Modern Family - "Door to Door"

Season 3, Episode 4

Well, it was better…

Sometimes I think Modern Family tries too hard. Now I know that many critics, myself included, have taken the show to task for relying on tired tropes instead of trying to make new and original stories, and that criticism is still valid. But for reasons that I can’t fathom, the show will start off an episode with the laziest premise possible, and then attempt to pretty it all up by adding a closing voiceover or trying to shoehorn in a emotional message that doesn’t fit. Stories, really, should come about naturally, and by that line of thought, they should be easy. I’m not implying that writing for a comedy is easy – I’m sure it takes a lot of hard work – but making the story work shouldn’t feel like a strain, either for the writers or for the audience.

And that, in short, has been Modern Family’s problem for this early run of its third season. Last week's episode struggled to find and overall theme amongst the three stories, while the premiere two weeks ago felt like it had to trot out every old Dude Ranch joke in the book and give each family a storyline while also making sure they came together at the end. It almost feels as if the show suffers from delusions of grandeur, and it thinks it achieves that by using some sort of Grandeur Check List. I may write 1,500+ plus words each week on Community, but that doesn’t mean that I believe that all comedies should strive for some lofty ideal in order to be good. Oftentimes comedies work best by forgoing supposed markers of quality like themes and messages, and by just being.

And that, to a certain extent, is what made “Door to Door” the most enjoyable episode of the season so far, though I wouldn’t exactly call it high praise. The key section in tonight’s episode happened when Manny’s door-to-door trips to sell wrapping papers nicely melded with those of Claire’s quest for signatures and Gloria’s attempt to find Jay’s dog Stella. It was a moment that we were completely unprepared for, and its surprise was half the fun; seeing the story’s come together in a logical fashion without much strain just made it all the sweeter.

And speaking of “little strain” and “sweet” (that sounds dirty, doesn't it?) the whole of the Dunphy storyline worked on the whole even if it felt like a bit of a retread of “Slow Down Your Neighbors”. Though it was played very loosely, and for most the running time was quite slight, by the end, it had me won over for the obvious reasons. First, I can’t help but be charmed when David Cross appears on anything. Second, the story turned into a stealth emotional story as the whole family decided to get signatures for Claire and Phil and Luke end up making a PSA to help support her cause. (Bonus point: the ending also was able to work in the runner about Phil and Luke trying to make a viral video.

The one story that really didn’t work was, of course, the Cam and Mitchell storyline. Now, I will give this storyline credit for not basing their story on some offensive gay stereotype, as the show is wont to do, nor by having Cam act as some sort of giant ball of slapstick, the show’s second worst transgression. Instead, it was just a simple “messy spouse” scenario – in other words, it was trite. Now, perhaps the show was trying to say “Gays, they’re just like us!” – in which case, props – but it still doesn’t make for a very interesting storyline.

The episode overall wasn’t that funny – again, not my main concern – but it did feel like it breezed by while remaining true to its characters. Hopefully the next few episodes will work similarly, while the show returns to the basics before trying to fly high once more.

Quotes and Other Thoughts:  

The Jay and Manny storyline, was not quite as enjoyable, and the ending was fairly predictable, but I gives it a pass because it included my favorite pairing.

Let’s just forget that the Gloria runner – and the forced Streetcar Named Desire reference – didn’t happen, all right?

I may have liked the runner of Phil and Luke trying to make a viral video, but that tag was just painfully unfunny.

“And this one just says ‘pancakes’.”

“Dangerous combo: Speed walking and Speedwagon…Oh, I wasn’t even trying on that one.”

“What do you mean you don’t believe in wrapping paper? It’s not bigfoot, it exists.”

“Hello ma’am, do you love Christmas?” “Actually, I’m Jewish.” “Well…then you must love a good deal.”

“Your Honor, permission to approach?” “Um, not a judge.” “I’ll allow it.”