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The best show on basic television.
One of the best television shows currently on air is Modern Family. Between that and Up All Night starring Christina Applegate and the ever hilarious Will Arnett, I’m back to scheduled TV watching time.
Modern Family is to this decade what The Cosby Show was to the eighties. Cliff and Claire Huxtable broke ground with their depiction of a successful African American couple elbows deep in parenting. And now, during our weekly peek into the lives of the three families featured on Modern Family, we are seeing an honest portrayal of how American family life has evolved.
You’ve got the traditional nuclear family of Phil and Clair Dunphy, the older man remarried to a smokin’ hottie played by Ed O’Neil and Sophia Vergara and, of course, my favorite and the most groundbreaking couple, Cameron and Mitchell, gay fathers to one-year old Lily.
It’s a line written for little Lily that’s causing all the controversy. As the Associated Press reports, “in the episode titled “Little Bo Bleep” airing 9 p.m. EST Wednesday, 2-year-old Lily shocks parents Mitchell and Cameron (Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet) with her first expletive.” The toddler who plays Lily actually said the word “fudge” during taping but when they bleep it on air viewers will get the impression she drops the F-bomb.
Apparently, some anti-profanity crusader is urging ABC to pull the episode. Continue reading »
Ariel Winter doesn't have a cell phone. Should your teen?
The adorable almost 14-year-old Modern Family actress Ariel Winter just walked the red carpet at the 69th annual Golden Globes. She looked age-appropriate and youthful in a fun, flirty and frilly purple dress by Dolce & Gabbana and stopped to talk to E!’s Giuliana Rancic about her home life.
Not only did Winter admit that she likes to hang out with her “normal” non-celeb friends, she said the only thing she wants more than a puppy for her 14th birthday is a cell phone. That’s right, this young Hollywood star has a job and no cell phone. How does she get by with a career in TV and no phone? Continue reading »
How does a polyamorous family work?
The ABC comedy Modern Family reflects (hilariously) that families don’t look quite the same as they used to.
While “traditional” families may be a thing of the past — with a mix of all sorts of possibilities making up the family dynamic now — here’s one that’s just a little bit different.
In this Good Morning America piece, meet a real-life modern family that consists of two dads, a mom and a baby. Continue reading »
Right : Claire from Modern Family
Modern Family, now in its second season and going strong, often poses some important parenting questions over the course of its funny story lines. Last week’s episode asked the following: Can a family have two “fun” parents?
During this episode the youngest son, who we can say isn’t the brightest character on the show, is told the parents are “splitting up” for a race. He takes the term literally, thinks his parents are divorcing, and quickly requests to go with his father, Phil, the “fun” parent.
The kid’s choice hit a nerve for me because in my house I would be considered the parent who isn’t fun.
I take the time to make sure the children eat well, take bathes, brush their teeth, go to their pediatrician check ups … you know, all those things the children would never choose to do on their own. My husband, on the other hand, often reminds me of Modern Family‘s Phil — to the point that it’s become somewhat of an ongoing joke in our house. While he doesn’t have all of Phil’s characteristics — yet — I can see my husband turning into his television counterpart over the next ten years. Continue reading »
“America’s got a bad case of gayby fever,” writes Thomas Rogers at Salon, who says that the gay parenting boom is reshaping the American family.
According to a 2007 study, more than one in three lesbians has given birth and one in six gay men have fathered or adopted a child. The same studied showed that more than half of gay men and 41 percent of lesbians say they want to have a child.
Pop culture is keeping up with the trend. The Sundance hit “The Kids Are Alright,” starring Annette Bening and Julianne Moore as gay parents, is already getting buzz as the “must-see” movie of the summer. Hit TV show “Modern Family” features gay parents. Dan Savage’s memoir “The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant” has just been turned into an off-Broadway musical.
And celebrities such as Ricky Martin, Clay Aiken, Rosie O’Donnell, Melissa Etheridge serve as the unofficial spokespeople for gay parenthood. Continue reading »
Gay characters are finally starting to mount up on primetime, but few have gotten all the way to “and baby makes three.” Gay parenting is about to get the big shot at the national stage courtesy of the Modern Family premiere on ABC this Wednesday. (WARNING: Minor spoilers ahead)
And even with Ed O’Neill in an Al Bundy-esque role as grandpa to the newly adopted daughter of Cameron and Mitchell, the best news about this show is room has been left to celebrate the triumph of two guys raising a child on TV. And it can still be funny. Continue reading »
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