From the moment that I saw the first promo for Modern Family, I knew that it would easily become my new favorite half hour comedy. So it is no surprise that I have been watching my set of The Complete First Season on DVD everyday since it was sent to me earlier this month.

Release Date: September 21, 2010
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 518 minutes

Come join the family for the hilarious and critically acclaimed breakout hit of the year! Featuring an all-star cast led by Ed O’Neill, Sofia Vargara, Julie Bowen, and Ty Burrell, Modern Family takes a refreshing and funny view of what it means to raise a family in this hectic day and age. Multi-cultural relationships, adoption, and same-sex marriage are just a few of the timely issues faced by the show’s three wildly-diverse broods. No matter the size or shape, family always comes first in this hilariously “modern” look at life, love, and laughter.

Although similar to the “documentary style” of The Office, Modern Family has proven to be in its own league. Each episode is as clever and laugh out loud funny as the next. The writing is solid. It’s dry humor doesn’t miss a beat. It’s funny because the pace is just right for each and every moment to realistically represent the situation at hand. If it’s in the morning when the kids are off to school, things are quite fast paced. If there’s a hint of fear, defeat, or betrayal…there may be a few long silences. No matter what the situation, Ty Burrell provides the best slapstick comedy of the year. It seems that I am more interested in seeing how he will hurt himself next than anything else. But following the lives of these 3 families who are actually one diverse family, is the best half hour I could ever spend. There are moments when I cannot catch my breath because I have been laughing too much or am in plain shock of what just took place.

Nolan Gould and Rico Rodriguez are outstanding. Gould brings the comedy and Rodriguez the complexity beyond his years. Sarah Hyland and Ariel Winter both have siblings and it reflects perfectly on the small screen. The adults are phenomenal in their own unique ways as well. No matter what the conflict, comedy in the family dynamic comes from the attitude, the emotion everyone brings to the table…and every actor brings their best of those emotions to the table.

There is no laugh track (Hallelujah!) and there is music few and far between…but when there is music, the music chosen mixes in with the joke in that scene so well! Everything is so well thought out but really this is about everyday family conflicts…so I can see this show on for years and years to come. This show will no doubt continue to be one of ABC’s best comedies ever, win well deserved awards, and continue to be the very successful hit that it is.

Bonus Features:

Deleted, Extended, & Alternate Scenes – Travels with Scout (6:35 minutes) – Surprisingly, I wasn’t very entertained by any of these scenes. I say surprisingly because I am usually able to find one gem that was thrown out. Although it seems that a scene is either really funny or just cut out/altered. One scene involves the dentist, two scenes involve Phil and his father, another includes the family watching Cameron rocking out with Dylan, and the last involves Manny in Jay & Gloria’s bed. The last scene was actually quite funny but I can definitely understand why all of these scenes were cut.

Gag Reel (5:40 minutes) – You’ll be sure to watch this dozens of times in your first sitting. Not only will you see the usual outtakes of the cast forgetting their lines or saying the wrong thing, but you’ll also see Ty Burrell trying out different variations of a punch line and Julie Bowen trying not to laugh. Really taken out of the moment, Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s iPhone distracts him on more than one occasion…which gives Eric Stonestreet a moment to loo at his lines. There are laugh out loud moments involving stunts gone bad, props gone array, injuries, and jokes – a good one coming from youngin’ Nolan Gould. Whether you are a fan of the show or not, these moments are too entertaining to just watch once. You’ll catch something new to laugh at each time.

