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Modern Family: season 1, episode 8
"Great Expectations"
November 18, 2009 - 09:11p.m.
There's one thing that "Great Expectations" gets exactly right. Anniversary presents given by spouses to each other suffer from an inevitable asymmetry. In my marriage, Noel plays the role of Phil, thinking up interesting and extravagant gift combinations, always ...
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Modern Family: season 1, episode 7
"En Garde"
November 4, 2009 - 09:11p.m.
These last couple of episodes have been a mixed bag. We're seeing, I suspect, an excellent sitcom experiencing the growing pains of a long American season. Tonight there were at least two moments that rank among the best the ...
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Modern Family: season 1, episode 6
"Run For Your Wife"
October 28, 2009 - 08:10p.m.
Something about tonight's Modern Family is a little off, and I think I know what it is -- the confessionals. I haven't minded the confessionals up until now, and I don't think it's a structural problem. But ...
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Modern Family: season 1, episode 5
"Coal Digger"
October 21, 2009 - 08:10p.m.
Where you stand on the Phil question may be an indication of where you stand on Modern Family. Is he Michael Scott without the tie? Or is he the breakout star of this show? Here's a test for you ...
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Modern Family: season 1, episode 4
"The Incident"
October 14, 2009 - 08:10p.m.
Last week I wrote that Modern Family's sense of sky's-the-limit potential arises "not because it's starting from somewhere and going somewhere else -- but because it's got so much territory to explore right where it's plopped ...
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Modern Family: season 1, episode 3
"Come Fly With Me"
October 7, 2009 - 09:10p.m.
Some sitcoms work despite their premises. The faster the constraining "situation" is dropped, the better. But Modern Family is shaping up to be one of those rare comedies that actually derives unexpected humor from its premise. The show promises to ...
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Modern Family: season 1, episode 2
"The Bicycle Thief"
September 30, 2009 - 09:09p.m.
What makes a great dad? Tonight we get a profile in three strategies. Well, not strategies so much as blunders that somehow work out, more or less.
Jay has to be a dad to his young Columbian wife's boy ... -
Modern Family: season 1, episode 1
"Pilot"
September 23, 2009 - 01:09p.m.
It feels like we've seen the premise of Modern Family a dozen times over the last few years. Hey, look at the kooky relationships people are getting into these days! Hey, how are twenty-first centuries kidults coping with kids ...
