Modern Family: The Complete Fifth Season

As the title suggests, this is a sitcom for our times, centering on an extended family that is nothing if not diverse. Patriarch Jay Pritchett (Ed O'Neill) is divorced and remarried to the considerably younger Gloria (Sofía Vergara), who has an adolescent son, Manny (Rico Rodriguez), and now a new baby as well. Jay's grown daughter, Claire (Julie Bowen), returns to the workforce after years as a stay-at-home mom to Haley (Sarah Hyland), Alex (Ariel Winter), and Luke (Nolan Gould), and she joins Jay at his company. Meanwhile, Jay's son, Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), a self-conscious, anxiety-ridden gay man, can finally marry his flamboyant partner, Cameron (Eric Stonestreet). This season opens with same-sex marriage becoming legal in California, and the longtime partners, who have an adopted daughter, Lily (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons), planning to formally ask each other to make their relationship official. Of course, the best-laid plans get sidetracked, but the proposals are exchanged and the narrative arc builds to the wedding in the two-part finale—an event that, naturally, is fraught with disasters. Along the way are new schools for the kids and trips to Las Vegas and Australia (shot on location). The series won its fifth consecutive Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, as well as awards for directing and for supporting actor Ty Burrell (who plays Claire's eager-to-please husband, Phil), and it remains one of TV's most popular shows. Compiling all 24 episodes from the 2013–14 fifth season, extras include an extended episode, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and deleted and alternate scenes. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)