Yesterday during the ABC Wednesday comedy showrunners panel at the Television Critics Association gathering, Modern Family honcho Steve Levitan made a comment about how he would like to see the “far right” to not like his series’ two gay characters, Mitchell and Cameron. The implication from Levitan’s statement being that everyone has to love Mitchell … Continue reading Love to hate, hate to love: On contemporary comedy’s reliance on bickering
Tag: Sofia Vergara
Wasted potential: On frustrations with Modern Family
The Modern Family pilot is the best comedy pilot of the last five years. It is one of the only great comedy pilots we have seen in that time and this probably holds true going back even further (the only thing I can really think of is the Arrested Development pilot). On a personal note, … Continue reading Wasted potential: On frustrations with Modern Family
2011 Primetime Emmy Predictions: Outstanding Supporting Actor and Actress in a Comedy Series
The 2011 Primetime Emmys are so close! September 18th to be exact. Up until the ceremony airs on FOX, I’ll be working through most of the major categories and discussing who could win, who should win and of course, who will win. I’ll likely be tackling two categories in each post, just so you know. With … Continue reading 2011 Primetime Emmy Predictions: Outstanding Supporting Actor and Actress in a Comedy Series
2011 Emmy Nomination Predictions
I’ve done my wishful thinking, now it’s time to make some last-minute official predictions for this year’s Emmy nominations. As you might notice, this “ballot” is much different than my dream one. This makes me sad, but oh well. I’ll have some reflections on the nominations after they are announced on Monday THURSDAY (thanks to Myles … Continue reading 2011 Emmy Nomination Predictions
2011 Dream Emmy Ballot: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
It’s that time again, folks. The Emmy nominations will be announced on July 14, which means I have almost an entire month to flood this space with hopes, dreams and predictions about what could happen come nomination time. To kick things off, I’ll be bringing back the Dream Emmy Ballot. It’s something I did last … Continue reading 2011 Dream Emmy Ballot: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
2010-2011 season wrap: Modern Family
With the 2010-2011 television season officially over, I’ll be taking some time over the next week or so to look back on how some of television’s best and worst fared this season. General thoughts: Like most of you, I really loved Modern Family in its first season. The series took a number of recognizable family sitcom … Continue reading 2010-2011 season wrap: Modern Family
Modern Family, “Two Monkeys and a Panda”
I haven't written about Modern Family in a while because I felt like I was picking nits. I am fully confident in my opinion that the series has not been as strong here in the second season as it was in its pretty-awesome first, but things aren't so bad on a week-to-week basis, it hasn't … Continue reading Modern Family, “Two Monkeys and a Panda”
Aimless Prognosticating: Predicting the Television Golden Globe Awards, Supporting Categories
Just a note: I'm going to be busy this weekend, so I wanted to go ahead these taken care of here in the middle of the week. I feel like I probably know the answer to the primary question of this post. We all know that the Golden Globe Awards are a crock, especially when … Continue reading Aimless Prognosticating: Predicting the Television Golden Globe Awards, Supporting Categories
Modern Family, “Slow Down Your Neighbors”
I generally have trouble buying in when it comes to high-profile guest stars, particularly in comedies. The constant guest stars in Friends seemed to drag that series down in the later years and we all know the problems with 30 Rock and its constant stream of famous people adding little to the comedy or the … Continue reading Modern Family, “Slow Down Your Neighbors”
TV Surveillance’s Best of 2010: The 25 Best Series, 25-11
2010 has been a fantastic year for television. This year brought us a slew of great new programs and if we include the second halves of all the series that debuted in the fall of 2009 (which I am for these features), we have probably just experienced the best run of newbies since 2004. While … Continue reading TV Surveillance’s Best of 2010: The 25 Best Series, 25-11
Modern Family, “Chirp”
I've been hard on Modern Family all season, but when it is one of the most popular comedies on television, there needs to be some checks and balances to make sure that it isn't being completely awful, stereotypical, racist or whatever. I'm not saying it's only my job to do that, but I think my … Continue reading Modern Family, “Chirp”
Modern Family, “Unplugged”
I've decided to write about the ABC comedies separately this week because I couldn't find any gimmick or theme to shoe-horn them together. And that's mostly because this week's episode of Modern Family is definitely the worst episode of the season and probably one of the two or three worst in the series' short run. … Continue reading Modern Family, “Unplugged”
Modern Family, “Strangers on a Treadmill” and Cougar Town, “The Damage You’ve Done”
Having a deep ensemble of comedic performers is almost always a positive thing for any sitcom (or drama, for that matter). Obviously, putting together a cast full of humor-producers is better than relying on a few lead horses because it allows the series to rotate the focus on specific characters, concoct new pairings and develop … Continue reading Modern Family, “Strangers on a Treadmill” and Cougar Town, “The Damage You’ve Done”
Modern Family, “Earthquake” and Cougar Town, “Makin’ Some Noise”
I've been tough on Modern Family this season, both on the blog and in discussions with friends and family. Though I liked last week's episode, it still bothered me in some ways and the season premiere was particularly problematic and frustrating to watch. But this week, I'm going to try to be more positive because … Continue reading Modern Family, “Earthquake” and Cougar Town, “Makin’ Some Noise”
Modern Family, “The Kiss” and Cougar Town, “Let Yourself Go”
Ed note: I've been away at the 2010 Flow Conference, so posts have been delayed. I'll be catching up with a few of last week's series in the first few days of this week. Just like my write ups on FOX's Tuesday comedy block, I seem to enjoy writing about ABC's Modern Family and Cougar … Continue reading Modern Family, “The Kiss” and Cougar Town, “Let Yourself Go”