My Thoughts On: Modern Family "Go Bullfrogs!"

"I have 3 kids, I've been tired since 2005"

When Julie Bowen won an Emmy for best supporting actress a few weeks back, i was shocked. Not because i don’t think she is a talented actress, but on a show with so many funny characters, Claire Dunphy is usually the straight woman. When she is funny, it’s because she is playing off of the other very funny members of her family. Last night, we see Claire away from her family for the most part, and for the most part the episode did not really work for me. Every storyline seemed very forced, especially hers. The show has fallen into this pattern this year with putting Claire in embarrassing situations and the comedy comes from watching her squirm. The thing is, it’s just not all that funny.

The Phil and Haley storyline seemed like it should have been so much funnier than it was. Sure it had its moments, like Phil attempting to do a cheerleading routine along with the squad, but for the most part, it seemed out of character for Phil to freak out so much. One of the reasons last season’s Good Cop Bad Cop episode was funny because it was Phil playing out of character intentionally. This felt like they were attempting the same thing, but this time it wasn’t part of an inside deal between Phil and Claire, it was just Phil not acting like the Phil that we know

The Manny storyline also felt very forced. I see the comedy in Jay becoming invested in a Spanish soap opera, but again, it just felt very out of place for him. The one saving grace of the episode was the Mitchell and Cam storyline. While i feel like it was a story that we’ve seen before with these two, the 2 actors play off of each other so well that it still seemed fresh to me. I could listen to Eric Stonestreet was nostalgically about pot pies all day.

Not the strongest effort by Modern Family but I feel they were due for a clunker. It’s funny how the episodes that i don’t like always seem to have a very minimal amount of Luke in them.


5 out 10

My Thoughts On: Parenthood "'Tales from the Luncheonette"

"We are business partners here and you just gotta go in there and make good music. Kick ass"


A show with as of an ensemble cast like Parenthood often struggles to balance out the various stories going on in the world of our characters. This usually bothers me a lot. The thing with Parenthood though, is that even when the focus of an episode is on one story, they execute it so well that it really does not get to me. Such is the case with this week’s episode, where Adam and Crosby’s adventures at the new studio are a pretty central focus. Despite NBC's insistence to try and force a judge from The Voice down our throats (Cee Lo Green guest stars) Every scene with the two brothers felt so real and it was nice to see a role reversal here with Adam being the easy going brother and Crosby the one on edge. We are used to Adam displaying his temper (something that we see he gets from Zeke later in this episode) so if they had him be the high strung one when facing the loss of a client, it would have been more of the same. But by making Crosby the one who gets angry and flustered, we not only get to see a new side of Crosby, but we also realize that Crosby is in this with Adam 100% and that he is completely serious about it.

Meanwhile, while not as a big a focus, I appreciated the way the Seth issue played out. Mark, while very unhappy with the role that Seth has taken in Sarah's life, knows that he has to be understanding and that fighting history is a futile effort. It’s very similar to the issues that are going on the in Haddie Kristina storyline. Yes Haddie is very annoyed by the fact that not only does her mom not have time to read her essay, she actually falls asleep right on top of it. She knows though that with a new baby and her dad starting a new company, things are going to change. It’s a common theme in this episode where people show maturity in the face of situations that they may not be pleased with

While i hate the Joel and Julia get a baby from a coffee cart storyline, i can’t end this review without mentioning how awesome Joel continues to be. It seems like the show focuses the least on him and Julia and that just may be because he is so awesome that there really is not any drama on that front. The way he stood up to Zeke in this episode was easily Sam Jaeger's finest moment of the show so far.No new Parenthood next week.  I feel as though the show is in a good place right now and that a one week break is not the worst thing in the world.  Very strong episode.


7.5 out of 10