and father of their three kids is really the whole reason for the blog tonight. He cracks me up more than anyone else on the show. He is a great father and husband to his kids, but he also thinks he is very hip. In one episode he went in to talk to his oldest daughter about a problem she was having. He said to pretend he was just a buddy from school that she was talking to in a juice bar or malt shop. Her cell phone rang and it was obviously a friend calling to see what she was doing. She responded with "just talking to some dork I met in a malt ship."

Tonight's episode was a rerun, but nonetheless hilarious. The two youngest children on the show were collecting bottles to take to school to help earn money to send to Africa to build a school there. They came in the house with a couple of boxes and bags of liquor bottles, excited that the neighbors who had a wild party were so willing to give up their empties. As they passed Phil in the hall his daughter said "Dad, what's Jagermeister?" His response was golden. "Um, well, you know how in a fairy tale there's always a potion that makes the princess fall asleep and then the guys start kissing her? Well this is like that except that you don't wake up in a castle, you wake up in a frathouse with a bad reputation." Exceptional parenting Phil.

I kind of imagine this is what I might be like as a dad someday. Loving? Yes. Bumbling? Probably. Standing by with outdated and perhaps inappropriate advice? Always. Thanks for the laughs Modern Family. Entertainment and Education. Priceless.