The Inevitable Downfall Of Modern Family 

Is the Modern Family clan the best TV family of all time? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ulnd_XaRRZU.html

Im still a little disappointed this show didnt end with a scene of the director going over all the footage and saying, "yeah, we can't use any of this."

This is a really good analysis, but the constant text pop-ups is more distracting than helpful.

"When life gives you lemonade, make lemons. Life'll be all like 'what?!'" -Phil Dunphy

I personally enjoyed Modern Family from the first episode to the last.

I will agree that overall, the quality of the show went down in later seasons, I believe they did end it in a very respectable way to fans. They may have dragged it out a bit longer than needed, but it could have been far, far worse.

I will always be mad that Haley didn’t end up with Andy, the character of her they developed when she has with him was way better, after they broke up I feel like her character was kinda lost, idk

Modern Family always makes me feel like home anytime I watch it. It's sad that in the last seasons it felt like the writers did't even try anymore. For example : Hayley was getting more superficial, dumber, she was like a stereotype, while in the former seasons the character was developing and growing into a more mature and intelligent woman. I would have loved to watch each character grow even if we don't see the parents that much and we end up focusing on each kid's life. I've only watched the last season once and it was enough for me, whereas I binge watched the earlier seasons wayyyy too may times.

When you say useless death and showing the death of Phil's Dad, it's not useless it's an hommage to the actor's death in real life

Imagine calling Frank, Phil’s dad, death unnecessary. That episode was probably the best episode of the entire 11th season. And the fact that the actor actually passed away 4 months later after it aired makes it hit that much more.

The most annoying thing for me in Modern Family was Hayley’s character ‘growth’. The writers never seemed to want her to grow up, she was lazy, selfish and immature and every time we had an episode where Hayley would finally be called out it would end with her yelling and coming up with a new career that the writers would abandon, (her photography, being an influencer, working in fashion) and Phil and Claire apologising to her as usual. (Except when she was arrested at collage and Phil finally gave her a telling off for once). I read somewhere that Sarah Hyland was also disappointed with Hayley’s ending and wanted more for her character. When the writers knew that Andy and Hayley couldn’t be endgame because Andy’s actor was too busy with other projects they should have left her single and given her an amazing career (that stuck) without needing to constantly have a guy by her side. I feel like a bigger surprise and more interesting storyline would have been Alex getting pregnant in college and having the first grand baby instead. It would given Ariel Winter a bigger character storyline instead of just constantly studying all the time.

With all the kids, the ones that stayed the same was Lily and Manny. They were too "adult" when they were kids. When they finally got older, it was the samething but them older. Luke became the streetwise, lovable himbo. Haley became a family woman and entrepreneur sorta like her dad. Alex didnt change much but became more human and less "Spock logic" type. Lily and Manny... never changed. Which is the problem when you make kids act like adults.

The show failed to give the kids time to shine as growing adults; instead of having episodes focussing on only them and reducing the screen time of the parents, Modern Family did the opposite and only focused on the parents. As well as the massive issue with unresolved plot narratives and missing information regarding personal friendships and careers. The show went on for two long with little growth in the story telling content.

This is what happens when shows go on for WAY longer than they should. When the kids and teenagers grew up, there was no Ionger any precocious children around, which is why they added Joe in later seasons.

Reminds of Simpsons Was an original idea making fun of stereotypes, ends of becoming what it was making fun of

I always felt that they didn’t explore some character relationships much. Also we barely saw characters such as lily. It felt like they repeated plots with the main adult characters.

Perfect timing, just finished a rewatch of the series a couple days ago.

As soon as Lily became older, my comic relief disappeared

The characters were flanderized a lot. The same thing happened to the office and parks and rec. Every popular show gets flanderized in the later seasons

One thing I cannot forgive the writers is how they did Haley dirty at the end. SHE 👏 DESERVED 👏 BETTER 👏

I love modern family but in the later seasons it became its own satire. Every character just got more and more stereotypical and just .. weirder just to be „entertaining“. But in reality the more subtle humor was what made the show great in the first place.

