TMC
05-13-2026, 07:57 PM
https://jacksonupperco.com/2026/05/13/the-ten-best-modern-family-episodes-of-season-one/
Modern Family is ABC’s flagship sitcom from the 2010s, its most popular offering and the show that best represents its comedic efforts during this era. While CBS had Chuck Lorre or Lorre-adjacent multi-cams and NBC was boasting comedically forward workplace/hangout single-cams, ABC’s biggest hits were family-centered single-cams distinguished by an obvious hook (or two). Think: The Goldbergs, Black-Ish, Fresh Off The Boat, American Housewife. And even The Middle, a fellow 2009-2010 freshman that occupied its own niche within this subgenre, especially as a contrast to Modern Family. At the core of each, but primarily Modern Family, is a familiar domestic setup. In this case, a goofy husband, a controlling wife, and three fairly generic kids: ditz, nerd, imp. All stuff we’ve seen before. Yet surrounding them are more interesting, specific dynamics – the hooks that help this sitcom stand out from its competition. The controlling wife’s brother is a gay man raising an adopted child with his life partner, while their father has recently re-married a much-younger Columbian woman with a son of her own. That makes this step-son the adult siblings’ half-brother, despite the fact that he’s much closer to their kids’ age. These are unique, less-common sitcom setups and they earn this show its “modern” moniker, for they eschew the image of the “typical” nuclear family otherwise also embodied inside the show as a contrast. What’s more, both are foundational tenets of the situation, ready to guide individualized comic story. The father’s new family adds relational conflict, while the presence of a gay couple implies its own challenges and therefore narrative fodder. The latter also is, in particular, the thing that makes the show timely, as gay regulars were still fairly novel in 2000s sitcoms. Especially when allowed to be a de facto married couple… living in suburbia… with a kid.
Modern Family is ABC’s flagship sitcom from the 2010s, its most popular offering and the show that best represents its comedic efforts during this era. While CBS had Chuck Lorre or Lorre-adjacent multi-cams and NBC was boasting comedically forward workplace/hangout single-cams, ABC’s biggest hits were family-centered single-cams distinguished by an obvious hook (or two). Think: The Goldbergs, Black-Ish, Fresh Off The Boat, American Housewife. And even The Middle, a fellow 2009-2010 freshman that occupied its own niche within this subgenre, especially as a contrast to Modern Family. At the core of each, but primarily Modern Family, is a familiar domestic setup. In this case, a goofy husband, a controlling wife, and three fairly generic kids: ditz, nerd, imp. All stuff we’ve seen before. Yet surrounding them are more interesting, specific dynamics – the hooks that help this sitcom stand out from its competition. The controlling wife’s brother is a gay man raising an adopted child with his life partner, while their father has recently re-married a much-younger Columbian woman with a son of her own. That makes this step-son the adult siblings’ half-brother, despite the fact that he’s much closer to their kids’ age. These are unique, less-common sitcom setups and they earn this show its “modern” moniker, for they eschew the image of the “typical” nuclear family otherwise also embodied inside the show as a contrast. What’s more, both are foundational tenets of the situation, ready to guide individualized comic story. The father’s new family adds relational conflict, while the presence of a gay couple implies its own challenges and therefore narrative fodder. The latter also is, in particular, the thing that makes the show timely, as gay regulars were still fairly novel in 2000s sitcoms. Especially when allowed to be a de facto married couple… living in suburbia… with a kid.