Modern Family – Don’t go changin’ to try and please me….

“Would he refer to Phil as a friend of Claire’s? No.” – Mitchell, after Cam told him that Jay introduced him to his friends as “a friend of my son”
“I’ve heard him call Phil a lot worse.” – Cameron

The theme of the week on Modern Family was change: Can people change? How far does that fifteen percent change differential really get them? All I know is Modern Family better not go changin’ on me … I love you just the way you are.

This episode hit it out of the park for me, and not just because I don’t know how to work the remote (hence the reason I do not watch Bones … someone in this house will not put on that channel). Everything about “Fifteen Percent” was on, on, on.

Let’s take Phil and Claire and the remote battle:

• “Claire’s changed, she used to support me.” – Phil
• “Imagine our home theater system is a human body. So then the receiver is the brain. The TV is the face.” – Phil
  “I know what part you are.” – Claire
• Claire didn’t know Dylan could see her on the webcam. Ha!
• Phil as a cheerleader just rounds him out, doesn’t it? Magician, bike thief, remote-controlled plane flyer…. Adding yet another off-the-beaten-path quirk to Phil makes his character sine even more. Those jealous football players….
• Bringing Haley into the remote battle, not once, but twice, was genius. Phil teaches “the dumb kid” how to work the remote, but then Claire asks Haley to teach her, in a very sweet moment that works because they aren’t married. Claire proves you can change, if only by about fifteen percent.

Did Gloria and Manny (aftershave-wearing, vampire-fiction-loving Manny) get their new friend Whitney to change more than fifteen percent with that stunning makeover? I’m going with a big no, since her original problem of picking the wrong man definitely still holds true with her crush on Cam. Somehow, Modern Family seemed to make Whitney’s plight sweet and funny, not pathetic. I like that Modern Family really knows when to be shamelessly irreverent and when to go for the touching people moments.

Speaking of touching people, the golf scene between Jay and Shorty was awesome, and Chaz Palminteri was perfect as part gangster / son of a tailor-man. Was there a message in there somewhere about it not really mattering if you’re gay or not? I’m going with yes.

I shall leave you with two last quotes showing Modern Family‘s awesome sense of humor when it comes to gay people:

• “Look at that — two things flaming at once.” – Mitchell to florist, as Cam OMGs about flaming flowers
• “I’m here to let you know your gay-dar is broken.” – Jay to Mitchell

Never change, Modern Family. Never change.

Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Jan 20, 2010 @ 21:54 EST5EDT