Can anyone explain how the Simpsons are still on? No one ever talks about them, I never hear any advertising, and nobody ever does any reviews! Who the hell is keeping them afloat?!

Haven't watched yet, but "Inevitable" sounds right. When Modern Family first premiered, it was a novel idea to reinvigorate the traditional sitcom. But what was novel like ten years ago, is the 2020s...normal. "We have two dads!" "Cool, so does my friend David."

Maybe this is an unpopular opinion but I thought it was great all the way to the end 👍

you missed the whole point, the problem is that they started with really smart humour and relatable situations to completely unreal and over the top storylines

I still liked the last few seasons but what bothered me was the way they ended a lot of the storylines. Mitch, Lily , Cam, and the new baby moving to Missouri in particular really bothers me. Also Alex moving to Switzerland to date her boss? But other than that I think it lasted very well

6 and 7 were actually my favorite seasons. I liked Andy. I enjoyed every episode consistently up until 10 and 11, not because the quality declined but just because, for me, I did not love Haley being a mom, understand the reasoning like the full circle, but it just felt like Haley being pregnant would be the perfect ending.

I absolutely loved the kind of humour they started out with, it only got better until season 5, after that the comedy just started feeling somewhat forced, as if they were trying too hard and some characters were made annoying. But anyways, I've got to appreciate the makers of this show for some amazing comedy that they gave us.

"Cousin Oliver syndrome," or, "cute kid syndrome." Whenever a family sitcom's youngest kids are no longer young enough to be cute and automatically endearing just by being young, they start to expand the cast. Generally with a cute young kid. This is almost always a bad idea. I suppose what they should've done if they really want to keep the show going would have been to gradually phase out the adults and focus exclusively on the kids. You know, drop some of them down to recurring status where they would only turn up four or five times a season, then do that for more and more of the adults, and transition entirely to the kids. Obviously there's no way in hell they would do something like that because it would upset the existing chemistry, but it would've been interesting to see if that kind of thing would've worked

I think it's actually impressive the show still managed to be funny and heartwarming even until the end, even if the jokes weren't as funny as the early seasons. The show was definitely not envisioned to last longer than it did, or even as long as it did. They set it up with kids who would be off to college around the time sitcoms usually wrap up. With the kids gone there wouldn't be a show anymore but they continued to do more seasons anyway because the demand was there.

I honestly dont think Modern Family got worse. It was always good and i enjoyed every single episode from the pilot to the finale part 2! I rewatched the entire thing so many times now and i will do it again. What I get is the feeling of the perfect family and perfect life

i watched the show for the first time ever this year on hulu from start to finished. almost everyone just became so unlikable by the end of it. everyone had a trope they overused and it was just exhausting having to see the same scenarios go down. every episode is played out the same. some one misunderstood someone else and instead of clarifying they come up with some stupid plan to fix it and make things worse.

I’d say the show really went down hill with the increasing number of closet related storylines. They went full circle copying the Office with literally sending Claire to the office.

Although the show did start to drop with the kids growing older, in my 20 years of watching sitcoms.. Phil Dunphy is by far the funniest and best performed character I've ever seen! He along with Cam and Mitch totally carried the show.

no offense to the show or the actors, but i really liked young manny better. he acted really old for his age, and that's what made his character really funny to me.

I watched the whole series for 6 times, and still watching it. I enjoy watching every episode, the script writing is just brilliant, it's not a sitcoms that "squeeze in things just to make more money", the messages the show want to convey, through each episode, is meaningful and powerful, even for the later seasons. Of course every production wants to keep on making more money, but Modern Family do justice for their script as well as actors' performances.

I would like to encourage you to make a part 2 essay video as i dont think you went deep enough on the problems and didnt provide enough examples, positive and negative. I would recommend coming back to this topic at a later date and do a deeper dive , as Modern Family and its decline has not really been analyzed very clearly by other essayists and people want to understand more why they stopped liking the show and what they are potentially missing by not watching..

Once the writers split into two teams because the creators wouldn't work with each other anymore and they didn't take as many stories from their own lives into the writer's room, it was going downhill with the series fast.

