Oh, Now I Think Of It!

Last night’s Modern Family and the pilot of Suburgatory.

Spoilers...

Modern Family – “Phil on Wire” (B-)

It’s hard to think of an episode that better encapsulates the word “meh” than “Phil on Wire.” Not so awful it was unwatchable, but certainly not great either, the episode stumbled under the sheer weight of its many storylines. There were four very separate subplots in this one – which happens occasionally on this show – but with each of them getting relatively equal screen time it was difficult getting invested in any particular direction.

I think Jay and Gloria suffered the most from that this week. I do think it’s pretty funny that the once reluctant Jay has now fully embraced his new canine companion (Jay and the dog in the shower was the funniest/creepiest part of the episode), but it just felt like the storyline wasn’t given the chance to live up to its potential. We only really got to see it play out in brief glimpses, and in the end that made it feel scattered and unimportant. I don’t even think you could call it a B story...

Cam and Mitchell were the ones that probably got the most time devoted to them this week, and that actually ended up being a problem. I mean, sure, there were a few moments where the two of them were occasionally amusing. I liked listening to Mitchell list off the different stages of Cam’s dieting routine. But few stories seem more manufactured than freaking out over a juice fast. I don’t think there’s a whole lot of people who know what that’s like. I certainly don’t see it on an everyday basis, and that made the ending seem a little too over the top for my tastes. Listening to Mitchell scream out Snorkels was good for a laugh, but having the two of them roll around in the ocean took it way past the point of funny.

The one thing I did like was Phil’s ending. I couldn’t help but crack a smile watching him walk across that wire. I actually loved the scene before the tightrope walk too, the one where he and Luke had a heart to heart. There’s something remarkably entertaining about watching the thought process of those two. The way they give each other terrible advice and encourage each other in exactly the wrong ways. Maybe that’s why the ending was so rewarding. It’s nice to see that even a pair like that can get it right every once in a while.

Alright, now for my favourite lines:

PHIL: How awesome are people?
LUKE: So awesome.

HALEY: I knew it would suck having you at my school.
CLAIRE: Well hang in there. A couple more years and you’ll have it all to yourself again.

HALEY: You don’t look at me in class, you don’t text me.
ALEX: Who would text during a class?
HALEY: What are you?

PHIL: Inception Claire... dangerous game but I like it.

CLAIRE: Honey, I think those are jazz shoes.
PHIL: Nope tightrope shoes. Got them at an estate sale, only worn once.
CLAIRE: That is not a ringing endorsement.

GLORIA: It’s not the little dog that is making me crazy, it’s you that is making me crazy.
JAY: Yeah, you used to put me first. You used to want me in that shower.
MANNY: Should I be here for this?

PHIL: What was on my mind as I was walking across that wire? I kept thinking, if I can do this... then I’ve got two ways of getting across my yard.

And line of the night:

LUKE: The other day uncle Mitchell brought over a bag of junk food so he and Cam could do a Jew fast.
PHIL: Juice fast?
LUKE: I’m pretty sure he said Jew.

Suburgatory – “Pilot” (B-)

There is a serious problem with the way networks are marketing their new TV shows. I think I’ve said this about 90% of the pilots I’ve reviewed over the last couple of weeks, but the previews for these shows have actually done more to turn me off of them than to get me to want to watch. Of course I watch anyway because that’s just who I am, but without a DVR and a serious television addiction I can pretty much assure you I wouldn’t have been tuning in to more than half of these.

Ironically enough though, I think the terrible advertising may have ended up helping the pilots in the end. It’s an expectations thing. You go in with low expectations and it’s quite easy to exceed them. You go in with high and the opposite is true. I guess bravo to the marketing team if that was their plan all along.

That’s really what happened here with Suburgatory. I had such distain for the previews I really had no intention of watching. How many shows are already about life in the suburbs? Did we really need another one with a bunch of over the top plastics straight out of Mean Girls?

But alas, once again my initial impressions were wrong. Jane Levy is great as Tessa. She’s smart, quick-witted, sarcastic. Normally I won’t read the reviews of an episode before I’ve reviewed it myself, but I liked the point Eric Goldman of IGN made about Levy channelling Emma Stone in Easy A (his review was actually the only reason I watched in the first place). He’s quite right on that front, and that’s a good thing in my books – I’ve made no secret my love of that movie.

Of course it’s only the pilot, and by no means was it perfect (hence the B-), but you could see hints of some very smart writing in the debut. For that reason alone it’s probably worth it to stick around for at least a few more weeks.