Modern Family
Modern Family | |
---|---|
File:Modernfamily.PNG | |
Genre | Situation Comedy Mockumentary |
Created by | Christopher Lloyd Steven Levitan |
Starring | Ed O'Neill Sofía Vergara Julie Bowen Ty Burrell Jesse Tyler Ferguson Eric Stonestreet Nolan Gould Sarah Hyland Rico Rodriguez II Ariel Winter |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 10 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers | Christopher Lloyd Steven Levitan |
Production location | Los Angeles, California |
Camera setup | Film, Single camera |
Running time | approx. 22 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | September 23, 2009 – present |
Modern Family is an American single-camera mockumentary comedy TV series. The half-hour series, which was created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, is produced by Fox Television Studios. The mockumentary follows the families of Jay Pritchett (Ed O'Neill), his daughter Claire Dunphy (Julie Bowen), and his son Mitchell Pritchett (Jesse Tyler Ferguson). While Claire is a homemaker mom in a traditional family, Jay is married to a much younger woman and raising a pre-teen stepson, and Mitchell and his boyfriend have adopted a Vietnamese baby. The show premiered on ABC on September 23, 2009 to critical acclaim.[1]
Cast and characters
The show revolves around three families that are interrelated through Jay Pritchett, his son Mitchell Pritchett and his daughter Claire Dunphy. The families meet for family functions, around the neighborhood, and cross-family bonding.
Episodes
Production
The series quickly became a priority for ABC after the pilot episode tested high with focus groups, resulting in the network ordering 13 episodes and adding it to the 2009-2010 fall lineup days ahead of ABC's official schedule announcement.[2][3][4]
The series was given a full season pickup on October 8, 2009.[5][6]
Special guest stars
Former Cheers comedian Shelley Long appeared in episode 4, The Incident. Edward Norton and Elizabeth Banks appeared on the November 18, 2009 episode.[7] Norton played Izzy LaFontaine, the fictional bassist of Spandau Ballet, whom Claire believed to be Phil's favorite band; Banks portrayed Sal, Mitchell and Cameron's old friend and reputed party girl, who takes them out for a night on the town.
Fred Willard guest starred as Phil’s (Ty Burrell) father on the December 9, 2009 episode, "Undeck the Halls".[8]
Future guest stars set to appear include:
Benjamin Bratt as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett's ex-husband. Chazz Palminteri, and Minnie Driver as a friend and former co-worker of Claire’s.[9]
Critical reception
The first season has been met with unanimously positive reviews. It received a 'critically acclaimed' Metacritic score of 86 out of 100.[10] Entertainment Weekly gave it an A-, calling it "...immediately recognizable as the best new sitcom of the fall...".[11] In Time's review the show was named "the funniest new family comedy of the year."[12] It has also been compared to the 1970s series Soap, in regards to the multiple family aspect, as well as Arrested Development. Some have made comparisons to The Office and Parks and Recreation, due to their mockumentary formats.[13]
Award Nominations
Modern Family is nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy at the 67th Golden Globe Awards.[14]. Modern Family is nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series at the 16th Screen Actors Guild Awards.[15].
U.S. Nielsen ratings
Seasonal ratings
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Modern Family on ABC.
- Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.
Season | Original Airing | Rank | Viewers (in millions) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season Premiere | Season Finale | TV Season | |||
1 | September 23, 2009 | December 9, 2009 | 2009–2010 | TBA | 9.36* |
As of December 9, 2009 (*)
Weekly ratings
Order | Episode | Rating | Share | Rating/share (18-49) |
Viewers (millions) |
Rank (Timeslot) |
Rank (Night) |
Rank (Week) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Pilot" | 7.8 | 13 | 4.2/11[16] | 12.61 | 1 | 1 | TBA |
2 | "The Bicycle Thief" | 6.0 | 10 | 3.8/10[17] | 9.99 | 1 | 1 | TBA |
3 | "Come Fly With Me" | 5.4 | 9 | 3.4/9[18] | 8.82 | 2 | 2 | TBA |
4 | "The Incident" | 5.8 | 9 | 3.6/10[19] | 9.35 | 2 | 3 | TBA |
5 | "Coal Digger" | 5.4 | 8 | 3.4/9[20] | 8.66 | 3 | 4 | TBA |
6 | "Run For Your Wife" | 5.5 | 8 | 3.7/9[21] | 9.33 | 2 | 3 | TBA |
7 | "En Garde" | 5.3 | 8 | 3.5/9[22] | 8.77 | 2 | 4 | TBA |
8 | "Great Expectations" | 5.4 | 9 | 3.7/10[23] | 9.16 | 2 | 3 | TBA |
9 | "Fizbo" | 4.1 | 7 | 2.4/7[24] | 7.12 | 3 | TBA | TBA |
10 | "Undeck The Halls" | 5.5 | 9 | 3.8/10[25] | 9.67 | 1 | 1 | 23[26] |
- Episode 9 aired on Thanksgiving Eve in which most of the original shows hit series lows.
