More than a year ago, I watched the first seasons of Modern Family and Community and weighed in, on the post of the latter, on how I'd compare the two new comedies to one another. I said I had no preference, and admitted that both shows had their strengths but lamented that Community probably wouldn't last very long because of its quirkiness and clever meta references. Now, I look back on that comparison and shake my head in embarrassment and disbelief. While Community spent its second season pushing the envelope and going to all kinds of places sitcom television just doesn't go, Modern Family seemed to pull in the reins a little bit, content with its recognition and ratings or something. At this point in time, I'm watching neither series regularly; Modern Family is no longer something I consider good enough to DVR consistently, and Community has been placed on indefinite hiatus after becoming my favorite show on television. But enough about Community. Let's talk about why Modern Family had such a disappointing second season. At least, I'll try to; I can't quite place my finger on it. The acting was still pretty great (not good enough such that all six adult co-leads deserved Emmy nominations, but whatever) and the overall tone of the show didn't really change much from the first season, which I enjoyed very much (but which I'm strongly considering re-watching in order to figure out what made this show so stale so fast afterward). I guess in the absence of any noticeable gaffes, I'll just chalk the lackluster season up to weaker writing. Plenty of jokes were still plenty funny, but the whole season the show just seemed content to typecast their own characters into different roles as they pertained to the dilemma of the week. Phil is a charming idiot. Claire is a shrill stress ball. Their kids are a ditzy high schooler, an angsty nerd, and an ADHD-riddled idiot. The gay men just snipe at each other. Al Bundy is a grumpy old man. His trophy wife has a great body and speaks with a hilarious accent. Her kid has an old soul trapped in a fat child's body. The whole lot of them just aren't that likable at the end of the day, I guess. Maybe that's the biggest thing with Modern Family. Its characters spend every week fighting with their spouses and dealing with proverbial "white girl problems." There's still humor to be had here, but at the end of the day, I think we want to be laughing with and at people we enjoy, even if they're fictitious and televised. I hope that taking the back half of Season 3 off from Modern Family will allow me to view ten or twelve episodes on DVD a long time from now with a fresh set of eyes and at least some optimism. Until then, though, I'll consider this show to be just another comedy out there that I'm not watching. Too bad, really.
No comments:
Post a Comment