A Farewell to Modern Family
Modern Family is a long-running sitcom that just aired its final 11th season this year. I was in only 6th grade when I started watching the show. Little did I know that it would offer me comfort and relief through many years. Because of this reason, I don’t think I will ever forget about this show.
The comedy centers around three families that are each other’s relatives. The first one is the Dunphys. It is also the most “common” family out of the three, with the parents and their three children. The other two, however, are a little more unusual. The second one is the Pritchetts: a blended family. Jay Pritchett is an old man who remarried a young Columbian woman Gloria and adopted her son Manny. The third one is the Tucker-Pritchett family. It consists of a same-sex couple and their daughter who was adopted from Vietnam. There are many characters in the show, so it is quite hard to explain their relationships thoroughly. Thus, I’ll leave a family tree I found online down here in case my explanation just confuses you. As you can see, they are related to each other because Claire and Mitchell are Jay’s children from his previous marriage.
Although there are so many characters, each of them has unique characteristics and is vividly portrayed. I think this is why the audience doesn’t get tired of them even after 11 seasons. Like any big family with close relationships, they have numerous conflicts, but at the end of the day, they are always able to resolve and be there for each other. The episodes often wrap up with some positive monologue that sums up the conflict in that episode. Some shows also do this but only end up sounding awkward, and I feel like I am just being lectured. This does not happen with Modern Family. They may still sound a little quirky, but it only adds to their charm and make them seem more real. What’s important is that I can sincerely sympathize with them and finish an episode in a good mood.
In a sense, I kind of feel like I grew along with the characters, especially the children. It’s a strange feeling since they’re all fictional. For example, two characters are my age. This means in the first season from 2009, they’re about 10 like I was though I didn’t know the show then. And in this year’s finale, they’re about 20 just like I am now! Over the years, I watched them navigate through school and social life. I think every teenager struggles with this aspect of life even just a little bit, and I was no exception. Watching this show and knowing that someone else gets this feeling helped me feel better. Maybe a decade later, I will somehow sympathize with the older adult characters more, but who knows? (Here’s a picture of the cast from the first season and the final season.)
People of all ages can enjoy Modern Family. I enjoy it when I was 12. Now, I am 20, and I still do. It is also a great show for the whole family to watch together. Obama once said that he loved the show and would watch it with his wife Michelle and their daughters. Although I was a little bit sad that it ended, I think I might watch some episodes again in the future for nostalgia. This show is light, funny, and meaningful at the same time. Each episode is only 20 minutes as well. I definitely recommend it!