If they were actually modern, then half the kids would've still stayed with their parents until age 30. Now THAT'S good drama!

I hated how claire was condescending and competitive with her own kids to the point where she had to provoke them even while they got along (rv episode) and how she only gets a slap on the wrist and isnt rightly called out until hailey does it

The show just felt better when the kids were *KIDS* . When they started growing up it just kinda felt sad and bland. Luke was like the funniest character in the first few seasons. Ik everyone grows up but when they started growing up, that’s when it should’ve ended. It should’ve ended around season 5 or 6.

There was no downfall. Loved them, enjoyed the show. Will miss it.

First 3 seasons were the best

To me the show should have ended with Luke and Manny's high school graduation. It was the perfect moment. Jay and Manny sharing a scotch was the most emotional moment.

I honestly think it doesn’t get worse, they do have a problem in the storytelling but the comedy is gold from the beginning to the end, and even with these problems the series is way better than most of other tv shows and holds an impressive quality considering how many seasons it has

I disagree that it overstayed its welcome, and this will always remain one of my favourite shows with a very diverse set of characters. 99% sure I'm biased, but opinions are opinions.

The only thing I hated about this show was that sisnce there were so many character, not everyone was able to shine. They joked about Cam and Mitch not knowing anything about Lily, but it doesn’t make it an excuse to not make a full episode revolve around her than what we barely got

i really liked all seasons. Meant alot to me that show.

Given the topic of overstaying, I really would like to see what you guys’s thoughts are on The Walking Dead series

I love this show, it's consistent af imo.

I would love to see a video like this about blackish 🤔

Aside from showbusiness and money, I guess it's pretty hard to end a show. It either overstays its welcome or it's still awesome and fans want to see more. (I prefer shows ending a little earlier, on a good note. It makes room for something new!)

does anybody else feel like this essay didn't add anything? like, "actors get old and will eventually need to stop doing the show" is pretty much true of everything filmed in live action. The comparison to the Simpsons is especially weird since I was pretty sure most people have been ready to give that show the old yeller treatment for at least 10 years.

The kids got old.... thats all that happened

when it comes to overstaying the welcome I definitely think of Grey’s Anatomy first. That show is NOTHING like what it once used to be

I feel like they should've ended it with Haley and Andy getting together, Manny and Luke graduating high school, Claire taking over the family business, Jay retiring, and stuff.

The issue with the show was that the kids got older, got lesser time in the episodes and in general bar maybe Luke and Lily their characters got kinda boring. Had Haley stayed with Andy she would have been Top 3 best characters in the show, but she came back with Dylan and was arguably the worst. Manny's old personality was fun when he was a kid, when he grew older it just stopped being fun. And Alex development wasn't bad but it just could have been way better than your typical trips to Antarctica for research. All in all those latter seasons were still very much watchable but nowhere near season 4 to 6 were the show was just pure gold

I agree that the quality diminished in later seasons, but it wasn't too drastic. The show was still entertaining, it just started to feel a bit redundant. I actually thought that the show was at its worst in seasons 7 and 8, and started to improve after that. Although it may have become less relatable, the show remained at a pretty high standard of quality throughout its entire run and had a memorable finale. Edit: Seriously, season 9 was so much more entertaining than 8 even if it did jump the shark a bit

The Simpsons haven't been good in a long time now

I justa hate what the show did you Manny and Lilly. One was a bad character and the other one was not even a character.

If there is going to be a new modern family spinoff im definitely going to enjoy it

It's so weird to me when people are watching a show like Modern Family then complaining that the characters grow and change. They make weird decisions and don't end up in some fairy tale ending that we were "promised". The beauty of this show was that it was relatable. People grow and change. Kids get older, make mistakes, break the mold by becoming who they're going to be in the future.

