Episode 425

My first two ideas for blog topics today were self-vetoed for the following reasons:

1) If I have to relive Jin and Sun's beautiful departure, I might die of a broken heart.
2) If I were to link you to this clip, several of you might un-friend me.

So instead, I'll start by telling you about a friend I have. He is one of the best people I know, but (or maybe therefore) we have very little in common. We disagree about so many things, from coffee to political leanings to how to tell someone it's "ten of" the hour (or "ten till" according to him). But there's one thing we agree on: Modern Family.

I know I've written a good amount about this groundbreaking-but-not show, but as the first season comes to an end, it is becoming more and more clear that this show appeals to nearly everyone.

I have two theories as to why, one more complex than the other:

Theory #1: This show has managed to take the genre of voyeuristic comedy to a completely relate-able level. While not everyone works in an office, not everyone is involved in their local parks department, and not everyone attends community college (sorry, I'm excited about NBC's line-up tonight), everyone has a family of one kind or another. And while Arrested Development ushered us into the era of not-your-normal-family-family-sitcoms, let's just face it: we sadly cannot actually relate to Gob or Buster. I think that's the point, but for that reason, some people (terrible people, I might add) may find the show alienating. Modern Family, instead, makes us feel like part of the family.

Theory #2: Sofia Vergara. Male or female, ten till or ten of, we all want to gawk at 22 minutes of that.