Modern Family Fodder

Modern Family - Stuck on the Sidelines

On last night's Modern Family, the clan undergoes a series of growing pains as they adjust to their newfound parental roles. Mitchell's new gig as a stay-at-home dad is making him restless (and borderline homicidal towards Dora the Explorer), so he accepts Jay's offer to connect with one of his golf buddies, played by Justin Kirk, who provides just the right amount of sleaze for the part. Though Cameron swears he's enjoying his new position at a greeting card store (along with the 40% discount), his mini-breakdown tells us otherwise.

After dropping Lily off with her step-grandmother Gloria, the couple visits the home of Mitchell's potential high-fallutin' boss, who's throwing a swanky party for his good-time friends. He eventually invites Mitchell to be his lawyer for an upcoming project. Cameron AKA "The Bull in the China Shop," almost ruins his chances by causing chaos in the beautiful beach house. The locked-in-a-garage bit at the end seemed obvious, but Mitchell's turntable incident ---Where would one go to buy such a gadget?---saved the scene.

Meanwhile, Jay and Phil compete to be the basketball coach for Manny and Luke's team, with Jay establishing his alpha male status and forcing Phil to the sidelines. Unfortunately, the team (Lil' Dribblers!) struggles to make much of an impression during the game. A number of mishaps---a basketball thrown at the head, for one---show that Phil will never be mistaken for a NBA coach.

While their husbands vie for the hoops job, Gloria and Claire bond over their increasingly independent children. Manny suggests that Gloria miss next week's game after he scolds her about her embarrassing words of encouragement. She takes the Lation blood in her, along with Lily, to the mall.

Alex, eager to impress her girlfriends, begs Claire to give her an hour of freedom on their shopping excursion. Though the pair shares a sweet mother-daughter moment, Alex kills the spirit by asking for movie money, inspiring the funniest line of the episode. Claire, determined to put a dent in her daughter's attitude, yells to her about the beauties of a training bra. Claire's remark: "That'll teach her to screw with me." In an episode that provided its share of chuckles, Claire's comeback was the winning shot.