International broadcasters
Country | Broadcaster | Season Premiere | |
---|---|---|---|
Australia | Network Ten | 1 | 2010 |
Israel | yes stars Comedy | 1 | 2010 |
United Kingdom | Sky1 | 1 | October 15, 2009 |
Ireland | TV3 and SKY 1 | 1 | October 22, 2009 |
United States | ABC | 1 | September 23, 2009 |
Canada | |||
Latin America | Cityfamily | 1 | 2009 |
New Zealand | TV3 | 1 | 2010 |
References
- ^ From Metacritic (September 23, 2009)
- ^ From Variety (May 8, 2009)
- ^ From TV Guide (May 8, 2009)
- ^ "ABC picks up its first series for fall (updated)" From Los Angeles Times (May 8, 2009)
- ^ "ABC gives full season pickups to “Modern Family“, “Cougar Town,” and “The Middle“")
- ^ Isis Abrams. "ABC Picks Up Cougar Town, Modern Family and The Middle". TVGuide.com.
- ^ Robert Seidman (30 October 2009). ""ABC's November Sweeps Programming to Include 'Hank', 'The Forgotten', and 'Eastwick'"". TVbytheNumbers.com. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
- ^ Modern Family Fansite modern-family-tv.com
- ^ Modern Family Fansite modern-family-tv.com
- ^ Modern Family metacritic.com
- ^ TV Review - Modern Family (2009) Entertainment Weekly
- ^ Yes, We Kin Time Magazine, 28 September 2009
- ^ Fall TV Preview 2009: Modern Family E! Online
- ^ Modern Family Fansite Modern Family Fansite
- ^ Modern Family Fansite Modern Family Fansite
- ^ http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/09/24/wednesday-broadcast-finals-modern-family-down-a-tenth-cougar-town-up-a-tenth-with-adults-18-49/28330
- ^ http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/10/01/glee-rises-to-a-3-3-criminal-minds-to-a-3-8-eastwick-drops-to-a-2-3-in-finals/29229
- ^ http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/10/08/tuesday-broadcast-finals-modern-family-cougar-town-glee-criminal-minds-tick-up-in-finals-old-christine-down-a-tick/29983
- ^ http://pifeedback.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=32410241&f=63310451&m=387101842&r=474103842#474103842
- ^ http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/10/22/broadcast-finals-glee-modern-family-cougar-town-criminal-minds-tick-up-mercy-old-christine-svu-eastwick-tick-down/31251
- ^ http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/10/29/wednesday-broadcast-finals-law-order-svu-criminal-minds-repeat-were-up-a-tick/32039
- ^ http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/11/05/broadcast-finals-modern-family-criminal-minds-up-eastwick-down/32766
- ^ http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/11/19/wednesday-broadcast-cable-finals-glee-americas-next-top-model-tick-up/34157
- ^ http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/11/26/tv-ratings-modern-family-cougar-town-glee-eastwick-almost-everything-else-down/34649
- ^ http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/12/10/broadcast-finals-glee-rises-to-season-high-criminal-minds-up-the-middle-gary-unmarried-down-a-tick/35902
- ^ http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/12/15/tv-ratings-sunday-night-football-big-bang-theory-biggest-loser-and-csi-top-weekly-broadcast-charts/36318
Press Releases
- "Breaking: Fox's "Virtuality" fails to lift-off while ABC's "Modern Family" gets early pick-up" from Logo (May 8, 2009)
- "'Modern Family' first comedy to series at ABC" From The Futon Critic (May 8, 2009)