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

Modern Family: Season 8, Episode 1 “A Tale of Three Cities” (C)

I had almost completely forgotten about this once-great show since it was barely a part of the Emmy Awards save for its presence in the opening segment and a few cast appearances. I’ve debated whether or not I was going to continue watching this show, but I always feel like I would regret giving up on it. This premiere was far from promising, emphasizing the formulaic above all. Why both the Dunphy children and the Dunphy parents would care so much about keeping their extra time in New York a secret from each other is beyond me, and I’m more perplexed by the flexibility of the flight tickets for the children and Claire’s ability to just decide not to go to her conference. They spent much more time trying to deceive each other and pretend they were somewhere else than actually enjoying their time in New York City, and far too much of each scene focused on Luke’s stupidity and referenced his carnival settlement. Mitchell walking into opportunities for Cam’s family to hate him and blame him for the death of his grandmother got old and annoying very fast, and her racism and homophobia was less funny than it was meant to be. Manny getting kidnapped was extremely over-the-top, and you’d think that Jay would have realized a long time ago that Gloria might have daddy issues that led to their age-gap marriage. This show needs to get back to its simple roots and stop being so staged and set up.