Modern Family: The Kids Aren't Alright

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 8:32pm

It's the sitcom child actor curse. The first couple of seasons they're perfect, and then they hit a certain age and a brick wall.

I just caught up on the first couple of new episodes of Modern Family.

During the summer Manny, Luke and Lily lost it. The charm is gone. The naturalness has disappeared. They've succumbed to the curse. They were hired fitting a particular character quality, performed perfectly, and then reached the age where they realized that they had to "act" for real and couldn't. It's brutal.

Lily 2 was shaky from the start, but there was something kind of cute about her. Now the dads are doing all the heavy lifting when she's on screen.

Maybe all 3 should be sent off to private school and they can just show up for the Thanksgiving and Christmas episodes.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 8:38pm

The entire show is starting to show its age.

Posted: 10/2/14 at 8:48pm

It's funny you mention this. I had never, ever seen an episode of this show before, but I watched the other night, and tuned in during the "don't push this button" scene. I shocked at how incredibly bad the young man was who played the son.

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 8:51pm

It's so funny that you mention that scene! That's the moment when I put together all the Manny, Lily, Luke moments and knew that they all hit the curse during the same season.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 10:24pm

"It's funny you mention this. I had never, ever seen an episode of this show before, but I watched the other night, and tuned in during the "don't push this button" scene. I shocked at how incredibly bad the young man was who played the son."

Modern Family was hilarious for the first three years, you shouldn't judge it on one episode, five years in. The kids are the best part in the earlier episodes.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 11:20pm

It's funny you mention this and that.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 11:21pm

I had the exact same thought...send Manny to boarding school!!!!

Lily and Luke are OK, but WOW is the kid playing Manny just awful!!

The show still has great writing and the adults are great. I think it's time to jump to all the parents dealing with empty nest syndrome and get the kids out of the picture.

[MikeInTheDistrict]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 11:31pm

I don't think the kids have lost anything. I think they're doing exactly what they've been doing. They just aren't very good actors to begin with.

Up until this point, they have been able to get away with delivering their lines in a competent manner and simply writing it off as "quirky." It is now the writers' responsibility to rethink these roles. They are going to have to finally make decisions about where to take these characters (up until now, they've just been walking conduits for jokes rather than believable human beings) and how to make them work for the kids who play them now that they can't simply bank on their precociousness.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 1:25am

You guys are crazed. Lily was PERFECT in that episode. Manny is no worse than he has ever been. The real problem is Luke's sibilance, which I mention in my Modern Family Has Jumped the Shark thread of two years ago.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 7:25am

It's funny you should mention Luke's sibilance . . .

I nearly fell over a couple of seasons back when he had a line about how he was still "growing into [his] tongue."

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 8:48am

I (shockingly) agree with Namo. The actress who played Lily was wonderful in last night's episode. Manny was serviceable, although his scene with Jay in the garage was a bit forced. Luke, however, is absolutely horrendous. I also cannot understand what he's saying half the time. Haley and Alex continue to shine.

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 8:49am

In the last episode Lily did everything short of looking off camera and asking her mother if they were done yet.

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 8:56am

It's also interesting that the actresses playing Alex and Haley were hired for their acting technique as well as their fit. That's kept their performances consistent throughout the run of the show.

Updated On: 10/3/14 at 08:56 AM

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 9:12am

I disagree, GoSmile. That is how she has always played Lily. It's kind of been her MO.

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 9:38am

From my post above, which alludes to Lily2 being intentionally unvarnished and not a "child" actor. The problem - in my opinion - is that she's crossed over from oddball charming to simply not registering.


"Lily 2 was shaky from the start, but there was something kind of cute about her. Now the dads are doing all the heavy lifting when she's on screen."

[darquegk]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 9:56am

Lily, I think, is doing exactly what they want her to- being off-putting and borderline unlikeable. While Luke is turning into his dad and Manny is sometimes sweet despite his affectations, Lily is decidedly tough to love.

The question becomes, is "cute but loathsome child" a well-written character? Also, I hope it's not homophobic to say that Cam and Mitchell are not exactly a perfect couple to be raising a problem child- they are paranoid, passive-aggressive, catty and endlessly psychologically abusive to one person or another.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 10:14am

It's funny you should mention that because what I think they are showing are some of the deeper issues that can come up with cross-racial adoption. I have read many articles by adoptees about these issues.

And the melodramatic line was hilarious to me.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 1:06pm

I'm looking forward to the upcoming ebola episode.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 1:08pm

It's funny you should mention that because you know it will be Claire who gets it and it will challenge her control issues.

Lily is allowed to look off camera because this show is a mockumentary, even though the show seems to forget that a lot.

[Luscious]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 1:17pm

Lily is exactly the kind of kid a couple like Mitchell and Cam would turn out...and deserve. Love her!

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 1:44pm

"I'm looking forward to the upcoming ebola episode."

Now THERE'S a way to get rid of the kids. And it's been years since we've had "A Very Special Episode" of a sitcom.

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 1:45pm

"Lily is allowed to look off camera because this show is a mockumentary, even though the show seems to forget that a lot."

Straw grasping.

[Anshel2]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 1:47pm

Love Lily and her asides to the offscreen keep with the documentary feel of the show's premise to a degree, but Manny and Luke have definitely grown out of their roles. Luke doesn't even look like Luke any longer and his acting is terrible. Manny is only marginally better. They should find a way to slowly exit them both from the show.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/5/14 at 3:18pm

Where did that story line with Jay come from? I felt like I missed an entire season where his character completely changes personality.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/5/14 at 11:21pm

It's funny you should mention that because remember when Alex was suddenly smart and Hayley was suddenly stupid?

ETA. Wait. I could never tell which one was the Alex and which one was the Hayley. The Alex/Hayleys. Anyway, the writers change their personalities on a PRN basis.

Updated On: 10/5/14 at 11:21 PM