Previewing Modern Family

Just looking at the cast alone, Modern Family would be worth watching. At least I am tuning into anything that involves both Al Bundy and Carol Vessey. Throw in Sofia Vergara who was hilarious on the under-appreciated Knights of Prosperity and you have a pretty decent cast. And bonus as the writing is plenty funny with plenty of fall of the couch laughs even though not all the jokes work. Case in point in the promos where Carol’s family tries to find a time as to punish the kid. Luckily that is the least funny part of the pilot (which makes you wonder what ABC’s promo monkeys were thinking).

The show follows three families around documentary style which, yes, is used in The Office, but Modern Family is a different kind of funny as fake camerman are much more competent to the point you sometimes might forget it is supposed to be a reality show if it were not for the interviews. And the “cast” seem much more comfortable with the intrusions with only “friend” that comes over is the only one that even does a double take with the cameras around.

Family number one is headed by Al Bundy, who seems to be going through a mid-life crisis which lands him a wife that speak inaudible English (Vergara) and her son. Family two is headlined by Vessey and Ty Burrell (Black Hawk Down) who are trying to raise three kids who may end up rivaling Louise Brooks as the most entertaining kids on television. Burrell seems to be the weak link on the show as a dad who tries to hard but I may have been as mortified as his kids at his dance sequence during the episode.

The third family is a pair of gay homosexuals that adopt a Vietnamese daughter an bring new meanings to the words creampuffs. Jesse Tyler Ferguson (The Class) is the straight man of the couple, so to speak. While Eric Stonestreet (CSI) will be battling the kids as to who will be the breakout star of the show and thanks to him I won’t be able to see The Lion King in the same way.

Modern Family airs Wednesdays at 9:00 on ABC. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Modern Family on iTunes.