Modern Family: The Complete Second Season (Blu-ray)
Nathan Swank
October 8th, 2011
Our favorite family is back, Jay, Gloria, Manny, Cameron, Mitchell, Phil, Claire, Haley, Alex and Luke return for the Second Season of the hit comedy series MODERN FAMILY. Where the first season succeeded in originality and relatability, the second season succeeds in the actors having a deeper understanding of their characters, taking huge strides with the incredible writing.
The multi-Emmy winning series observes the different lives of an extended family in a documentary style similar to The Office. Using couch interviews with the family members to give their own private takes about their situations, the characters are always aware of the camera, breaking the fourth wall. Each member has his or her own quirks and humor that can be identifiable in just about everyone’s life. Creators Christopher Lloyd and Steve Levitan along with the other writers have all famously reported using storylines from their own family experiences and that authenticity is what makes the show so believable and relatable. I personally have the privilege of knowing just about every character in my own family.
All six adult actors and actresses were nominated for supporting Emmy nominations with wins for Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen. It was also nominated several times for writing and directing winning in both categories. As a nearly unheard of feat, in all of these categories Modern Family’s biggest competition was itself.
Everyone is superb bringing something funny to the table. Cameron’s over sensitive reactions, Gloria’s mispronunciation of the English language, Manny’s adult trapped in a child’s body attitude and Luke’s child in a child’s body attitude, to name a few. While all the characters are perfect in their respective roles, I believe the standout star this season is Phil who my wife constantly reminds me that I am freakishly similar to in my antics. You might say if something were to happen to him I could “Phil” in.
A personal favorite episode is “Strangers on a Treadmill,” where Claire is having difficulty telling Phil he is not funny before he emcee’s a work function and Mitchell is having similar difficulty telling Cameron that he doesn’t look good in biker shorts seen on screen with the pixilation over the crotchal region. The other exceptionally clever and funny episode is “Caught in the Act,” where Phil and Claire are caught having intimate relations by their children. This could easily be thrown away for some cheap laughs but the humor lies with the parents struggle to either talk to their children or ignore it, while the kids struggle with jabbing out their eyes or being thankful that their parents still love each other.
While some episodes may not be as funny as others, all have at least one laugh out loud moment. And I guarantee every episode of MODERN FAMILY will leave a smile on your face.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: (Widescreen 1.78:1) The picture looks equally as good as its original air date on your HD television.
Audio: (5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio) The beeping sound from the episode with the smoke detector with the low battery will sound like it’s coming from your own home.
Deleted Family Interviews (Disc 1 – 3:55, Disc 2 – 4:51, Disc 3 – 2:04): A collection of unused couch interviews with individual family members. Some are funny and some are not.
Deleted and Extended Scenes (Disc 1 – 9:55, Disc 2 – 10:46, Disc 3- 1:00) Mostly extended scenes that they were right to leave off. However there were a couple of gems in the mix.
Strangers on a Treadmill – Table Read (37:36): This is really really funny!!! The cast does a live table read on stage in front of an audience. It is the first time doing the table read so this is the original script before the changes were made from the judgment of the reaction of the audience. It is so much fun to hear the audience and cast members laugh at the jokes. But the show definitely works better without the laugh track.
Mitch’s Flash Mob (2:43): A brief and pretty weak behind the scenes look at the Flash Mob scene.
Imagine Me Naked – Music Video (3:39): So apparently they actually made a music video of Dylan’s (Haley’s boyfriend) awful song. The video is awful too… in an unfunny way.
Gag-Reel (8:23): This is pretty cute and if you are a fan of the show then this will keep a smile on your face.
Modern Family Holidays (13:02): This is a recap of each of the character’s storylines of the episodes from Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Halloween.
Waiting for Oprah (3:52): Oprah loves Modern Family and apparently had the cast on her show via satellite. Although we don’t see their appearance on the show we see them prepping for it.
Chatting with Steve Levitan (4:13): The executive producer and co-creator talks about using moments from his own family and choosing when to and not to use guest stars.
At Home with Modern Family (6:11): Production designer Richard Berg gives us a tour inside the three family homes and the reasoning for their layouts and set designs.
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