The many critical accolades for this comedy series puzzle me. For the most part, I find it tiresome, a broadly played, cutesy attempt at a portrayal of "contemporary life," replete with fairly gently insulting caricatures of gays, Latinos, precocious children, and a crusty "colorful" character making an attempt to adjust to his aforementioned Latina wife and her son. It follows the often used technique of rapid-fire cuts from one family interaction to the next that should appeal to those suffering from ADHD. How clever!

The best I can say for "Modern Family" is that it is somewhat less irritating than many other current comedies, like the dismal "How I Met Your Mother," the dreadful "Two Broke Girls," and new lackluster efforts like "We Are Men," "Sean Saves the World," and "The Millers." The best left is the long-running "Big Bang Theory" which is, at least, literate and brilliantly acted.

Just as television has produced a number of superb dramatic series, its comedies continue to slide into an abyss. We now have brilliant dramatic productions, mostly from basic and pay cable. Where are the comedies?