Youthworkers Should Watch Modern Family

I am about to make a blanket statement… If you are a youthworker or youth pastor and are not watching ABC’s Modern Family you probably should clear your schedule for Wednesday nights at 8 pm. If that’s not an option you need to set your pvr or watch it online. 

Here’s a link if you wanna watch the pilot episode
http://www.watch-modern-family-online.net/seasons/season1/episode01.php

What It’s All About: 

“When the Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy family agrees to be interviewed by a documentary crew, they have no idea just how much they're about to reveal about themselves. Family patriarch Jay Pritchett met the stunning Columbian Gloria Delgado when she bartended in a bikini at the pool party he threw for himself the day his wife left him. Now Jay and Gloria are married and Jay tries hard to keep up with his much younger and hotter wife and her passionate teenage son, Manny. Jay's daughter, Claire, is having a hard time raising her own family. Her husband Phil is great, except for the fact that he thinks he's "down" with their teenage kids, much to their embarrassment. Claire's brother Mitchell and his enthusiastic partner Cameron have just adopted Lily, a precious little baby girl from Vietnam. But when everyone gets together, things are bound to get awkward… But that's the thing about family: no matter how badly you behave, hopefully they'll forgive... or maybe even forget. In the tradition of The Office, this engaging new comedy offers a 'mockumentary' view into the complicated, messy, loving life of a modern day super-extended family.” 

-(quoted from http://www.aceshowbiz.com/tv/modern_family/summary.html)

So why do I think you should watch this show? 

1. Laughter: This show absolutely hilarious. If for no other reason than a good hearty laugh you will find yourself rewarded for watching an episode of Modern Family.
2. Family Friendly: It can be hard to find shows on tv that aren’t violent, crude or sexual. While not necessarily traditional it is actually quite family friendly.
3. Popular Culture: Your youth are watching it and so should you even if it’s just as a popular culture lesson. It’s so popular, in fact, that in it’s first season it was nominated for 14 Emmys—winning 6 of them (including best comedy, best supporting actor, and writing.)
4. A New Traditional Family: Your youth can relate because their families and/or their friend’s families look a lot more like the “Modern Family” than the “Traditional Family.” In fact, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that many of your youth are growing up in a family even less traditional than the “Modern Family.”
5. Our Family Mandate: Closely related to the last point is this: most youthworkers and youth pastors know that their job is as much working with a youths family (parents and siblings) as the youth themselves.
6. Lessons in Conflict: Every episode is a great lesson in conflict and conflict resolution. It’s amazing and hilarious to watch how an expectation, an assumption, a lie, or a miscommunication leads to such conflict (not all together unlike real life.)
7. Learning to Love: You might see love in places you’ve never really understood before. Despite all the conflict and neurotic mess of this non-traditional family you’ll see how much they love each other. They might not understand each other or their choices but they are willing to fight for each other. Perhaps you too will begin to fall in love with them—foibles and all. Perhaps it might take you to a place of tolerance (I can disagree with you and love you without having to change you) you’ve never been before.

That’s my pitch. I hope you enjoy Modern Family as much as I have. If you do find it worth your while may I also recommend you stick around and check out The Middle which follows Modern Family. Perhaps I’ll write a follow-up blog on why youthworkers should watch it but that’s for another day.