"Bringing Up Baby" (Modern Family Spoilers)

We watched the season premiere of Modern Family. 

If a show makes me get all choked up, I judge it as being at least somewhat successful.

That happened for me tonight when Jay reacted to the news of becoming a father.    It's an emotional moment in itself; but I think that it being unexpected made it more emotional.

There was some funny moments, including Jay expressing excessive joy over Cam and Mitch's new kitten.  


He did that because of Claire's instructions.  Someone's going to give you some big news.  Be supportive.

It makes me wonder if his reaction to Gloria was faked.

No...

I don't think so.

But maybe it did influence him.   Maybe it put him in a more positive mood?

As for the rest of the episode....

I loved the jump in time.   That caught me by surprise.

I liked the Mitch and Cam storyline the most for this episode.    The cat stuff was fun.

I wasn't thrilled with the other storylines until it all came together in the end.  

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Modern Family

The 4th season of Modern Family begins tonight. 

I'm excited, but also a little weary.

I loved season 1 and season 2.

I liked season 3 less.

I'm not sure why.

Maybe some of the writing decreased in quality.   Although I guess the Emmy people disagree with me. 

I'm surprised Modern Family won again.  I'm especially surprised that "Baby On Board" earned the show an award.   I didn't see that episode as the icing on the cake of mediocrity.  

There were some episodes that I did like.

"Phil on Wire" was lovely, especially the ending.   I got a bit choked up.

I liked the deep thoughts expressed in "Punkin Chunkin."

I could relate to issues in "Lifetime Supply" and thought that episode was well done.

I thought "Little Bo Bleep" was probably the best episode of the season; not just for Lily's new vocabulary word, but the hilarious references to YouTube. 

I liked "Disney Land".  That had it's funny moments, as well as some touching ones. 

"Express Christmas" was fun, but one scene partly ruined it for me.   It was the scene with Hailey and Claire at Target.  Suddenly Hailey is presented as this master shopper. 

Yes, shopping fits with the stereotype that Hailey represents: popular, beautiful, bad at school, dates a boy her parents don't approve of, picks on siblings, etc.

But prior to that episode, Hailey hadn't been shown as a shopaholic.  Yes, I did assume that as a teen Hailey probably likes shopping, but not to the degree that's painted in that scene.   It seemed forced and out of character. 

It makes me wonder if the writer got confused and thought they were writing for Mallory Keating rather than Hailey Dunphy. 

A part of me wonders if winning awards lessened the quality of the shows.  For the cast and crew....there could be a case of overconfidence and arrogance.  More likely though, it's probably a case of them now feeling too much pressure.  They raised the bar so high in season one and season two.   I think they failed to reach it in season 3.

I hope I'll feel differently about season 4. And if I don't....I wonder whether or not the Emmy people will agree with me this time.  

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