Mainsprings and maturity: how ‘Modern Family’ found and then lost its magic
There’s a surely apocryphal story about George Best, the legendary soccer player whose Irish good looks were the perfect counterpoint to his flashing foot skills. As Best’s skills are beginning to wane, he is still a huge hit with the opposite sex. And so it is one morning that he’s waking up in a hotel suite with two Miss World contestants on either side, with champagne bottles littering the room. He calls down to room service for breakfast.
A bellhop duly arrives with the breakfast. He’s a huge Manchester United fan, disappointed that Best isn’t in his prime any more. “Oh George,” he exclaims, unable to help himself as he looks at the scene. “Where did it all go wrong?”
(A variant is, again apocryphally, told by Best himself. “I had a lot of money,” he once mused. “I spent a lot on women and booze…” Short pause. “The rest I wasted.” Of course, this epithet is attributed to loads of people.)
So as Season 11 of Modern Family grinds towards the two-hour (sorry, TWO HOUR?) finale in the UK, I have to ask: oh, Modern Family, where did it all go wrong? I’ve watched every episode of every season, sometimes re-watching them in big binges. Now I’ve been watching every episode of Season 11 and thinking: weren’t the jokes funnier before, the zingers snappier? Weren’t the…
