Modern Family: Season 5

This is my fifth post on this show in four years, and my last one basically said, "eh, it's still alright." So this time around let's rank the characters from least tolerable to most enjoyable.

11. Alex (Ariel Winter)

Early on in the show's run, it was cute that the middle child - who was then ten years old - was uptight and angst-ridden and super school-focused. Cute little nerdy kid and all. But now that the character is a high school junior, she's just turned angry and sulky and unpleasant. When a child is the smartest person in the room, it can be adorable. Once that child turns into a grumpy teen, it's just not funny. It's one note and it's grating. The actress, frankly, doesn't help.

10. Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson)

He's the redheaded gay guy, if you're wondering. And he's always been one of my least favorite characters. Generally he's just kind of prissy and unpleasant. No disrespect to the actor, who does what he can with what he's given.

9. Luke (Nolan Gould)

I'll also chalk this one up to the age-old problem of children on long-running sitcoms. A dimwitted eight-year-old is a great supporting character who can make for a nice change of pace in a show whose humor has often been manic. When that kid turns into a deep-voiced slow-talking high-schooler, he becomes both a stereotype and an afterthought.

8. Jay (Ed O'Neill)

You guys remember Al Bundy, right? Anyway, Jay is a man's man with a beautiful young Colombian wife and a gay son he struggles to connect with and a son-in-law he doesn't really enjoy and an adopted kid whose softness drives him up a wall. He's the George, Sr. of this show, and nothing more.

7. Cam (Eric Stonestreet)

He's the larger and more flamboyant half of the gay couple. He's more melodramatic but less all-around shitty than his husband is. I'd have ranked him a lot higher if half of his plots didn't stem from domestic squabbles with Mitchell.

6. Manny (Rico Rodriguez)

The fat Colombian kid has always been an old man in a boy's body, and as such, his character has survived the actor's transition into puberty much better than his counterparts on the show. He's still good for a quip now and again.

5. Claire (Julie Bowen)

She's grown on me. Formerly one of my least favorite characters, she always seemed to get stuck playing the role of the uptight super-mom, acting as a foil to her laid back husband. This year, Claire was often funny and charming and endearing. What's more, not once did I groan or cringe when she was on screen. Kudos to Julie Bowen.

4. Haley (Sarah Hyland)

This has always been a character the writers have had a firm grasp on, and while her younger siblings kind of stopped being interesting on their way into their teenage years, Haley has flourished in the last two seasons or so now that she's out of high school and staring the real world - or at least community college - in the face.

3. Lily (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons)

Yes, somehow, the little Vietnamese baby who was nothing more than a prop in Seasons 1 and 2 has emerged as one of this show's best characters. She probably only gets like three lines an episode, but she's got the highest batting average in the lineup. She's dark, she's witty, she's subtle, and the writers have really figured out how to make one of their biggest liabilities from the first few years of the series into a constant source of gems. I just hope Modern Family doesn't last long enough for Lily to become a teenager and get ruined in the process.

2. Gloria (Sofia Vergara)

It's probably fair to call Sofia Vergara a one-note actress who makes her millions, or however much these actors are getting paid, with the same old formula week in and week out - energetic, high-volume, thickly-accented fast talking with a small dose of physical comedy thrown in for good measure. Yes, most weeks Gloria just kind of stomps around and waves her arms and screams and has large breasts, but honestly, that's good enough to be the second best part of this show.

1. Phil (Ty Burrell)

Phil is the Michael Scott of Modern Family, if we're talking exclusively about the happy and likable Michael Scott from the end of The Office's run. He's fun-loving, he's energetic, he's "dad humor" incarnate, and Ty Burrell just makes it work week after week.

Lastly, some parting thoughts.

• There wasn't nearly enough Dylan this year! Dylan has to be my favorite recurring character on this show.
• Having said that, Adam DeVine had a significant guest role and occupied a similar space, so maybe Dylan wasn't needed this year after all. By the way, holy crap, is there anything Adam DeVine isn't doing these days? In 2013 alone he was in Workaholics, Arrested Development, Modern Family, and Community. I love the guy, but enough is enough! Actually, that's not fair - he played a much more subdued version of his typical role here on an ABC family sitcom. Which makes perfect sense, really.
• This show's biggest underrated strength continues to be its ability to gently work in pop culture references and trope subversions. It's never overt like Community or South Park, but I do get a good chuckle from a well-designed wink at the audience.
• On the other hand, the biggest weakness is still the treacly way the writers tend to wrap up so many episodes. There are episodes that deserve to end with heartfelt montages, for sure, but the recurring gimmick just feels ham-fisted in there most of the time.