Real Modern Family Moments (10: 24 minutes) – What makes modern family so entertaining is that it is so relatable and written in such a detailed and yet incredibly simple way. The reason it is so relatable is because the writers behind the show have had these moments in the episodes happen in their lives. All of the writers use their families for inspiration…starting with co-creator/executive producer, Steven Levitan. Steven, his wife, Krista, and son, Griffin appear first in the feature, as Steven and Griffin discuss the bb gun moment. Not to let us take their word for it, home video footage is shown from the backyard of the Levitan household. But wait, there’s so much more! There are a number of writers who share not only their stories but proof of their family memories that made it to the show. Consulting Producer, Ilana Wernick is terrified of pigeons, which sparked Mitchell’s fear for pigeons. Writer/co-executive producer, Brad Walsh was part of a figure skating team with his sister, which led to Claire and Mitchell being a brother-sister skating team in their childhood. Writer/co-executive producer, Danny Zuker and wife, Annette are responsible for the Phil & Claire story line in “Up All Night.” It’s really funny watching these two converse and share how they interpreted what was happening at the time. Writers/co-executive producers, Dan O’Shannon and Bill Wrubel also share their inspirations. The feature closes out with Writer/co-executive producer, Paul Corrigan having Dan O’Shannon go into his crawl space. The only thing missing in this feature…having the crew share how long they have each been married for.

Before Modern Family (12:53 minutes) – As the cast members discuss what they were doing before being cast on Modern Family, screen tests and behind the scene footage of shooting is shown and boy are those screen tests are quite fun to watch! Screen test footage from Eric, Jesse, Rico, Ty, Sarah, Ariel, Nolan, and Julie’s auditions are shown. Based on the screen tests, it seems that the roles of Phil and Luke were made for Ty and Nolan. Nolan Gould’s story is phenomenal, I did not know how bright he is. I also did not know that Ariel Winter is a singer and songwriter or that Sofia Vergara almost became a dentist! I won’t say anymore. Watch this special feature!

Fizbo the Clown (4:13 minutes) – If you didn’t know that Eric Stonestreet was a real life clown before, you will after watching this feature. It’s one thing to hear Eric explain his past as a clown, but it is another thing to see it. I was taken aback after seeing both footage of various home videos and photos from as far back as 1988 of Eric Stonestreet as Fizbo the Clown. What an achievement for Eric to have been a clown for so many years and then have this character that he created become the main focus of an episode on a hit television series. Writer, Brad Walsh says “Fizbo” is one of his favorite episodes and I do not disagree. You’ll be educated and entertained in every bonus feature on this DVD, but this one by far is the most inspiring.

Modern Family: Making of “Family Portrait” (9:15 minutes) – This is probably my favorite special feature on the DVD. Viewers will get a glimpse into the episode 122 table read, you’ll be taken on the scout to the Staples Center, you’ll see Eric Stonestreet in music rehearsal, get to see how Julie Bowen spent her birthday on set, and so much more! “Family Portrait” is definitely one of my favorite episodes of the season, so it was great to hear what co-executive producer/director, Jason Winer had to say about this episode and see writer, Ilans Wernick’s family portrait that inspired it all. On an even more humorous note, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and co-executive producer/co-creator, Christopher Lloyd talk about working with the infamous pigeon. Not a moment went by in this feature that I wasn’t transfixed and grinning ear to ear. What a fabulous feature with such a fitting ending. This feature will not only lead you to appreciating the Delgado-Pritchett/Dunphy/Tucker clan even more, but appreciate the wonderful writers on this show who really know how to paint the most compelling and yet comedic portraits of family.

Modern Family “Hawaii” (5:19 minutes) – This feature has the wonderful back drop of Hawaii in March, just as the cast and crew discuss working on the island for this episode. What I found most humorous though was the cast and crew talking about working with director, Steven Levitan. Apparently, everyone knows when Steve doesn’t like something because he makes faces in his director’s chair. I enjoyed this feature more than I expected to because I had expected the actors to mainly retell what was going on in the episode and what it meant for their characters in great detail…as most special feature interviews do. But this was different. There was some summary but for the most part, this feature really focused on the matter of shooting in beautiful Hawaii. Aside from the cast and Director, Director of Photography, James Bagdonas, and Producer, Jeff Morton also appear in this feature.

Own Modern Family The Complete First Season on DVD September 21, 2010.

Modern Family Season 2 Premieres Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at 9/8c on ABC.