Modern Family: The End of an Era

The ABC Sitcom has been a triumph in modern-day media, and its departure from TV is not one to miss.

Modern Family has been the ABC Studio’s longest running hit, with it winning numerous Emmy’s and accreditations from top critics. It was hailed as showing the American lifestyle through a satirical lens, helping break the ice on some controversial topics. It was more than just a show; it helped bring together opposite ends of the spectrum to the middle ground.

The show has left a lasting impact on American television, changing how the media uses its presence to send a message. Throughout the eleven seasons, viewers were following three very different, but intertwined families:

The Dunphy’s: Claire and Phil are the parents; Haley, Alex, and Luke, their biological children

The Pritchett-Tucker’s: Mitchel and Cameron are the parents; Lily the adopted daughter

The Pritchett’s: Jay and Gloria are the parents; Claire and Mitchel are Jay’s kids, Manny is Gloria’s son.

They are all related and live in California, and the show explores the struggles each family had internally, but also the problem of seeing each other eye-to-eye as a whole. The setting of being in California was significant because of its rapid social and political changes. The show explored many different topics, such as gay marriage, teenage hardships, college life, and marriage difficulties. It successfully utilized the show in a broader aspect to show that it is ok to go through these things.

In the pilot episode, it showed the Mitchel and Cameron adopt Lily. It showed the delicate relationship between Claire and Gloria, given that she is older than her new stepmom. It showed the hardships Jay had accepting the ever-changing pop culture his kids/grandkids live in and most importantly: accepting them. It didn’t just stop there, and continued to break the ice for difficult conversations that needed to be had. In season four, it aired an episode right after gay marriage was legalized in the state of California, and focused much of that episode’s theme under gay marriage. The biggest thing it tried to show was that a woman can take on the position as head of the household, like what viewers see in the Dunphy home.  The first episode triumphed in being unapologetic in giving time to show that acceptance towards one another isn’t always easy, but eventually comes around. In season five onwards, it explored the difficulties of being Asian-American in a predominantly white society, and how normal it can be to have a gay parents. In season seven and eight, it showed Haley’s struggle as a college dropout, and how it became a journey to overcome doubts from disobeying the social norms.

As the seasons went by, ABC continued to show that it can follow up with what was happening in the modern world and evolve the show to keep up with the pop culture. Season eight saw the power card shift to a woman in the workplace, as Claire took over Jay’s position as CEO of Pritchetts Closets and Blinds. In season nine it aired an episode where it explained sexuality to Jay and Cameron, helping break the stigma of the LGBTQ+ being misunderstood by older generations. In the same season, it showed that like many other high school graduates in the US, you can follow the same path Luke took in attending Community College and that your life isn’t over. Modern Family didn’t fail to provide hope to many Americans, and quite frankly people around the world, that you can be different and still make it in society.

As the show came to its last and final season, ABC had done its job for following more than a decade of change in the American Dream. April 8th was the premiere of the show finale, and actors and actresses who played on the show flooded social media with heartfelt post expressing their sadness for their last trip to Fox Studios. The connections viewers had with each character were personal, and the farewell episode said goodbye to those Wednesday Night get-togethers. Even as the last episode aired, it showed that no matter who we are, we will always be a modern family.

Featured Image The cover photo for Modern Family: Season 11 Photo courtesy to ABC Studios

by Samuela Ma’u