Thursday, October 14, 2010

Modern Family vs. Parenthood: The Debate Rages On.

It's the coke, pepsi debate of our generation. You can't talk about one with out talking about the other. Parenthood or Modern Family? Which is the better show? Which should you love and which should you hate? Actually, I'm pretty sure no one is debating this at all. They are two totally different shows that only have slightly similar plots. They are both in their second season and are both about family. OTHER THAN THAT THEY ARE NOT THE SAME AT ALL. COULD WE PLEASE STOP DEBATING THIS!? I really like both shows. I find myself looking forward to Parenthood every week, where as I think "I'll just watch it on Hulu" when I think about Modern Family. I don't think Modern Family is a worse show. After all, it's got Emmys. Parenthood ain't got no Emmys. Parenthood is nice because it is very relatable. Modern Family is nice because it is very funny. Parenthood is also funny, but in a much different way. Modern family has a lot of jokes and the characters seem more like characters on a comedy television show. The characters on Parenthood seem more like people I know from my life and family. I don't very often giggle in my everyday life, but I giggle SO MUCH at Modern Family. In this week's episode, when Cam said "Can you do my shoulders?" obviously asking for a massage and Mitchell thinking he meant he wanted a shave had me escalate from a quiet squeal to a one-man brouhaha. (OR BREW-HA-HA BECAUSE BEER OR SOMETHING!) That's how I laugh at most of the jokes on Modern Family. I'm watching with a straight-face, then I see the joke coming and I start smiling really big and when the joke hits, I'm cracking up. Most of the jokes are very obvious on Modern Family. (One of my favorite not so obvious jokes from last week's Modern Family: "No way, I'm not playing Good Cop/Mom.) Whereas, with Parenthood much of the EL-AY-double-EFFS comes from cringe-inducing moments, like whenever Lauren Graham's character tries to be the "cool mom." You feel bad for her character, and her kids, but also it's pretty funny. The nice thing about Parenthood, versus Modern Family, is any scene with the entire extended family. Maybe I just like it so much because the scene looks like NBC just filmed any time my family gets together. Everyone is trying to be heard, so they're talking over everyone else and ultimately no one is heard. That happens a lot in Parenthood, and almost never in Modern Family. I also think Parenthood is a stronger show because of the ensemble cast. Parenthood has 15 people in the main family, all of whom are regularly featured in each episode. The Modern Family family has only 11 people in it, and usually is only focused on the parents. Occasionally we'll get a plot point with one or two of the kids, but usually they're only there to say funny things. I prefer Parenthood, but I'm not going to watch Modern Family. It's got Emmys.

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