On September 23th, the comedy Modern Family completes 16 years! It has 11 amazing seasons and you can watch it right now on Disney Plus. But after all these years, what still makes it so special?
A real and not so traditional family
Modern Family goes around three family storylines, connected through Jay Pritchett (Ed O’Neill) and his children Claire (Julie Bowen) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson). All of them together, build a funny and diverse family that makes us feel like we’re part of it too.
The Pritchett Family
Jay is the owner of a construction materials place and he’s Claire and Mithell´s father. He’s married to Gloria (Sofia Vergara), a Colombian and strong woman, who is also Manny’s (Rico Rodriguez II) mother.
The Pritchett’s portrays the dynamic of an older man with a young latin woman. They also highlight how difficult a father-children relationship can be and how rewarding it’s at the same time. Despite some fights, there’s genuine love between them.
The Dunphy Family
Claire Dunphy starts the series as a housekeeper but, after some years, she finds her way in her father´s company. She´s married to Phill Dunphy (Ty Burrell), a funny real estate agent, and together they have three kids. Haley (Sarah Hyland), the oldest one and a super fashion girl, Alex (Ariel Winter), a very smart girl, and Luke (Nolan Gould), a sweet and curious boy.
The Dunphy’s are the most chaotic (in a good way) family. Claire and Phill are the typical couple in which the woman has the responsibility sense and the man is the comic relief of the relationship. Their children are extremely different from each other, but have a bond that only brothers do.
The Tucker/Pritchett Family
Mitchell is a lawyer and a super organized person. He’s married to Cameron Tucker (Eric Stonestreet), a coach and a very artistic man. Together, they adopted Lilly (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons), a Vietnamese baby girl.
Despite their very different personalities, Mitch and Cam complete each other and raise Lilly with deep compassion. They face challenges to keep their family strong, which makes them truly inspiring.
The mockumentary style
The Modern Family episodes are presented in a mockumentary style. The characters talk to the cameras and “break the fourth wall”. It gives a more intimate feeling to the series, since the audience can really know what each family member is thinking.
Family on and off the cameras
The Modern Family crew is not just a family in the show, but also in real life. They’ve built a meaningful relationship with each other. Even with the series ending, they still get together every year.
It’s amazing how the actors bonded and keep this connection until now. That makes the series not only special, but also unlike anything else.
It’s not just a series
Modern Family is not just a regular series, it makes you feel represented in some way, with some character or situation. You laugh, you cry and you feel part of one big family. Across 11 seasons, it delivers joy and incredible lessons.
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The article above was edited by Larissa Vilapiano Prais.
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