‘Modern Family’ Finale Marks the End of an Era

The series finale of Modern Family aired tonight, capping off 11 seasons of one of the most successful sitcoms in history. Much like the Lakers were the team of the 1980’s, Modern Family was the show of the 2010’s, especially because it spanned the entire length of the decade. In my personal opinion, I think it’s the last of its kind. Networks are struggling to compete with platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Prime Video which allow for so much more artistic freedom. Seriously, when was the last time anyone really cared about a show on CBS, NBC, ABC, or FOX? I’m not saying people don’t watch the shows on those networks, but premium cable and streaming services are dominating the industry and awards shows.

Therefore, the finale of Modern Family marks the end of an era that we very likely will never see again. My family and I have watched this show religiously since the pilot episode, and we’ve celebrated the countless Emmy’s and Golden Globes that it received over the years like the Dodgers had just won the World Series. It’s stretch of FIVE consecutive Emmy wins for “Best Comedy Series” is only matched by Frasier, and is a feat I’m sure will never be reached again. Only the 1949-1953 Yankees have matched that type of success, and that was back when pitchers topped out at 85 and players still needed offseason jobs to survive. I’ll even go on record to say that those early seasons of Modern Family are undoubtedly the best of any sitcom in the last 25 years, and possibly of all time (you’ll need a boomer to tell you if it was better than Golden Girls or whatever shows they watched before the Clinton presidency). Yes, that means I hold it in higher regard than The Office and Friends, two of the most beloved shows by people of my generation. I’m not saying those weren’t good/great shows, I’m just saying that Modern Family was better. And just like The Office and Friends, I think Modern Family will have a resurgence in a couple years when younger people rediscover it on Hulu and realize just how awesome it was.

However, I’d be lying if I said I thought every season was better than the last, because they weren’t. But do you realize how hard it would be to write 250 equally amazing episodes of a single show? Eventually, the storyline falls a bit flat, the actors don’t exude the same charisma they did in the early seasons, or key characters exit the show. It happened to The Office when Michael left, in Friends when Joey and Rachel started to have feelings for each other, and to Modern Family when they brought back Dylan. I’ve never known what it’s like to write 22 minutes of intriguing TV, but even I knew that was a lame decision. But by then they had accomplished so much that it didn’t spoil anything about the series for me, unlike season 8 of Game of Thrones. I’d say season seven was the last truly great season of the show, even though the later episodes were still more enjoyable than anything else on network TV.

It would be impossible to write about Modern Family without reminiscing about some of its best episodes. I’ve narrowed it down to my top three episodes from the series: “My Funky Valentine”, “Family Portrait”, and “Caught in the Act”. “My Funky Valentine” introduced us to Phil and Claire’s sexy alter ego’s: Clive Bixby and Juliana, who they play when they want to spice things up in their relationship. “Family Portrait” set up an awkward situation for Phil when Gloria kisses him on the “Kiss Cam” at a Lakers game. He’s worried that Jay and Claire are going to find out and be pissed, which makes Phil act even weirder than he usually is. Plus the episode gave us on of the series’ most iconic family photos.

However, my all-time favorite episode is “Caught in the Act” which is where the Dunphy kids walk in on their parents having sex. Eventually Jay and Gloria are brought into the mix, because what father wouldn’t want to hear about his daughter having sex?! I also want to give a shoutout to “Manny Get Your Gun” which features one of my favorite Mitch and Cam scenes ever.

I’ve watched a lot of shows from start to finish in my life, but this one cuts deep. It was one of the first shows (aside from Disney or Nickelodeon) that I watched on a weekly basis. Now that I’ve started reminiscing about old episodes and watched some of my favorite scenes, it makes me realize how much of my life this show was on the air and how influential it’s been on not only me, but my family as well. Shows like this always feel like they’ll be around forever, but the sad reality is that all good things must come to an end. Wednesday’s at 9 PM won’t feel the same without you. Now if you don’t mind, excuse me while I binge all 250 episodes of Modern Family through the rest of this quarantine.