Modern Family: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray Review
Nathan Swank
October 3rd, 2012
Modern Family has quickly become the sitcom juggernaut. In it’s third season, the ABC primetime comedy has obtained numerous Emmy Awards, become a critics darling and is a ratings powerhouse. As a personal favorite in our household, Modern Family: The Complete Third Season finds the whole family back in usual funny identifiable form.
The Dunphy’s, Phil (Ty Burrell) and Claire (Julie Bowen) and their kids Haley (Sarah Hyland), Alex (Ariel Winter) and Luke (Nolan Gould) all try to support Claire as she runs for city office, Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) make plans to adopt a second child, and Jay (Ed O’Neill), Gloria (Sofía Vergara) and Manny (Rico Rodriguez) adjust to their new dog. At first sight these scenarios might seem a bit pedestrian but the creators of Modern Family mine comedic gold out of every situation. Finding original humor in familiar situations is where the show truly succeeds.
The entire crew escape to a Dude Ranch and Disneyland for some fun-filled vacations and Phil comes up with Express Christmas, which are all a silly good time. But the show tickles its funny bone stride when dealing with real issues such as Manny trying to impress a girl by driving, Claire agreeing to carry Mitchell and Cameron’s next baby while they all had a few too many to drink and Phil finding out too much information about his daughters virginity. These issues not only bring on tears from laughing so hard but also might tug a few emotional one’s out as well.
While the first season capitalized in originality, the second season strived because the actors were able to settle into their characters (click the link to read our Modern Family: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Review and Modern Family: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Review). The third season is still great but doesn’t have these advantages of the freshman and sophomore seasons. While many episodes are as good as ever, sadly a few felt like misses. But finally having a few duds is actually quite impressive considering they didn’t come until venturing into a third season. And when I use the term ‘duds’ I’m referring to the quality of expectations Modern Family has put upon itself. To the show’s credit, as a whole, it is still better than most every other comedy on television and still a must see for all fans of the show.
The writing is top notch, creating everyday family issues that everyone can relate to in someway or another, albeit many times on a much smaller scale. We can always rely on Phil’s corny jokes, Gloria’s botching of the English language and Cameron’s midwest strength mixed with diva emotions. Their familiarity makes them feel like part of the family as we tune in each week. The key is the family dynamic that the actors embody through each character. They are instantly likable and relatable all with their own quirks and differences. Every character and actor plays their part to perfection and all have their moment to shine, making it hard to pick a favorite (although I have a secret bias toward Kansas City native Eric Stonestreet and fellow proud Kansas State University graduate).
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: (1.78:1, 1080p) A great looking picture.
Audio: (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) Excellent sound for a television series.
Disc One
Deleted and Alternate Scenes (6:29): Seven fairly funny scenes.
Destination: Wyoming (9:43): A look at the on location shoot of the double episode in Wyoming.
A Day on the Set with Ty ( 5:38): Ty Burrell being funny about being a star. Also we learn that Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston directed an episode.
Adventures of the Modern Family Kids (3:35): This is just a montage of the kid actors having more fun than the rest of us do in life
Disc Two
Deleted and Alternate Scenes (8:56): Nine very funny scenes.
A Modern Family Christmas (5:59): An overview looking at the making of the special Express Christmas episode
Driving Lessons (2:55): The two boys, Rico Rodriguez and Nolan Gould, go over their very funny driving episode.
Ed O’Neill Gets a Star (16:49): I had no idea O’Neill got a star. Good for him. He requested his television wives speak and both Katey Segal from Married With Children and Sophia Vergara from Modern Family do a wonderful job.
Disc Three
Deleted and Alternate Scenes (7:14): Alright, finally a batch that were unfunny and rightfully cut.
Modern Family Goes to Disneyland Resort (3:11): The cast and crew are at Disneyland and you are not.
Gag Reel (8:56): This is actually pretty humorous of the cast flubbing their lines.
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