pda is not ok

According to some sources, this week's episode of Modern Family, which dealt partially with Mitchell's aversion to PDA, was some sort of response to viewers who thought the writers/producers/network were avoiding having the gay couple kiss on camera. I personally never thought too much about it, since I don't think any of the three couples are really that physical with each other anyway. If anything, prior to this episode I would have said Jay and Gloria are the least couple-y, although maybe that could be me wondering how they ever got together in the first place (they seem more like good friends to me, although they were sweet in this episode).

Anyway, I liked how they handled the PDA issue, by focusing on Jay's lack of affection towards his kids, even if the big family confrontation was a bit cheesetastic. Instead of having some big scene with Mitch and Cam kissing, they made it between Mitch and Jay, and then had Mitch and Cam's kiss in the background, like it was no big deal (which it really shouldn't be). And I thought Jay at the end giving Manny a hand kiss was very sweet.

Phil is one of my favorite characters. I remember early on last season I thought he was super annoying, but he has really grown on me. As many people have noticed and commented, he's Michael Scott-esque, but more endearing (IMO). Yes, he can act kind of dumb, but dumb about things that real people would actually be dumb about, not in incredibly outlandish situations that normal people would never put themselves in (sorry, didn't mean to turn this into an Office bashing session, but I've been horribly underwhelmed by the Office for, oh, the last three seasons or so). I loved the squeaky noise of excitement he made when Jay asked him for computer help and I am always amused by his constant need to be validated by his wife's father.

Usually I find the Dunphy kids pretty irritating (although I think they're supposed to be to some extent), but the girls had a nice rapport this week. I hated Alex's Notting Hill reference though (by the way, that movie is waaaaay overrated, not underrated!), it seemed really out of place and I can't imagine any 13-year-old actually using that speech, like, ever. I did enjoy Haley's dig at Alex's "lesbian sandals," then the cut to the velcro sandals (with socks, natch!).

Gloria's subplot was probably the weakest for me, mostly because it just seemed to be pretty inconsequential. Although it did give us a bizarre scene of Ed O'Neill slapping chickens while screeching, which made me giggle. He usually plays the straight man so it was kind of fun to see him be the butt of the joke.

My favorite line:

"One, gays don't high-five. Two, gays don't high-five."