Monk is Done and Al Bundy is a Modern Grandfather...

I just read over at Buzzardbilly's blog that the series finale for Monk is on tonight! Hello? I guess we missed this last season of it. We had been using the DVR to catch up with the show and we were pretty certain we had seen every episode so I guess I must have removed it from the schedule. Apparently, the new season started and I forgot to start recording the show again. Let us hope they play re-runs of the entire season, in order, so we can watch it all.

Speaking of the DVR and TV shows (I don't mean to brag, but my DVR can record up to four shows at the same time), we started recording this new show called Modern Family, then promptly forgot about it. The other night we were looking through the list of potential viewing options and found that we had 4 episodes requiring our attention.

We love Peg Bundy on Son's of Anarchy and my wife is a huge fan of Kelly Bundy on that show, Suddenly Samantha. I even kinda liked Al Bundy when he tried to do Dragnet, but it was such a long ways from his character on Married with Children to the very serious Joe Friday, that I guess it didn't work out.

That reminds me; when I lived in Bedfordshire in the UK, they opened up an American style restaurant called Joe Friday's. It was like a bar (as opposed to a pub) and they sold huge Yank style burgers and had some old Dragnet posters as I recall. Good times.

Anyway, they have now found a middle ground for Al (real name Ed O'Neil) who plays a grandfather, married to a much younger woman and their daily interactions with his two adult children, a daughter, married with three kids and a son, partnered with a a former football player and their adopted little girl. Oh, and in the first episode, Shelly Long comes in as the ex-wife who pretty much ruined the wedding reception in what has become known as, "The Incident".

We watched the first episode and it was enough to make us give the second episode a shot. And that was about all it took. We watched all four episodes in a single sitting and found the characters to be very entertaining and quirky. Ed O'Neil actually plays the straight guy (no pun intended) setting up situations for the other talented actors to be funny. He isn't over the top goofy like he was on Married with Children, and not totally serious as in Dragnet, he's just right. Oh, and bold enough to play a scene out by the pool with a gut, dare I say it, as enormous as mine. I just may bust out a Speedo for the Polar Bear swim this New Year's day.

I'll give you a moment to digest that thought.

Anyway, if you hadn't seen it, you just might want to give Modern Family a try. They have that little technique where mid-way through a scene, they do an interview with the character, sort of like what you see on The Office. May be a bit overused these days, but it was good for several laughs.