I was just lost on why the Modern Family Filter got more blue

Main problems with later seasons 1. Undoing Hayley's growth 2. Turning Luke into Quagmire 3. Manny and Alex, in general. And sometimes, Gloria

I loved this video! Around the 5th season Modern Family began cracking I felt, but during seasons 6 and 7 it still managed to hit more than it missed. By season 8 the hits got rarer and rarer, and season 9 was garbage so I stopped watching. I never considered that the children having grown up could have been the cause, but in hindsight you are totally right! At least for the most part. A telltale sign for me that the show was getting worse was that later on in its run there was a different credited writer and director for practically every episode, and the character flanderisation was awful. I found Phil was the most flanderised here, and Jay was completely ruined as a character when the writers decided to dive deep into the "fusty, silly old man" trope for him. This is more of a nitpick than anything else, but Julie Bowen's obvious facelift/botox was all I could pay attention to in each later episode. It looks comical, and in film/television especially it is distracting as facial acting is so important...and you can't do that so well when you can't move your face! I don't think she could perform that season 3 episode where she was practicing for (and later participating in) the debate with Dwayne Bailey anymore.

Bro you are trippin lol. This show was great from beginning to end. Yes there were a lot of unnecessary moments, corny/cringey parts, somethings feeling like they were being dragged too long but that is LITERALLY family life lmfao. Not everything has to be critiqued in such a complex way either.

"highly manufactured moments" is exactly what turned me away from the show. It lost all it's context, jokes had nothing to do with the scenes and felt like one liners. It took a nose dive.

Few shows understand, “Quit while you’re ahead”.

They should have had more storylines around Lily. Her character felt underused.

I always notice the type of filters they use, in the beginning its all bright and yellow and in the end is really dark and blue. That van also give different vibes tho

One great show that overstayed it’s welcome

I‘ve watched the show like 4 times, and I still laugh to every joke . I don’t think there was a downfall and I find every joke very smart, creative and funny. The character development is awesome, and the writers created characters that are so alive I feel like I could encounter them in real life. Maybe there are some plot holes, for example, what happened to jay and Phil’s parking area? or Phil’s magic shop? but I think overall Modern Family is an awesome show, that makes me cry, laugh and feel so many different emotions.

modern family is my favorite show out there. i think its funny and well written and the characters are all so likable. i think that it did have a dip in quality around season 7. and the final season could've definitely been a lot better.

This show was great when it started but it had no business winning the best comedy series Emmy 5 years in a row

UNNECESARY DEATHS THE DUDE DIED IRL

I guess because of the mockumentary format it was shot in, the seperate and still loosely connected episode plots between different characters is what kept me invested in the show the whole time, as opposed to the journey of specific characters. There's something about this shows comedy that felt brilliant and engaging compared to a lot of other sitcoms.

I seem to agree with most of the people in the comments that the show never got "Bad" it just dipped in quality in the later seasons. As this is my favorite TV show of all time, I personally think the quality of the show over time went like: Seasons 1 -3 : Golden Age but with a slight decline in greatness each season Season 4: Definitely lower than the first 3 seasons but still overall amazing. Especially the final stretch of episodes! Seasons 5 - 6: The first half of season 5 was like season 4, but quality shot way up in the latter half of season 5 and all of season 6. Season 7: Last "Great" season. First half much better than second half. Season 8: Steady decline with a few great episodes mixed in. Season 9: Lowest point of the show for me, but still some really fun episodes (I.E. Lake Life, Wine Weekend) Season 10: Overall better than season 9 with some really heartwarming moments, but still not as good as the first 6.5 seasons. Finally season 10 may have had the greatest episode since Lost Connection with A Year of Birthdays) Season 11: Really sad and heartwarming at times and didn't have as much of the traditional Modern Family comedy as this was the farewell season. (The exception being The Prescott!) Definite rise in quality from season 9 and a good amount of 10 though.

Modern Family was great when they played it straight. Once they started ACTING funny or TRYING to act funny, it was no longer good. Only the first maybe 6 seasons are good. After that it’s pretty forgettable.

By the time I was halfway through college, I thought this show was off the air or on it's final days. Didn't realize it actually had an 11 year run. Modern family is perhaps the first 2010's family sitcom as well even though it started in 2009 just because it originally led the way for 2010's family sitcom diversification.

