Modern Family (ABC)

It wasn't one of the strongest. Seemed disjointed. But as mentioned, Phil was great.

And Luke had the best line: "Didn't anyone listen to Uncle Menachem's speech?"

 

Granted it wasn't that strong, but it was far from shitty.

 

I thought the Phil stuff was too uncomfortable; I enjoyed the other scenes.

 

I found Cam obnoxious and Mitchell awful and Luke, my favorite character, forced. The end was good all around, but most of the plots took too long to develop and the only one with much humor was Phil's. The show is best when it puts the characters together for things such as garage sales.

Two stray points: How did Alex not know Martin Luther wrote the 95 Theses, and where was Haley?

 

With Alex, didn't the last scene make it obvious she threw the competition because of the pressure her mom was putting on her? That's how I took it anyway. Thinking Haley must have some kind of movie she's also doing or whatever -- she has had the two shows that were about her but other than that hasn't been in this season much.

I thought at first that the Matthew Broderick storyline was forced, but I laughed quite a bit as it played out.

 

I considered Alex throwing the contest, but she's so competitive it doesn't seem possible. I can see what you were getting at, but I thought she was pretty disappointed when she stormed off.

Regarding Haley, I read something that made sense: Apparently this episode was supposed to be before last week's, in which Haley moves back in. But no, I don't think any of the cast members are doing movies. They're being paid an insane amount for the show, so that has to come first.

And I agree entirely about the Matthew Broderick thing.

 

I don't remember the details, but the girl who plays Haley had some sort of health issues. I think that's why they wrote the story about her going off the college then coming back the way they did.

 

She underwent a kidney transplant in April 2012 after a nearly lifelong battle with kidney dyspepsia. She received her father's kidney.

 

I rewatched the episode last night. Verse is right: the stuff with Luke really was forced. But the stuff with Phil still cracked me up.

 

Jesus, that Godfather sequence last night was incredible. Funniest moment of the season (and that's high praise when Jason Mantzoukas enters the comparison). I could barely catch my breath.

 

That homage was quite awesome.

 

The Godfather routine saved what was an otherwise subpar effort. In a season that hasn't been up to standards. They better keep working on the breaking stuff because the fastball is officially toast.