can get away with anything.

I was watching Modern Family last night and it occurred to me why the gravitational pull to this show is so overwhelming.

When you write about families, write about them as if this is the sequel to a story the audience already knows and knows well. The best part of a sequel (the reason why we demand them, wish for them) is to get a glimpse of the life these characters have created on their own, when we weren’t looking. So who is to say that you can’t launch an original piece the same way?

Apparently, it works. Also, I don’t know when network TV started moving away from black comedy (think about how far apart Parks & Rec’s Leslie Knope has moved from The Office’s Michael Scott and how well it’s working) and back towards sweetness and a bit of sentimentality but I’m liking it a lot.