The Late Show (Modern Family)

"The Late Show (Modern Family)"

"The Late Show" is the fifth episode of the fifth season of the American sitcom Modern Family, and the series' 101st overall. It aired on October 16, 2013. The episode was written by Abraham Higginbotham and directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller.

Plot

Jay (Ed O'Neill) has made a reservation for the family at a restaurant that he has wanted to patronize for several years. However, when the time comes no one is ready.

Gloria (Sofía Vergara) takes ages to get ready after she came home late from the hairdressers. When she finally comes down the stairs, Haley (Sarah Hyland) who is there to babysit Joe, remarks that her earrings do not match her dress so they both go back upstairs. Jay tries to remain calm with the whole situation and asks Manny (Rico Rodriguez) to be the one yelling at Gloria to hurry. Gloria and Haley come downstairs but when Gloria says she needs another minute to change her lipstick Jay comes to his breaking point and yells at her for always being late when everyone is waiting for them at the restaurant. When they arrive at the restaurant, they discover that they are the first ones there and are not allowed to be seated until the other family members arrive.

At the Dunphys' house, Phil (Ty Burrell) puts on a new suit to impress Claire (Julie Bowen) but it is too tight and he can barely move in it. Claire comes home from work but she does not notice the new suit. She is stressed from work and she is upset to learn that Luke (Nolan Gould) wants to stay home alone (Haley will baby sit Joe, and Alex (Ariel Winter) will babysit Lily (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons) while they are at the restaurant). Phil tries to convince her that Luke is going to be okay and that he is old enough to stay home alone but he does not have much luck with it. On their way to the restaurant, Claire feels that something is not going well and they come back home to take Luke over to Jay's so he will be with Haley and Manny. When Claire and Phil come home, Luke attacks them with a paintball gun because he thinks they are intruders.

Cam (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitch (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) are also late because Cam cannot decide what to wear. When he is finally ready they realize they wear the same outfits and they ask Alex and Lily to tell them who wears it better because no one wants to change. The girls cannot agree, so they both agree to go change. While Mitch is changing clothes Cam lingers around trying to figure out what to wear. Mitch accuses him that he makes that on purpose so he will be the one who is always changing while Cam keeps his original outfit.

The whole family gets to the restaurant but they end up losing their table because even when they get there, first Cam and Mitch and then Claire and Phil, get out to discuss their disagreements. When they are finally all there, Fiona (Jessalyn Wanlim), the woman who is responsible for the table reservations, tells Jay that they gave their table away because they could not wait any longer. Gloria starts yelling at her in an attempt to get them a table but ends up getting them ejected from the restaurant.

The six of them end up having a dinner all together not in the restaurant but by getting tacos from a taco truck. Despite how the night has turned out, they all end up having a great time laughing, singing and dancing to Jay's favorite song "Midnight Train to Georgia".

Reception

Ratings

In its original American broadcast, "The Late Show" was watched by 10.94 million; up 0.30 from the previous episode.

Reviews

"The Late Show" received positive reviews.

Leigh Raines of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 5/5 rating, calling it the best episode in a long time and that it should have been the series' 100th one. "Most of all, I loved that they all ended up having a great meal at the taco truck, dancing, singing, drinking and watching Phil split his suit. Those are the best nights. The ones where the "perfect" plan falls through and something entirely better unfolds. That's what I love about Modern Family."

Britt Hayes of Screen Crush gave a positive review, saying that the episode was a serious improvement over previous ones. "Sitcoms are formulaic, but the reason that ones like ‘Modern Family’ stick around for so long is that they have such great characters and often charming writing that we can forgive the repetitive nature and just have a good time. Like the characters on tonight’s episode, we could all stand to relax and have a little fun every week."

Joe Reid of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B- rate stating that the show has repetitive payoffs. "Whether these payoffs made their respective lumbering, uninspired, frequently unpleasant setups worth it is another story. [...] This is a show that's gotten very comfortable with relying on voice-overs or come-together moments in order to give the illusion of heartwarming family comedy, but I think they deliver on that promise only half the time. Or all the time but half as effectively. Like Haley said, too much math."

Martina Maio of TheCelebrityCafe.com gave the episode 5 stars saying that it was "one of the strongest yet this season". "The episode was filled to the brim with comedic moments with all three families and dealt with some very average family issues."

Wyner from TwoCentsTV said that the episode was "cute", "focused on family time management" and that "the character personalities shone".