Is “Modern Family” really that good?

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:26:00 +0000

A week and a half ago, “Modern Family” cleaned up at the Emmys, winning best supporting actor and actress in a comedy, best comedy direction and best comedy for the third year in a row. By the end of the telecast, which also included a funny sketch pretending that the child actress who plays Lily is a bratty little diva, it felt like a big party thrown in “Modern Family’s” honor. But as the series begins its fourth season — it premiered last week — “Modern Family” is not the sitcom it once was. Its Emmy victories obfuscate the mean streak running through all the feel-good family comedy.

It’s easy to see why Emmy voters love “Modern Family”: It is neither tragically hip nor unhip. It splits the difference between the old-fashioned, retrograde, popular, anti-wit sitcoms CBS specializes in and the edgy, niche, boundary-pushing, low-rated comedies that the Internet is obsessed with (“Parks & Recreation,” “Community,” “Girls,” “Louie”). “Modern Family” is old-fashioned yet socially liberal, well-watched but actually funny. It’s not particularly innovative, but it is also not “Two and a Half Men.”

Salon.com > julie bowen

Is “Modern Family” really that good?