Modern Family: The Untold Oral History of One of Television's Groundbreaking Sitcoms by Marc Freeman

Modern Family: The Untold Oral History of One of Television's Groundbreaking Sitcoms by Marc Freeman

Author:Marc Freeman [Freeman, Marc]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B082RRCKXM
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2020-05-18T23:00:00+00:00


Jay crosses off to deal with the luggage.

CLAIRE

(Calling after Jay)

Wouldn’t miss it for the world.

  (Then to Mitchell)

We can bail on the reception, though, right?

NEW SCENE

MITCHELL

We’re all so proud of you, Dad.

CLAIRE

We love that we get to be here for this.

Jay crosses off to deal with the luggage.

In the new version, both of Jay’s kids show pride in their father. Claire’s feigned and slightly cold disinterest disappears.

A big debate in the room involves a single joke. Levitan begins by framing the skeleton of Jay taking in the occasion of his winning a prestigious closet award. “I wish my old man could be here to see this. Funny, he stormed the beaches of Normandy and I’m getting the closet award. Who’s the bigger hero now?”

The room comes alive as everyone throws in suggestions about a new punchline. Some get ignored, some talked over, others considered and then dropped. Everyone wants to be the one to land the joke. It feels like an episode of Match Game with Gene Rayburn:

I wish my old man could be here to see this. Funny, he stormed the beaches of Normandy, and I’m getting the closet award, blank …

People shout out punchlines:

Two American heroes in one family.

We both left our mark in Europe.

This country brings out the best in both of us.

A couple of heroes.

The room grows quiet as everyone regroups. Suddenly, out of the blue, Walsh speaks up. “We keep topping each other. Who knows what Joe will do?”

The room cracks up. Drop mic. Winner. Moving on, they try to come up with funny names of other closet businesses. The script already has Heinrich Müler of Berlin’s Closet-stadt, Susan Sasaki of Tokyo’s Closets and Canned Whale Meat. The room cleverly adds as possibilities Warsaw Wardrobes, Finnish Unfinished Closets, Norway’s Afjordable Closets, and Das Closets.

In the second room, most of the conversation revolves around Alex’s plight, working for a non–environmentally friendly conglomerate and perhaps walking off into the sunset with her fireman ex-boyfriend. In a surprise, Arvin Fennerman, one of Haley’s old lovers, will be returning for episode 15. Alex always had a thing for him. Perhaps Fennerman’s scientific theory came to the wrong Dunphy conclusion? That remains to be seen. I have been told she will be quitting her corporate job to work on a scientific project with him. The rest remains a mystery. Levitan teases his appearance for me. “In creating a world of characters, it’s nice to revisit some after a while because, as in life, people have a way of coming back, leading us to reflect on where we are in our lives since last seeing them.”

The writers also talk about Mitchell and Cam’s ultimate fate. Looks like through a series of circumstances, another baby lurks on their horizon. That requires a bigger house. And then wouldn’t you know, Cam gets offered a job back in Kansas to coach football. The writers wonder aloud if for a cherry on top of all of their life changes, would it be funny if they see



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