BLOGS
If you don't factor in any plotline except for the boys' night with Phil and Dave (a.k.a guest star Matthew Broderick, who plays a gay man quite convincingly), "Mistery Date" would definitely be one of the best Modern Family episodes in a while. Sure, the show has done a handful of plots chock full of dramatic irony where we know one character is gay or straight, but one of the Dunphys definitely doesn't, or, like Phil's encounter in this episode, an outsider thinks a Dunphy is interested in them when we know they don't play for the same team. Just off the top of my head: Claire had a night out with Cam and Mitch's friend who turned out to be straight; Manny's pal who he met online revealed at the end of an episode that she thought Cam could be "the one"; the whole Is Shorty Gay? saga -- so yeah, it's been done. But what made this plotline so funny was Ty Burrell, and how his interactions with Dave were actually kind of Phil-lite in terms of what we sometimes see from his character. I'm shocked at how well he downplayed his accidental come-ons and innuendos. I seriously cracked up every scene he was in.
As for the other family members... where do I begin? I don't know what Jesse Tyler Ferguson did to piss off the writers, but I genuinely found him painful to watch in this episode. Of course, he had no loving connection whatsoever with Cam (a classic Modern Family trope at this point), Jay was a grumpy old man who is slightly afraid of change, Gloria is super pregnant and emotional (not sure if you knew), Claire and Alex were utterly predictable and lame and even Luke and Manny hanging out at bar mitzvahs wasn't nearly as funny as it should have been. Whatever. For the sake of salvaging what worked in the episode, here are the best lines of the night, presented without comment:
"Do you want to go to the contestants mixer?"
"No, I don't want to humanize them."
"I know this sounds crazy, but I feel like my whole life has led to this moment"
"You made a very similar speech to get my mom to stop for those churros."
"You met him at hookup central, of course it's a date-date!"
"Such a hurry, this one!
"She knows I need this every so often. Long as I clean up afterwards, she's fine."
"Was I the only one listening to Uncle Menachem's toast?"
"Wow, your hand's shaking. Remember, Dave: It's just a game!"
"Well, I guess this is something we're doing!"
"Huh. Ohh..."
Think you've got game? Prove it! Check out Games Without Pity, our new area featuring trivia, puzzle, card, strategy, action and word games -- all free to play and guaranteed to help pass the time until your next show starts.
MOST RECENT POSTS
Today's TWoP News: Wednesday, February 20, 2013
New Girl: Roomate Do's and Don'ts of the Week
Wednesday, February 20, 2013: American Idol
Today's TWoP News: Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Saturday Night Live: The Best Sketches of the Night
TV on DVD: Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Tuesday, February 19, 2013: Cult
I Want My DVD: Tuesday, February 19, 2013
BLOG ARCHIVES
The Telefile
February 2013
21 Entries
January 2013
62 Entries
December 2012
44 Entries
November 2012
59 Entries
October 2012
69 Entries
September 2012
66 Entries
August 2012
65 Entries
July 2012
51 Entries
June 2012
58 Entries
May 2012
68 Entries
April 2012
71 Entries
March 2012
68 Entries
February 2012
64 Entries
January 2012
78 Entries
December 2011
49 Entries
November 2011
56 Entries
October 2011
74 Entries
September 2011
77 Entries
August 2011
61 Entries
July 2011
56 Entries
June 2011
57 Entries
May 2011
57 Entries
April 2011
78 Entries
March 2011
73 Entries
February 2011
57 Entries
January 2011
65 Entries
December 2010
39 Entries
November 2010
45 Entries
October 2010
46 Entries
September 2010
62 Entries
August 2010
55 Entries
July 2010
53 Entries
June 2010
65 Entries
May 2010
59 Entries
April 2010
57 Entries
March 2010
67 Entries
February 2010
53 Entries
January 2010
59 Entries
December 2009
32 Entries
November 2009
47 Entries
October 2009
65 Entries
September 2009
66 Entries
August 2009
58 Entries
July 2009
72 Entries
June 2009
71 Entries
May 2009
50 Entries
April 2009
57 Entries
March 2009
66 Entries
February 2009
52 Entries
January 2009
56 Entries
December 2008
51 Entries
November 2008
71 Entries
October 2008
88 Entries
September 2008
86 Entries
August 2008
120 Entries
July 2008
115 Entries
June 2008
90 Entries
May 2008
44 Entries
April 2008
30 Entries
March 2008
26 Entries
February 2008
30 Entries
January 2008
44 Entries
December 2007
31 Entries
November 2007
66 Entries
Comments