As I spend of a lot of my time watching and reviewing Blu-ray Discs and DVDs, I don't have much time for television shows. Granted, I have a select group of programs that I watch, but I very seldom check out a new program. Thanks to the popularity of TV-on-DVD, I feel that I can pass on shows, no matter how good the reviews and chatter, and catch up on them later. Modern Family premiered on ABC last fall and immediately garnered good reviews, and then went on to win the Emmy for Best Comedy. I have no admit that I had no interest in the show when it first came on, but after all of that praise, I was anxious to check it out.

Modern Family focuses on the extended Pritchett family. The show doesn't really have a core concept, so the best way to present it is the describe the characters. Jay Pritchett (Ed O'Neill) is the patriarch of the family. He is married to his second wife, a Columbian woman named Gloria (Sofia Vergara), who is younger than him and doesn't hide her fiery Latin side. She has a young son named Manny (Rico Rodriguez), who dresses and acts like a young adult (He loves the ladies, after-shave, and dinner jackets.) Claire (Julie Bowen) is Jay's daughter. She is a housewife, and is married to Phil (Ty Burrell), a realtor. Phil fancies himself to be hip and cool and Claire must often deal with the trouble he creates. They have three children; Haley (Sarah Hyland) is sixteen and is obsessed with boys, fashion, and thinking that her parents are lame; Alex (Ariel Winter) is a nerdish bookworm who feels that everyone is beneath her; and Luke (Nolan Gould) is an odd child who isn't in-step with the family. Mitch (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) is Jay's son. He and his partner Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) have just adopted a baby from Vietnam. Mitch is a lawyer, while Cameron has left his career as a music teacher to stay at home with the baby.

Again, Modern Family has been lauded with praise by critics and award organizations. Therefore, it comes with quite a reputation. Is it great? No. It's good, but not great. The show plays as a combination of Arrested Development and The Office, as it focuses on a quirky family and it's shot documentary style, complete with "confessions". The humor comes from a mixture of clever dialogue and physical humor. We get a lot of jokes which come at the expense of the characters who aren't very bright and don't seem to get what's going on around them. While everyone has at least one funny moment during the season, the bulk of the humor comes from Phil and Cameron. Phil's good-natured, but oblivious outlook on life creates many funny situations, as he's confident, but rarely knows what's happening. And while he can get out of control at times, Cameron is often the voice of reason, and he's not afraid to comment on how odd things are in the Pritchett family.

So, I definitely laughed at Modern Family. But, I was also surprised by some of the show's problems. I guess technically the show would be classified as a situation comedy, but that's an exaggeration. The show has no overriding storyline or plot. So, the "situation" part barely exists. Each episode is a stand-alone story and there's little in the way of continuity. So, the producers have been lauded for creating the show, but I can't imagine how they pitched it, as there's no story. There aren't even call-back jokes, something which I love to see in a well-written show. There are also issues with the characters. For me (and my wife) at least, there was no character with which to relate. Everyone here is so over the top that no one serves as the anchor to the viewer. Yes, some of the situations are relatable, but the characters are often caricatures.

Speaking of the characters, I also question putting people like this on TV at this time. All three families appear to have limitless wealth and each contains one person who doesn't work. In this economy, is this what we want to see? The show seems to exist in a fantasy world where money is never an issue, and we never learn how Jay made his fortune. And yet, despite Phil and Claire's seemingly huge house, Alex and Haley must share a room.

Modern Family: The Complete First Season suddenly makes clowns cool on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The three-disc set contains all 24 episodes from the show's first season. The shows have been letterboxed at 1.78:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 25 Mbps. The image is very sharp and clear, showing no grain and no defects from the source material. The colors look great and the image is never too dark or bright. The image shows a nice amount of detail and the depth is pretty good. The Disc features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 3.7 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The stereo effects are pretty good, as they show nice separation. The surround effects come into play during crowd scenes and a certain concert. I didn't note any significant subwoofer effects.

The Modern Family: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Disc contains a host of extras. On Disc 1, we get 15 minutes of DELETED, EXTENDED, & ALTERNATE SCENES from all eight episodes included on the Disc. "Deleted Family Interviews" (9 minutes) contains cut scenes from six episodes. Disc 2 features 20 minutes of DELETED, EXTENDED & ALTERNATE SCENES from six episodes. "Deleted Family Interviews" (96 seconds) features additional moments from the confessionals. The remainder of the extras are found on Disc 3. The Disc includes a 9-minute reel of DELETED, EXTENDED, & ALTERNATE SCENCES. There are a few funny moments here, including Phil's girlish yelling at the concert. This is followed by a 6-minute GAG REEL. "Real Modern Family Moments" (10 minutes) has the producers and writers of the show discussing how parts of the show were lifted from actual incidents from their lives. "Before Modern Family" (13 minutes) has the cast members discussing their careers prior to the series, and how they feel about being on the show. "Fizbo the Clown" (4 minutes) takes a look at how Eric Stonestreet has been performing as a clown for years, including old photos and home videos of him in costume. "The Making of Modern Family: 'Family Portrait'" (9 minutes) takes us behind the scenes of the season finale. "Modern Family 'Hawaii'" (5 minutes) allows us to go on-location with the show as they shoot in Hawaii.