What I’m Watching: Modern Family

Modern Family: Season 5, Episode 5 “The Late Show” (B+)

This is the kind of episode that most shows have somewhere during the run (“The One Where No One’s Ready” from “Friends” comes to mind), and while it wasn’t necessarily creative, it was thoroughly entertaining. Starting with a splitscreen frame that showed Jay, Mitchell, and Phil yelling for their respective partners to get ready in time was a fun beginning, and, from there, things went in predictable directions. Gloria taking forever to get ready so that Jay’s head would explode while he was waiting for his table was highlighted by his bafflement at Gloria’s repeat disappearances so that she could show up and introduce herself to whoever had just arrived. Claire worrying about Luke being able to take care of himself while Phil squirmed around in his too-tight sight was funny, and I like that Luke and Manny ultimately ended up being Haley’s backup singers in karaoke. Alex babysitting Lily framed the Phil and Claire’s book-smart character in a great light, boring her little cousin to death with her reading of “Little Women” and getting her hair and makeup done by the surprisingly talented and Haley-trained Lilly. The best plotline, however, was reserved for Cam and Mitchell. It’s so rare that Mitchell gets to be just as dramatic as Cam, and to see him go to war with Cam over who gets to wear the outfit they both chose was fantastic. Cam being in the right is an equally rare thing, and guilting Mitchell into admitting that he had shaken up the champagne was superb revenge.