Sunday, May 23, 2010

pleasantly surprised

Gosh I love it when commercial TV does OK. This time, I'm delighted to announce that the pilot of Modern Families narrowly avoided the offensiveness hinted at in its trailers (thanks Channel 10, your inability to pick appropriate highlights astounds me yet again).

The first episode was exactly how I like my TV: wacky but tight (incidentally, this is also how I like men, RAWR). It spanned the whole gamut of lolz, from the most outrageously amusing (The Lion King tribute springs to mind) to the more subtly hilarious (mistaking 'Phil' for 'feel'). And, despite leaning on those tired-but-true mockumentary stylings, I think there's enough original thinking here to help this one get by. For starters, it isn't set a work place. Points for that.



I think also it helps that I'm addicted to stories about dysfunctional but well-meaning families. Though I guess the good news is that if this show does OK there might still be hope for "Woz Woz World" after all.

xxx

2 comments:

  1. i'm pretty torn! i kept getting off the couch to go do something else, but then when i would return i would crack up laughing? the "cool dad" is such a blatant michael scott (i did laugh at "Why The Face"). but everything else is pretty "fresh" i guess?

    the lion king tribute was the best bit for me - "turn it OFF" "I CAN'T TURN IT OFF IT'S WHO I AM"

    i might try watching again. there were no song and dance numbers though unfortunately, i'm having trouble enjoying television without them

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  2. look, i had to watch the ep twice because i watched it by myself, and then my parents requested to watch it with me (i taped it) - and second time round was infinitely more hilarious than the first. granted, the dad is a bit michael scott, but in his paternal position he reminded me more of Real Dads I Know, which i appreciated.

    if anything, to me it feels a little bit bluth-esque, but like if the bluth family actually liked each other a bit.

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