ABC is giving us not one, but two new episodes of Modern Family to kick off its third season later this month and today, the network released two photos to tease the episodes. One of them is so scenic, it barely looks like a photo from the show.

Source: Cinemablend

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• ‘Modern Family’ Season 3 First Look: New Cast Photos (aoltv.com)

Emmy voters made their voices heard, rewarding ‘Modern Family’ with 14 nominations, including nods for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series and five nominations for its regular cast members. And it’s the cast that really makes the show, so in honor of the show that this writer thinks is the best comedy since Arrested Development, here are Tonic’s 10 reasons to love Modern Family — the characters.

1. Jay Pritchett — Ed O’Neill plays the show’s father figure and is the reason I started watching the show in the first place, because Al Bundy had returned to his glorious comedic roots. How O’Neill managed to be the only regular adult cast member not nominated for an Emmy is beyond me, but there’s always next year.

2. Claire Dunphy — After displaying her comedic chops on Ed, Julie Bowen’s Claire is the very picture of partly managed frustration in having to deal with four children — her three actual children and her husband, Phil.

3. Phil Dunphy — Phil, played masterfully by Ty Burrell, is a lovable goofball who makes you think he has no idea what he’s doing, as a husband or a father. Ninety percent of the time, that’s a safe assumption, and that’s where so much of his humor lies.

Read the rest of the story on Tonic

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Modern Family was just included in the “Top TV to watch in 2010″ list of the Australian magazine Brisbane Times. Here’s what they say about Modern Family down-under:

Modern Family (Ten)

Concept: The foibles of an extended American family, including neurotic siblings (she has an excruciating husband and wild kids, he has a gay partner and adopted baby daughter), their dad, his new Colombian wife and stepson, are captured in a documentary.

Star factor: Married With Children’s Ed O’Neill is the name you’ll recognise but the show’s breakout stars are Jesse Tyler Ferguson (gay son Mitchell), Ty Burrell (“I’m the cool dad” brother-in-law Phil) and Rico Rodriguez (dad’s new stepson, Manny).

Verdict: A gentler twist on the discomfort of The Office and Arrested Development, dark enough to entice, not so dark it intimidates and gentle enough to hit its mark as a commercial comedy. An absolute winner.

Greer will portray Denise, an ex-girlfriend of family man Phil that reconnects with him on (what else?) Facebook. Despite Claire’s initial hesitation, she’s invited over for dinner to meet the Dunphys.

Source: TV Fanatic

Pioneer Local listed their top TV characters for 2009 and guess who made the list:

6. Mitchell Pritchett (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) — “Modern Family” ABC

There’s no shortage of funny characters on “Modern Family,” but Mitchell just makes everything better the way he channels his family’s insanity as the “sane” one in the group. He’s what Michael Bluth was to “Arrested Development” but like Jason Bateman’s character, Mitchell might be normal, but he’s not without his quirks. One of the funniest episodes of “Modern Family” was Mitchell trying to recapture his glory figure skating days as one half of “Fire and Nice,” and secretly trying to see if he could pick up his sister. His sarcasm, self-doubt and cynicism is a nice dollop of reality on what otherwise would be too much crazy on one show.

The 2010 Golden Globe nominees will be announced in less than 24 hours and I’m already starting to get excited — not only is this my favorite out of all the award shows (the stars of TV and film all in one place? Heaven!) but 2009 finally offered up so many small screen contenders, the winners shouldn’t be easily predictable.

And while I will weigh in with my theatrical thoughts after the nominations are announced at 8:30 a.m., I wanted to take this opportunity and speak my mind about the TV categories. There are eight names I desperately hope are not only uttered tomorrow, but also on Jan. 17 — when the winners are crowned!

Best Series, Comedy: “Modern Family”

Although “Modern Family” continues to be referred to as “the funniest new show of the year” I think it’s about time we take the word “new” out of that sentence. Not since “Arrested Development” has one series made me laugh out loud with such consistency. And like its dysfunctional family grandfather, I not only laugh at the ridiculous situations this family gets themselves into, but the brilliantly layered writing that requires multiple viewings.

Read the rest on the NY Post

Tim Goodman from the SF Gate choose the best comedies fo the year and #2 is Modern Family:
2. “Modern Family,” ABC. This freshman series had the best comedy pilot since “Arrested Development” and has barely taken a misstep since. Three disparate families – all related – mingle in a minefield of hurt feelings, differing parental philosophies and their own personal quirks. Shot as a mockumentary, “Modern Family” has rocketed toward greatness as quickly as the most revered comedies.

EW has 7 portraits of the stars of Modern Family, here are some of them, you can find the rest in EW.

I was eight-and-a-half months pregnant with twins while we shot the pilot. If you watch carefully, you see I'm behind every laundry basket. I'm answering the door folding towels. It was just a function of hiding my belly, but then it sort of became part of the character. Claire is always doing something. She's never hanging out. She's always folding or cleaning or doing something.''

''I applied for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College in 1995. I almost made it. They had five clowns applying for two spots left. They send you either an acceptance letter or a rejection letter. The acceptance letter, of course, is filled with confetti, so when you open it up all the confetti comes out. I didn't get the letter with the confetti.''