1737 - Modern Family: season three

This is one of the few really, truly great comedic ensembles.  It's a show with a large cast, but they've found a way to perfectly balance them.  They haven't tried to make one a "break-out" character, but they've really honored the idea of this being a show about a group of people and it works extremely well because of it.  I wrote a spec of this show last summer and I know from studying the writing that it's a show that's, literally, a joke a minute - and to be accurate it's actually several jokes a minute - two or three.  And most of them land really really well.  I find myself at least once or twice an episode having an actual proper, solid laugh.  The writing is solid from a comedy stand-point and in terms of character they've found a nice way to give it a really light serialization as the characters grow and move through life.  If you haven't yet checked this show out, you really owe it to yourself to do so.  I still think that their use of the mocumentary format is a bit of a lazy way to do internal jokes, and doesn't really fit the show - but I'll let it slide.  Other than that, it's all aces.  I loved the new little twist we learned tonight as well.  Well played, showrunners, well played.

1701 - Conception

I rented this film through iTunes based on a recommend from Ed Burns, which I think was solely based on his friendship with cast member Julie Bowen.  This is the kind of film that I am programmed to love.  An ensemble rom-com about couples getting pregnant.  In fact going into it I was a bit worried that it would be a bit too close to my current project.  But sadly, love it I did not.  And now I'm trying to figure out if I liked it…
The cast is pretty damn solid with highlights from Julie Bowen, Alan Tudyk, Jonathon Silverman and Jennifer Finnigan.  But a lot of the cast just aren't given very much to do - people like Pamela Adlon and Sarah Hyland just don't have any room to flex their chops.
The film ultimately centres around… geez.. I can't even remember how many couples… I want to say six… on the day/night that they conceive a child.  Some are trying, some are not.  But the problem is that I couldn't even remember how many couples - mostly because they just kind of blend together in a lot of ways.  They are all in unique situations and environments, but they just don't stand out.  Some do - there's a story of a teenager trying to convince her boyfriend to give up eating meat by giving up her virginity - that stands out.  Another story wherein the issue in the relationship seems to be that they don't like each other when they're sweaty, do not.  I think this film would have been far stronger if they had just picked the most unique of the stories and fleshed them out a lot more.  There are some really wonderful little nuggets about people and relationships inside of here, but they almost seem to be by accident as opposed to by choice or design. 
Maybe I'm just crazy, but I think that they you do an ensemble story centring around a common theme that you should be attempting to say something about that theme.  Using the ensemble design to explore the issue from different angles.  This just felt like someone wanted to make a film and had access to good actors.  The actors do the best with what they're given. 
So I can't really recommend this one unless you want to see the actors in a different role from how you normally see them.  Otherwise this film is just a bit of a mess for me.  The tone was all over the place, and even the audio was noticeably bad in a few scenes (which is nit-picky, but if I noticed it enough to comment on it - that's a problem 'cause it took me out of the film).  Oh, and I don't know why people think that David Arquette is funny… am I crazy and missing something about that guy?

1577 - Modern Family: season two

A little behind on finishing this season, but I've been watching episodes more than once as I'm adding it to my list of television series that I want to write a spec for in the near future.  This show is a monster hit and there's good cause for it.  It's about life, love, insecurities, humility, honesty, deception, selfishness, selflessness, in a world - it's about family.  This show takes the worst aspects of people and finds a way to make them human and hilarious.  To be fair that's not to say that this show is about bad being doing good things, it's actually the opposite, it's about people who, at their core, are wonderful people, but they're also human and therefore flawed.  Just like the most of us.  So there's no surprise that it's struck a chord.  The tone is this show is something wonderfully unique as well.  It borrows the stolen moment format of shows like The Office, but it makes it it's own, and really only does so so that they have an excuse to do the candid interview moments - other than that there has been hardly any reference to the fact that someone is shooting them.  Even the "looks" to the camera in situation have all but disappeared.  It's almost like the show thought it needed that gimmick and is trying to weed it out (except for the interviews - which really do make the show work on an extra level).  The show is a smart comedy that isn't scared to mix in some silly slapstick.  Well worth it, and looking forward to many more seasons of comedy gold.
Modern Family: The Complete Second Season 

1531 - Modern Family: season one

I was slightly late to this show, but then caught up quickly, but somehow managed to miss the final handful of episodes until just now.  There are a bunch of shows that I did that too that I need to get back to - not out of lack of quality in the shows - just life stuff.  And every now and then I try to work on my own projects instead of just basking in the glory of others :)
Every network and cable station is looking for another version of this show right now - and who can blame them?  I think that the heart of every television is about a family - biological or not - and this one is literally - but there's lots of fun to the way it's been modernized.  It's also worth noting that this series has no less than ten regulars - granted the kids aren't always in the spotlight, that still leaves a lot of characters to fill in the thirty minutes each story - and what this series does really well is finding ways to put the odd groupings together.  I laugh often and hard while watching this.
If I'm honest the only issue I have with the series is it's half-ass use of the documentary format.  It's almost like it can't decide if it's a straight up series or if it's fly-on-the-way.  Every now and then they do a "look" to camera that suggests we've got cameras around, but that's about it.  I appreciate their use of interviews but only because they are often some of the funniest parts of the show.  So yeah, that drives me a little nuts - but I let it slide because the rest of it is so damn good.  Assuming that this show will run for a very long time I look forward to it.
Modern Family: The Complete First Season