What I’m Watching: Modern Family (Season Premiere)

Modern Family: Season 6, Episode 1 “The Long Honeymoon” (B-)

I wasn’t very happy when this show took home its fifth consecutive Emmy for Best Comedy Series a month ago. I don’t feel that this show is nearly as fresh as it used to be, and this episode indicated that on a number of levels. The concepts here are pretty clever in theory, but their execution is just too blunt and unsubtle. Seeing the Dunphy clan getting along so well and enjoying their summer, plums and all, felt forced, and of course Alex coming home would make it all disappear, though it turned out that she was actually looking out for them, well aware that they would have poisoned themselves and done a whole lot of harm had she not been there. Seeing Gloria without her makeup has been a long time coming, and while it was somewhat fun, I don’t think seeing Jay in big old man glasses and the visual joke of Gloria getting ready instantly was worth it. Jay and Manny putting the iPad in the fridge on a regular basis was another concept that seems funny but is just too ridiculous in practice. Cam has always been over-the-top, and I think setting up surprises for Mitchell at home is pretty different from showing up at a work party where significant others aren’t meant to be and pulling Mitchell aside to dance with him. There’s some humor in it, to be sure, but this show has definitely done better with all of these characters in the past, and I hope we’ll see more from them this season.