I liked watching this one. The cast is great. Ed O'Neill certainly isn't Al Bundy in here, even though once a while he still has chance to put up the stupid face he perfected in so many "Married with Kids"-episodes. What actually surprised me is how good the kids act. My favorites are Rico Rodriguez as Manny and Ariel Winter as Alex, which deliver their lines perfectly. They outperform their TV-parents in pretty much every moment!

I welcomed the inclusion of a gay couple, but it was very stereotypical for my taste. Eric Stonestreet is "La cage aux folles" all over again and he isn't blessed with his script. Only Jesse Tyler Ferguson manages to keep it real once in a while as the more down-to-earth in the relationship, still the screaming, worrying and squeaking is layered a bit thick here. Less would have been more here.

The screenplay feels forced and predictable once in a while. Especially in the first season the writers seemed to have a hard time make their protagonists quirks believable, which are responsible for the humor. Most of all Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell seemed to be skeptical of some ideas of their roles, which is most feel-able in the first role-play-sex-episode. Phil Dunphy being such a perfect charming seducer with almost Bond-qualities seemed to openly contradict his character definition as the clumsy but lovable family dad, even though the actor sure pulls it off acting-wise. If that guy possesses such social finesse, it's hard to accept he gets in trouble with his wife that often...

The second season works better, the writers and the cast seem more comfortable with their roles. This at least gives me quite some faith the series might develop into a real gem. At least two episodes here made me laugh hysterically and that's worth quite something!