Modern Family

Last week I went to the Dan O'Shannon, Executive Producer of the ABC sitcom Modern Family, for the Park Distinguished Speakers event. His talk was very interesting and it made me watch a couple episodes of Modern Family afterwards, which I have always been a big fan of. One of the things that Dan O'Shannon talked about during his speech was how he used experiences in his real life for episodes of the TV show. For example, Dan said that the episode where Phil and Claire find a cigarette burn in the couch on Christmas was based on his real life. This idea made me realize that it is probably much easier to make a realistic story if it has actually happened to you or someone you know.

After going to see Dan O'Shannon, I watched a couple of episodes of Modern Family. I think the thing that I enjoy the most about the sitcom and also what sets it apart from other TV shows is the character development. Every single character in the show is unique and original. Phil is the dad who always try to be the cool dad. He always tries to stay young and act like the kids are his best friends. Claire is the mom who is constantly cleaning up after the kids and taking care of them. Jay is the oldest and the head of the family. Jay is also married to the much younger, Gloria, a Colombian woman. Jay has two children Claire and Mitchell. Mitchell is gay and recently adopted a baby girl with his partner Cam. Not only are the adults tremendous characters but the kids are as well.

Modern Family is a hilarious sitcom that appeals to a wide variety of people. I think the reason it is so popular is because the characters are very different but still in the same family. They are all very different but similar at the same time. Many families can probably relate to the characters in some way, which makes Modern Family different from other tv sitcoms.