I feel like the US version of Shameless had a similar problem when Fiona left, and characters like Debbie and Carl took weird turns all of a sudden

Can't even believe your timing, guys. Started the rewatch and currently midway through the 10th season

I absolutely loved this show at the start. Seasons 1 - 3 were perfect. 4 and 5 were good. From 6 onwards they were fresh out of ideas as the kids were older and just reverted to every episode being absolute chaos with Phil shouting all the time. I gave up around season 7.

I enjoyed the show and even watched it twice, but on second viewing all of its flaws became bye oblivious to be. It's a very superficial show that relies on stereotypes that are coated with a fresh coat of format (mockumentary). We have a loud latina that is a criminal, a stupid self absorbed teenager, a gay couple who are huge divas that love musicals and are both feminine (it's true that Cam also loves football and he lived on a farm, but that just doesn't change his mannerisms) and more cliches and stereotypes.

Cam is chill? Don’t think I was watching that show

unnecessary character deaths... proceeds to show clip of character death they had to do since the actors died

I never actually liked this show. It was one of those shows that everyone talked about for a few years that I never understood the appeal of, but all the talk stopped all at once even though the show apparently continued. Glad I never invested any time in it.

Frank wasnt a unnecessary death the actor literally passed away

I just finished the series (like literally) and I have to say I can totally understand why some decisions the writers made came off as lazy or unfounded. Especially if you dedicated 12 years of your life being a fan. However for a show that lasted 11 seasons, I simply cannot say it had even one season where I felt the people involved dropped the ball or were completely misguided. Sure I would’ve liked to have seen Manny have more development, and Alex ending up with her sisters ex is incredibly unfair to the character. But I don’t even see those as deeply massive flaws. The show was always about the awkwardness and chaos of life and how beautiful that can be in its own way and it did that very well through all 250 episodes. The show isn’t perfect, none are. But the flaws are so minuscule in contrast to how great the show portrayed life in a big, chaotic but loving family. I totally understand why it lasted for as long as it did.

"Sometimes shows have a way feeling like they are hanging around a little too long." is way understating this problem. Almost all American TV shows with any kind of success run until every last dime is squeezed out to of them.

For me personally what made Modern Family hard to watch is Alex's character becoming unbearable. She went from being the different, smart-but-difficult middle child to just downright entitled and annoying a lot of times. I esp hate that one episode when they went on that boat trip to see the eclipse n she brought her boyfriend/mom's assistant which she treated horribly the whole trip and no one gives a shit. I know he's supposed to be a comic relief but man... Not a well written one. Dylan at least is still funny as a comic relief without making Haley or even Claire look like a horrible person. Edit: also hate that when Alex was younger, she was made fun of for being too nerdy she doesnt have experience with boys, but once she gets older she immediately jumps to making bad decisions after bad decisions when it comes to boys, dating boys just to toy with them and 'release stress', even using a high school boy who's obsessed w her for that. Not sure abt the message it sends...

90% just watched to see Sofia she fine af

in which universe was Cameron written as "laid-back"? I LOVE THAT DRAMA QUEEN SO MUCH

what personally drew me to this show was the feeling of resinating with the characters. personally i love Phil, Mitch, Cam and Gloria the most because they’re so relatable.

Imo modern family is one of the very few shows to run that long and never get old or have a bad season

The problem was that all the characters stopped being retable. Yes, they were all rich before but they still had the same everyday struggles of raising a family. In the later seasons, there was never any actual conflict.

The last great woodside episode of that show was the Vegas one. Once the kids grew up and they had to shoehorn in phony reasons to keep them around and decided to turn Phil into Homer Simpson and Claire into a monster, it was awful. The utterly inept acting of the girl who played Lily only made things worse.

I wouldn't say Phil's dads death was an 'unnecessary death'... the actor died and so I think it was important they recognise him and the role he played in the show.

The last few seasons weren't as good, but I still enjoyed it all the way through. Most shows fall apart after 4 or 5 seasons. MF was great for 8 or so and good for all 11.

Can we also talk about how the show would just forget basic information about the characters - like how Phil suddenly had 10 jobs or that time Joe had a crush on his sister?

Modern family and the middle were shows I loved watching with my mom. She passed away last year and I adore rewatching those shows.