Modern Family’s final season makes you long for the good old days

Modern Family started as a show which found humour in everyday things.

Modern Family worked because of its rich ensemble of characters. Despite a large star cast, each character was unique and had a purpose on the show. They are still unique but their purpose seems to be lost now.

Phil, who was the most fun of the lot, has not lost his edge but all the factors around him have changed so drastically that there’s no one for him to have a banter with. Phil and Luke shared the adorable dad-son relationship but with Luke all grown up and still living at home, things are just bleak in that department.

Ty Burrell’s Phil is still entertaining to watch but there’s no one on the show who can match his level of fun-crazy anymore.

Claire, whose screen time has increased massively in the last few seasons, still doesn’t provide the laughs. Actor Julie Bowen plays Claire as the know-it-all and while it used to work earlier with Phil’s antics, it just comes across as shrill now.

Hailey and Alex have grown up but the writers seem to be still trapped in the characteristics that they created for these characters 11 years ago. Now, Hailey is a mother and Alex has moved on to pursue her career but the traits they largely rely on are one-note. Hailey still acts as the confused teenager who is fully dependent on her parents and Alex is still seeking validation. With their graph staying stagnant for a decade, it is hard for the audience to still love these overgrown children in the garb of adults.

Every time Hailey’s character is about to head on a new path, they bring her back to the same place and we’re left with the same traits we saw 11 years ago.

As far as Jay, Gloria, Manny and Joe are concerned. Jay was never the funny one. In fact, he was the one whose point of view usually matched with the audience. Jay is to Modern Family what Jim was to The Office. Watching Jay living with the goofball yet glamorous Gloria provided enough situations to create comedy. But there’s only so much they can do with a person whose pronunciation isn’t as perfect as the others. It wears off with time and the same happened with Gloria. Joe had the potential to be the new Lily but the child never got the crackling lines that made Lily popular.

In the third house of Mitchell, Cameron and Lilly, things aren’t as dark as the other two. Agreed that Lily isn’t half as crackling as she used to be but Mitch and Cam are still kicking it. And that is the only motivation left for us to still get on with the show and bid it the goodbye it should have gotten a couple of seasons ago.

The Season 10 finale of the show was the perfect goodbye.

The Season 10 finale of the show brought the show full circle and had they ended with that, it would have been a perfect goodbye. The earlier seasons of Modern Family can still be re-watched but the same can’t be said for Season 7 and beyond.

Modern Family was one of the best sitcoms back in 2009 but in 2019, the show seems to have lost its charm.

Modern Family is available on Hotstar.