‘Modern Family’ reinvents the family comedy
Meet the Pritchetts — crazier than the Huxtables, sweeter than the Bluths
 | Crazier than the Huxtables and sweeter than the Bluths, the Pritchett clam is reinventing the family comedy -- and viewers can totally relate. |
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The weather couldn't be more miserable. Rain and wind are whipping umbrellas inside out all over the Century City lot. But on one soundstage, where "Modern Family" tapes, the mood is all sunshine and rainbows: This is the happy land where ABC is saving the family sitcom.
''People used to come up to me when I was on other programs to tell me they liked the show,'' says Ed O'Neill, the actor who spent 11 seasons jamming his hand down his pants as Al Bundy on "Married...With Children," but who now plays Jay Pritchett, "Modern Family's" cranky but loving grandpa. ''I'd be like, 'Really? What do you like about it? I'm curious.' But now when people come up to me and say they like this show, I find myself saying, 'Isn't it great?' That's the first time I've done that in my whole life as an actor.''
The effusive praise comes for a show that, in some ways, couldn't be more familiar. From the Ricardos to the Bluths, kooky families have been a sitcom staple.
In the Pritchett clan, O'Neill's Jay has a hot, young, Colombian second wife, Gloria (Sofia Vergara), whose precocious 11-year-old son, Manny (Rico Rodriguez), thinks he's Ricardo Montalban. There's also Jay's tightly wound daughter Claire (Julie Bowen), her nudnick husband Phil (Ty Burrell), and their three kids. And finally, you have Claire's prickly gay brother, Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), who just adopted a Vietnamese baby with his big-boned life partner, Cameron (Eric Stonestreet).
What makes "Modern Family" different, though — and the reason it's averaging 10.6 million viewers, outperforming "The Office" and "Family Guy" — is its tone. It's as sharp as "Seinfeld," as layered as "Arrested Development," with characters every bit as lovable as those in "Raymond," but there's also a flavor we haven't tasted on TV for a while: sweetness.
''There have been a lot of extremely funny shows on the air,'' says co-creator Steven Levitan ("Just Shoot Me"). ''But they've all been sort of cynical about emotion.''
Levitan's producing partner, Christopher Lloyd (the two met while working as scribes on "Wings"), nods in agreement. ''Your first obligation is to make the audience laugh,'' he says. ''But if you can add an extra dimension and make the audience feel something — a warm moment, a character's vulnerability — that's so appreciated. There's a hunger for a show that makes you feel good.''
Fighting to be funny again
For the last few years, TV comedy has been in a rut. Last fall, networks introduced only four new sitcoms, as compared with 1997, which saw 15 debuts. But this season, ABC took a risk and stacked its Wednesday lineup with four new comedies from 8 to 10 p.m. The decision paid off, and the network has already picked up three of the shows for the whole season: "Modern Family" (which has the most buzz and critical adoration), Courteney Cox's "Cougar Town," and Patricia Heaton's "The Middle." (Kelsey Grammer's "Hank," which pulls the weakest ratings of the bunch, has yet to receive a pickup.)
When Levitan and Lloyd pitched the show to ABC, they were still licking their wounds from "Back to You," their Kelsey Grammer newsroom sitcom that fizzled on Fox two seasons ago (Burrell had a role as a reporter with an unpronounceable last name).
It's still a sore spot: ''Getting notes on creativity from Fox is like getting notes on fashion from the Braille Institute,'' sneers Lloyd. For their follow-up act, the duo initially had an idea ''for a show about an Archie Bunker-type retiree who finds himself living with his Asperger's-challenged son,'' explains Lloyd. ''But we kept coming back to family because we both have kids and we're always telling stories about situations that come up at home.''
Having burned out on the traditional multicamera sitcom format with "Back to You," for "Modern Family" they went the trendy mockumentary route — though they scrapped an original plan to include a Dutch filmmaker character who was making the ''documentary.'' Still, they're careful to point out that they weren't just hopping on the "Office" bandwagon. ''The fake documentary form has been around forever,'' says Lloyd. ''Obviously, 'The Office' does it. But Woody Allen did it too with 'Take the Money and Run.' And there was the Spinal Tap movie. We're just the first family comedy to do it.''
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