Modern Family

In this droll comedy about a multi-generational family, the patriarch, Jay Pritchett, is a middle-aged, white businessman now married to Gloria, a Colombian bombshell half his age. Gloria’s pre-teen son, Manny, from a previous marriage sees himself a Don Juan despite his roly-poly stature. Jay’s son Mitchell, from his first marriage, is an over-wound, gay attorney raising an adopted Vietnamese baby with his show-tune and football-loving partner, Cameron, who both confirms and explodes fey stereotypes. Jay’s other grown child, homemaker Claire, has three kids with her husband, Phil, a real-estate agent with delusions of hipness. Call it contrived if you will, but in the wildly recombinant culture of 21st Century USA, call it entirely plausible as well. What makes it all work in the perfectly titled Modern Family are cast members who play their slightly exaggerated roles with absolute conviction and writers who eschew one-liners for humor that grows from character and keen observation of situations and family dynamics. For its sharp humor, old-fashioned heart and for recognizing the ongoing evolution of kinship, Modern Family receives a Peabody Award.