Modern Family: The Complete First Season (Blu-ray)
The brilliant comedy series MODERN FAMILY follows three quirky intertwined families. From the hilarious pilot episode to the heartwarming season finale, you will fall in love with the Dunphy, Pritchett and Pritchett-Tucker families. It is hard to pick a favorite family or character as they all work fantastically together in a synergy that one only sees within a family.
The Dunphy’s include the always hilarious Phil (Ty Burell), wife Claire (Julie Bowen) and their three children Haley, Alex and Luke. No matter the scenario, this family has me rolling with laughter. Two episodes come to mind when thinking of the Dunphy’s – the first being the one where Luke’s penalty for accidentally shooting his sister with his pellet gun is to get shot by Phil. The second is the one where Phil has connected with his high school girlfriend via facebook and he and Claire invite her over to the house.
Eric Stonestreet as Cameron Tucker is beyond brilliant. He makes me laugh time and time again and I love the over the top reactions to minor events. Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Mitchell is the perfect opposite for this yin and yang couple. Hard to pick a favorite storyline from these two, perhaps the moment when Mitchell get’s bullied while pumping gas and Cameron dressed as Fizbo The Clown steps up and takes charge. Oh, Eric Stonestreet, how brilliant you are!
Mitchell and Claire’s father, Jay Pritchett (Ed O’Neil) has remarried a gorgeous Columbian, Gloria (Sofia Veraga) and has a well dressed, wise beyond his years step-son, Manny. Having a mixed cultural family myself, there are more moments than I can count where I am thrown back into the Spanglish of my youth. Though my mother never dressed like Gloria, Jay’s confusion around the Columbian duo reminds me (in only the best way possible) of my father. When Gloria introduces new Columbian cultures into the family I find myself crying from laughter and wishing my mom would have had my dad scream and slap chicken cutlets before grilling them.
The thing that makes the show work is that it is relatable and smart; it makes you love your family and laugh at the moments that mirror your own life or the stories of friends and co-workers. For example, Phil Dunphy could have been written about my husband, and though I think Gloria was written about me, we all know that I’m a female version of Cameron. For the all of the outrageous moments, you know that some family somewhere has experienced something similar to what has just happened on screen. The cast does a phenomenal job with the direction and scripts provided. Kudos to you writing and directing team!
This three disc compilation features 24 episodes, a slew of deleted, alternate and extended scenes and extra bonus footage. It is a good thing the season is broken down into three discs as it is hard to peel yourself away from watching episode after episode.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: (1.78:1 Widescreen): Great colors and very clean transfer.
Audio: (5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio): Clear dialogue and great sound quality.
The Making of Modern Family: Family Portrait (9:15): An inside look into the production of the season finale; live shots at the Staple’s Center for the basketball game, inspiration for the pigeon that torments Mitchell and a celebration for the cast & crew. One year after the cast’s first table read is the final clip of the season, ended in a mud fight.
Real Modern Family Moments (10:25): A glimpse into the inspiration for various storylines and family quirks. A great deal come from assorted cast and crew member’s real life experiences. We get to see these from home videos and narration of those who have the true stories. It’s fun to see the dual stories and how MODERN FAMILY put their own twist on the ideas.
Fizbo The Clown (4:13): This makes me love Eric Stonestreet that much more. Fizbo The Clown is a character he created around age 11 and performed on through age 18. When sharing his clown stories with the cast and crew, they demanded photos and that led to the introduction of Fizbo to the MODERN FAMILY series. I particularly loved the home video footage of Eric as Fizbo when going through the streets of Kansas City at the infamous St. Patrick’s Day parade. My spirit was filled with hometown pride.
Before Modern Family (12:53): Each family member goes down memory lane of where they were before MODERN FAMILY. My favorite is the brief summary from Ed O’Neil and love little Nolan Gould and his crazy smart brain.
Modern Family “Hawaii” (5:19): Footage of the cast and crew shooting on location in Hawaii. Various cast members share their favorite scenes and how hard the wedding scene was to shoot but how fun it was too.
Gag Reel (5:41): The only funny parts on this gag reel are the ones that include Ty Burrell. What a ham!
Deleted, Extended and Alternate Scenes (Disc 1: 8:51, Disc 2: 20:45, Disc 3: 9:24): The title of this featurette says it all. A look into various takes and the extended versions from random episodes. Almost as fun as watching an actual episode!
Deleted Family Interviews (Disc 1: 14:54, Disc 2: 1:36): Some of these are more funny than the interviews selected for the episodes. Very amusing and, of course, Ty Burrell is a big star in these interviews.
[fbcomments]