“Modern Family” Seems to be Stuck in a Loop

By Ellie Shalvarjian

Staff Writer

Emmy award winning series “Modern Family” recently aired the premiere of their seventh season. A television show which had previously brought years of laughter seems to be stuck in some of the same plotlines and jokes.

“Modern Family” chronicles the different aspects of modern family life in suburban Los Angeles. The show includes 68 year old Jay Pritchett, his two grown children, and their extended family.

The season premiere focused on Mitchell’s (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) mid life crisis, Haley’s (Sarah Hyland) romance with her grandparent’s male nanny, and Gloria (Sofia Vergara) and Jay’s (Ed O’Neill) struggle to find their son, Joe, a good preschool. In this premiere the creators of the show resorted to crude jokes, unoriginal stories, and weak subplots.

While the show is still undeniably hilarious at times, the writers have failed to create new and captivating ideas. Due to its long running status, the show is starting to become repetitive and the character situations are recycled season after season.

The show’s plethora of skillful actors and actresses keep the show afloat with their impressive performances. However, in the premiere, their talents were obscured due to immature material, such as how Mitchell’s subplot being ruined by poor humour.

The most disappointing aspect of the premiere was the fact that, a normally tasteful show used not only mindless but also callous jokes. When making fun of Andy’s (Adam DeVine) weight gain the rest of the family members reacted very negatively and insensitively. If the style of humour present in the premiere is any indicator for the future season, the show will be in lots of trouble.

One of the better aspects of this episode was that it brought attention to Andy and Haley’s relationship which helped brings viewers back to see more, and gave them something to root for. However, the actual problems within Haley and Andy’s relationship were approached passively, giving no closure, while still not giving any hints as to whether or not it will develop further.

“Modern Family” has many things to work on before their midseason finale. If the show stays at the pace they are at currently, then this will be a poor season.

“Modern Family” airs every Wednesday at 9pm on ABC.