One of the most unusual yet hilarious sitcoms, Modern Family, has been a game changer in the genre. Blending the themes of mockumentary with heartfelt comical storytelling, it is one of the most-watched sitcoms across the world. However, even a show as brilliant as Modern Family has had instances when it failed to hit the mark, struggling to find its footing.
One such instance was during a season one episode, where the comedic direction of the show to its storytelling, all went awry. Even though the said episode had its share of laughs, abandoning all its logic for a few laughs ended up making it one of the lamest moments of the sitcom.
When Modern Family abandoned logic for a lame storyline
While there have been plenty of illogical and lame instances in the sitcom, Modern Family, and they have all today become indispensable parts of the show, there was once a time when the show went too awry to call it entertaining. The instance we are talking about is the ninth episode of season one, titled Fizbo.
The premise of the episode revolves around the Dunphy family’s attempt to throw a birthday party for their son, Luke Dunphy. Although the party starts as relatively normal, the celebration soon ends up being an absurd chain of events, from Cameron’s alter ego, the clown Fizbo, to Hailey’s stupid actions just because of jealousy.
In an attempt to make his son’s birthday memorable, Phill hires Jungle Tanya, an exotic animal handler, to introduce the children to various creatures, from pythons to iguanas. However, after Dylan gets too close to Tanya, Haley, overcome with jealousy, lets loose a poisonous scorpion in the house.
However, the family, instead of reacting appropriately given there is a poisonous arachnid loose in the house, carries on with the party normally. Instead of prioritizing the safety of the children and others by evacuating them, the adults remain nonchalant.
Well, not only does it lead to chaos, but it sets a wrong example for fans and undermines the characters‘ parental instincts. Instead of acting reasonably and responsibly, the adults’ lack of care makes the whole episode painfully illogical and lame.
The scorpion isn’t the only illogical thing in the episode
Another focal point of the episode is Cameron’s Fizbo, his alter ego crown that he decides to show up as at the party. Even though Mitchell objects to his dressing up as Fizbo and Phil’s undisclosed fear of clowns, Cameron insists on his decision to go as the clown.
Well, it was his grand entrance that ended up making the party one large fiasco. As Mitchell starts telling Claire that Fizbo is a bad-ass, the scorpion makes an appearance, making Fizbo run in fear and knock over the crafts table. Phil, afraid of the clown, ends up hitting Jay, who was showing off the crossbow that he got for Luke, which Gloria insisted was not a good idea.
The crossbow accidentally hits the bouncy castle, trapping Manny’s crush Bianca and her balloon animal dog. As more chaos ensues, the birthday boy, Luke, ends up slipping and fracturing his arm. Although he reckons that it was the best birthday he ever had, the episode was highly reliant on exaggerated physical comedy that might not fit right with some viewers.
While the episode remains a favorite for many, one cannot deny that it was more than occasionally illogical, losing sight of its signature balance between comedy and reality.
Modern Family is available to be streamed on Hulu.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
