“What qualifies someone as a hero?” asks Manny Delgado (Rico Rodriguez), one of the cast’s protagonists, at the end of an episode of Modern Family. “Obviously, a hero has to be someone we respect. A person to admire; May she be generous of spirit, willing to grow and learn. Maybe that person is the one who loves you the most in this world. Or whoever gets the most out of life regardless of what others think. For me, however, the hero of my family is my family itself, for who we are when we are together.”
The comedy series released in 2009 gave us that type of family for a decade. United and dysfunctional, but it remains strong and united, regardless of the number of people who make it up, the ideals they profess, their customs or whether they are – even – on the other side of the television. Created by Steve Levitan and Christopher Lloyd, Modern Family presented the most real and close group of relatives to the public that had been seen in years.
The Pritchetts and Dunphys arrived at the prime time from television in the US along with a family group that included different age ranges, sexual preferences, races and ideologies; elements with which the audience connected instantly. “[Steve y yo] “We were playing with a lot of sitcom ideas, but they didn’t seem real,” Christopher Lloyd told Guardian in 2016. “So we thought, what about what we talk about with each other, our kids, and the idiotic things that happen in our homes? Is there a way to make a family show – which is, in some ways, the most trivial topic on television – but a little more real?”
Slightly inspired by the French series Fais pas ci, fais pas ça (2007), Levitan and Lloyd created a kind of mockumentary which allowed them to transform the stereotype of the typical American family to adapt it to the infinite combinations of the 21st century. The one who today is the Show ABC’s longest-running comedy series to date – with 250 episodes broadcast – and winner of five consecutive Emmys for Best Comedy Series – tying the record for Frasier– has a major triumph that will be difficult to forget: dare to revolutionize the established.
Modern Family It is the first series that featured two gay men (Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson) as parents of a little girl from Vietnam. It was the first television production that built a marriage between a Caucasian man (Ed O’Neill) and a Latina woman, a single mother and several decades younger than him (Sofía Vergara). and became the first Show which, within what could be seen as a “traditional” home, showed through Claire (Julie Bowen) and Phil (Ty Burrell) that a mother can resume her professional life and become the director of a company.
“When we were filming on location, a gay couple approached us and told us that not only were we making people laugh, but we were making them more tolerant.” Said Levitan at the 2011 Emmy ceremony. “I think they were right and that [con Modern Family] “We were teaching the world that there is absolutely nothing wrong with a committed and loving relationship between a mature man and an attractive young woman,” he said, surrounded by laughter.
You might also be interested: Reasons why we love Modern Family.
Between dreamers and realists
“In this world there are dreamers and realists.” That’s what Cameron Tucker (Eric Stonestreet) says in one of those many endings of Modern Family that close with a great moral. Plus a few tears and laughter mixed in. “You would think that dreamers meet other dreamers and realists meet theirs. But most of the time the opposite happens. You see: dreamers need realists to not fly so close to the sun. And the realists, well, without the dreamers perhaps they would never leave the ground.”
Over eleven years, Modern Family Not only his family message transmitted through television stood out. Behind the scenes, its cast constantly fought for fair and equitable conditions for all its members; from the biggest stars to emerging talents. In the Emmy nominations, for example, the main actors always participated in the shortlists for supporting performance and never in the stellar ones. On the second time that Ty Burrell received said statuette, he did not fail to express his surprise at the little recognition given to the children’s cast as a fundamental pillar of the series.
Ariel Winter, who played Alex Dunphy, was physically and verbally abused by her mother during the filming of the first seasons of the series. Her colleagues, but especially Julie Bowen, sheltered and supported her during the legal process of separating from her parents. Today, both maintain a strong relationship, very similar to that between a mother and her daughter.
His commitment to the concept of family togetherness has always been very vocal. During one of the most critical moments of the Trump Era in the US, Steve Levitan used his Twitter account to express his discontent with the way in which Fox News has covered the situation of migrants between the Mexico and US border. “I am disgusted to work for a company that has anything to do with Fox News. This shit is the opposite of what Modern Family It represents”. He said, in addition to announcing his separation from the company after the final season of the series.
If Manny were to ask again what qualifies someone as a hero, the answer could be exemplified by any of the adventures of this fun family made up of dreamers and realists; a group of people who, over eleven years, made us laugh and cry, but, above all, filled us with love for those beings we have at our side and whom, in any situation, we can always call “family.”
About the distribution of Modern Family
We tell you a little about the distribution of Modern Family.
- Ed O’Neill from life to Jay Pritchett. A divorced man, with two children from his first marriage and remarried to a much younger woman.
- Gloria, played by Sofía Vergara, is a loving mother who always seeks the best for her son. Rico Rodriguez plays Manny who is Gloria’s son and raised with the help of Jay, since his father does not pay much attention to him.
- Julie Bowen plays Claire who works for her father, Jay, at his closet company.
- In turn, she is married to Phil (Ty Burrell). He is a real estate agent who also wants to be a dad cool.
- Sarah Hyland plays Haley, the couple’s eldest daughter.
- Ariel Winter plays Alex, the middle daughter, a very intelligent girl.
- And Nolan Gould plays Luke, the strange little brother.
- Mitchell is played by Jesse Tyler Ferguson, he is a lawyer and lives with his partner, Cameron who is played by Eric Stonestreet. Together they adopted a girl from Vietnam: Lily who is played by Aubrey Aderson-Emmons.
Where to watch Modern Family?
You can find all 11 seasons of this fun family comedy on Star Plus.
Arturo Magaña Arce Passionate about watching, writing, reading, researching and talking about cinema in all its forms. I’m a Star Wars fan, I know all the episodes of Friends by heart and if you ask me about Mexican cinema, no one can shut me up. Editor at Cine PREMIERE.