What I’m Watching: Modern Family

Modern Family: Season 1, Episode 21 “Travels with Scout” (B+)

Even if he didn’t have much to do in this episode, the casting of Fred Willard as Phil’s dad is perfect. For starters, he looks so much like him, but he also has the same sensibility of being funny but mostly because he’s so awkward and unaware of how people actually perceive what he’s doing. His desire to be with the dog rather than be away from Phil’s mother was a relief, and it was amusing to see how quickly Claire got attached to the dog after initially despising the idea because she’d have to do all the work herself. The quick shot of Luke in the cage was also funny, since it seemed to imply that the dog had actually tricked Luke into getting in there, though the dimwitted child certainly did it all by himself. Cam joining the band was great, particularly due to his assertion that he had the sticks in the wrong hand before jamming out and completely shocking his new temporary band mates with his skills. Something did have to go wrong, and the shared joy of Haley and Mitchell over their boyfriends’ abilities was quickly interrupted by Cam’s long-lived moment of glory. When Jay first decided to take Manny to the movie in the middle of a school day, I worried it would be sexually inappropriate, but having it be a horror movie was great because Rico Rodriguez played it perfectly, making Manny afraid of everything and desperate to get a weapon. Jay’s face when he saw the actor holding a sword outside the house was the perfect way to end it.