I found this over at TWoP and thought I would bring it over here:

http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/01/13/why-modern-family-is-good-not-great/

I think the best comparison for MF that I’ve heard, from a couple of people including Justin, is Wings. Especially since both its creators, Chris Lloyd and Steven Levitan, were longtime Wings writers. There was a show whose writing had all the “quality” benchmarks in place, assembled an excellent cast (including Tim Daly, Steven Weber, Tony Shalhoub and Thomas Hayden Church), and was almost always enjoyable to watch, just as Modern Family is — for me — usually enjoyable. But it never added up to more than a pleasantly enjoyable show, easy to watch and forget. The characters were all recognizable as stock types delivering their well-written stock lines in stories that were well-crafted but unsurprising. Wings appeared at a time when there were lots of really good, surprising comedies on the networks, so it was generally regarded as a middle-of-the-pack show. If it came back as a new show today, it might be regarded differently, but it might not deserve it, even now.

I never could understand why Wings wasn't more of a hit. I like it a heck of a lot better than some of the more popular shows of that era.

I don't get Modern Family at all. I tried and found it trashy and unfunny.

Hello there, yes I wonder too why wings never hits even here in Holland, I like wings more than any other sitcom, and here every day Ned and Stacey is on, OMG what happened with THC, he's trying so hard to be funny, but he's not.I miss THC as a Lowell, see, everybody knows him as Lowell, the mecanic and I see Tim Daly also in other tv series Private Practise, Tim Daly is amazing tv actor, I find his performance on Private Practise not so banging, I have dvd of Soprano, thats really super acting of TD, I really missed wings, it is a good show if you all read Steven Weber blogs, some of the comments asks him about wings about Brian Hacketts, but he never return to answered back. I read Ken Levine blogs too, one of two he's post about wings and mentioned how wonderfull Crystal Bernard is, I hope she come back to make a flim or music, or maybe she can be one of the judge of US X Factor ( a program like America Idol's but more selective)

If Wings wasn't a hit, it sure wouildn't have lasted 8 seasons........

Sure it wasn't a mega hit, but it had a good following and still does. How many shows can we say that about?

It must have been somewhat of a hit as long as it ran. I think it is one of the best.

Wings was a funny show, better than most of the comedies today. It had to be doing something right to run for eight years. Not into MF, but I do love The Middle. :)

A while back on Ken Levine's blog he pretty much outed Thomas Haden Church as kinda a loud, overbearing douche and there are Conan clips with Thomas and Norm MacDonald that pretty much confirm his rather obnoxious (and unfunny) personality.

I don't get it, since when is a sitcom running 7 years not a hit? I agree though I really didn't like Lowell, although on some episodes he was pretty funny as long as he was in the background and I don't like actor Thomas Haydn Church either. Since they've started rerunning it on Reelz Channel I'm watching it as much as I can. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it, it's a very funny show.

Ed.

It's a simplistic show, not as heavy as Frasier or Cheers, which are it's counterparts.

The small town setting gave it a nice, small, welcome feeling. But if you blink, you'll forget all about it.

Wings was a great show, forgettable depending on what you want from it, most of what you said is valid but

Cheers was about jerks and losers, Frasier was about sophistication and what it takes to be happy, there was a weight to them and the issues. The deepest Wings ever got was the Hacketts, dreams and stress characters went to, it was like the everyman show, it seemed like the toughest show to explain of the three but also the most satisfying as they made every season different in some way.


Wings reminds a bit of the class comedies of the 60-80s rather then the 90s, Three's Company, I Love Lucy,

Ironically Wings is the least Farcical of the three shows,

I found this over at TWoP and thought I would bring it over here:


I think the best comparison for MF that I’ve heard, from a couple of people including Justin, is Wings. Especially since both its creators, Chris Lloyd and Steven Levitan, were longtime Wings writers. There was a show whose writing had all the “quality” benchmarks in place, assembled an excellent cast (including Tim Daly, Steven Weber, Tony Shalhoub and Thomas Hayden Church), and was almost always enjoyable to watch, just as Modern Family is — for me — usually enjoyable. But it never added up to more than a pleasantly enjoyable show, easy to watch and forget. The characters were all recognizable as stock types delivering their well-written stock lines in stories that were well-crafted but unsurprising. Wings appeared at a time when there were lots of really good, surprising comedies on the networks, so it was generally regarded as a middle-of-the-pack show. If it came back as a new show today, it might be regarded differently, but it might not deserve it, even now.

Chris Lloyd and Steven Levitan were writers on Wings for 2-4 years, wasn't that thrilled about what they said about Wings on emmylegends interview, they both seemed to treat Wings as a springboard for there career rather then a show they cared about.

Dave Hackel and Ian Gurvitz seemed to be the real heart of Wings who ended up working together on another amazing show, Becker, it rivaled Frasier for a few years.

Wings had a very familiar structure with its cast. Very similar to Seinfeld, I love Lucy. Like Wings, these shows had one normal character.. ie Jerry Seinfeld, Ricky Ricardo, and Tim Daly. They were surrounded with the abnormal. ie: Elaine, Krammer, Geoge... Lucy Ricardo, Fred and Ethyl Mertz, Wings had Lowell, Brian, Faye Antonio... It works.. and it's funny. I'm very happy to see that the sitcom is alive and well with the success of "how I met your mother" and "The Big Bang Theory" great sitcoms (like Wings) with class and style.

It was Cheers at an airport.

Wings is much better than Modern Family.

Wings is much better than Modern Family.I agree there. I always thought Wings deserved more than it got.

I've always been a fan of Wings and I agree with most people on the boards about it being a lot better than Modern Family or most of today's sitcoms in general.

Obviously, the article's writers was/is on crack.

I'm a die-hard "Wings" fan, but I've recently come to watch "Modern Family," and I think it's terrific. Sharp writing, superb acting. But it touches on real subjects, and for me, "Wings" was a beautifully wrought, sweet sitcom.
It got me through some awful times in my life (don't know that MF could do that, although I hope it won't have to!), and I'll continue enjoying it over and over.
I even got a chance to go to Nantucket one summer, and will never forget how the show captured the charm and ambience of that sleepy town on a Hollywood lot. Was surprised that The Club Car is a real thing! :)

I thought it was better than Cheers.