Modern Family: The Complete First Season

ABC's Modern Family is one of those increasingly rare network sitcoms that successfully taps into the cultural zeitgeist, winning over critics and viewers alike while taking home five Emmy awards (including Outstanding Comedy Series) for the 2009-10 debut season. TV vets Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd serve up an extended contemporary family that is definitely diverse. Patriarch Jay Pritchett (Ed O'Neill), by his own admission “not the world's greatest father,” is on his second marriage, this time to a younger woman, Gloria (Sofía Vergara), who has an adolescent son and a good deal of pride (often comic) in her Colombian heritage. Jay's daughter Claire (Julie Bowen) is a suburban stay-at-home mom married to Phil (Ty Burrell) and tending to three kids. Jay's son Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) is a self-conscious, anxiety-ridden gay man who has adopted a child with his far more flamboyant partner Cam (Eric Stonestreet). The raw material is classic TV comedy stuff, with stories that are somewhat conventional (revolving around birthdays, anniversaries, and a vacation to Hawaii), invariably capped with heartwarming reflections. But Modern Family successfully borrows the mock-documentary format of The Office (complete with interview-style character commentary), while offering thoughtful insights into the stresses of 21st-century households. Compiling all 24 episodes, DVD and Blu-ray extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted family interviews and alternate scenes, and a gag reel. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)