MODERN FAMILY Recap: ‘The Musical Man’

I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I thought this week’s episode of MODERN FAMILY was kind of a letdown. I’ve been looking forward to it for two weeks, especially after the delightful “Boys Night,” but I have to say I didn’t love it. That’s not to say I didn’t chuckle here and there, but let’s break it down and see why it wasn’t my favorite and then you can give me your opinion. Deal?

Cameron takes a job as the interim theater director at Luke and Manny’s school because the regular teacher got sick. In reality, Cam sneezed on him. Of course Cameron then turned into a theater dictator more than a director, completely rewriting the show, berating the children and making them miss things like soccer practice to rehearse. After all, Cameron pointed out, the cast of RENT (one of my favorite Broadway shows!) missed soccer practice and now they have a Tony. I kind of loved that he chose RENT to reference because 1) it’s not on Broadway anymore and 2) even if it was, I think these kids are too young to see it. I would have gone with something like WICKED or THE LION KING.

The second he had the kids hold up the letters spelling out “We Love The World,” I knew something was going to go wrong, but I never would have expected what happened. Because they were missing poor dangling-in-the-fly-space Luke’s “L” and then bringing out the Franklin Middle School “F,” the resulting visual joke of spelling out “We Love The F Word” was a great payoff and something I didn’t see coming.

Between that and Phil’s wrap-around banner ad on the family van, it was a great night for visual jokes. Leave it to Phil to have a real estate slogan that could easily be turned into a sexual innuendo. I just didn’t like the storyline surrounding it. It was such a classic sitcom misunderstanding that the writers have been relying heavily on this season and it just didn’t work for me. Yes, Claire and Haley getting honked at multiple times while driving and Phil getting 30 phone calls – most of them inquiring about the pretty blonde – was funny, but I just thought it was too predictable and not funny enough.

Something else I didn’t find funny was Jay finding out his brother, Tommy, has cancer because no matter what Michael Scott says, it’s very hard to make cancer funny. I also thought they were too old to be messing with each other as relentlessly and as intensely as they were. I’m very surprised Gloria didn’t yell at them for fighting in the hallway and breaking a lamp and instead just watched. I loved Jay collapsing in the chair he had so carefully unscrewed and spilling his drink like he had set up for Tommy, though.

One thing that’s been bothering me all season was the fact that Mitchell and Cameron call each other “boyfriend.” It’s something I’ve noticed before, but it stuck with me tonight after Mitchell stopped by rehearsal to bring Cam a PB&J (pear, brie and jambone) snack and said he was being a supportive boyfriend. I mean, I know gay marriage isn’t legal in California where the show is set, but these men have a child together! Shouldn’t they upgrade their status to something a little more substantial, like “partners”? I know this is a comedy and I shouldn’t be nitpicking at something that could potentially stir up a lot of controversy, but I think it’s something the writers should address, especially after Cam and Mitchell’s tender moments in ‘Two Monkeys and a Panda” a few weeks ago about parenting Lily together, as a couple.

Instead of ending this recap on a downward note, let’s get to some favorite lines, shall we?

o “Did the Marlboro Man have regrets?” – Phil

o “Medium five!” – to Claire after finding out Haley’s SAT scores were average.

o “See, he focused it by making it about the world.” – Mitchell, about Cameron’s play.

o “Why do you have to throw a wet blanket all over my dreams? And do you know what I end up with? Wet dreams. I heard it as soon as I said it, just leave it alone.” – Cameron

o “Years from now some of these kids will be talking about how I Sondheim-ized them.” – Cameron

o “Now get out there and sing your hearts out…not you sweetie, you just mouth the words.” – Cameron

o “It doesn’t matter, I’ll go home with anyone.” – Haley

“That’s what it should say on the van.” – Alex

o Not a line per se, but did anyone else catch the kids singing a line about Jackie Chan in the China portion of the show? I rewound it twice to make sure I heard it correctly!

Now it’s your turn. Did you enjoy this week’s episode more than I did? Were you surprised Cameron’s play wasn’t a success? And did the ad on the van make Claire look more like a prostitute (her suggestion) or an escort (Phil’s suggestion)? Let me know!