Hey, Smokey Says: Modern Family such a good Comedy!

Al Bundy’s back!!

As a grandfather what?! Ed O’Neil is the most recognizable cast member in this comedy TV series. The series is done in a mockumentary style with the likes of series like Reno 911 and Parks and Recreation. You guys probably don’t watch those two shows. But anyways, Smokey was surprised by how good Modern Family is.

The show is centered around Jay (Ed O’Neil or the Al Bundy guy) and his family. This includes the families of his daughter and gay son. Jay is married to his second wife who is a young Colombian woman with a pre-teenage son who is a genius. Jay’s daughter is married with 3 kids and Jay’s son is living with his gay lover and adopted a Vietnamese baby girl. It is a very diverse family and the writers are very creative in making hilarious interactions and scenes with all the characters. When you first heard about Modern Family from a commercial, you will probably not be interested in watching it. Neither was Smokey!  But when Smokey finally watched it after a recommendation from Chris Hei, Smokey laughed out lout many times.  So yes please watch it!

It’s pretty hard to talk about a TV show without actually having you watch it. So Smokey is going to outline the Family Tree for you by KSing this picture from ABC.com:
yeee

The kid Manny is probably one of Smokey’s favorite character in the show. Manny is the pre-teenage kid who talks like an adult. And no, Smokey is not a pedo-bear.

Manny to the rescue

Poor Manny, poor turtle and good old Al Bundy.

Lily the adopted baby meets the family!

Al Bundy: devoted husband, father, ex-husband, grandfather, and stepfather

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Smokey gives Season 1 of Modern Family a “Not Bad Not Bad Not Bad not bad” out of 4 Not Bads for:

Creative humor

Memorable and lovable characters

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That’s 9 out of 10 btw.

So Smokey, What Are Your Top 3 Favorite TV Drama Series?

Wah, excellent question ah!

Back when Smokey was receiving his education at college, he often took extensive study breaks.  Whether Smokey was studying at the apartment or working at the SEASnet Help Desk, Smokey took the chance to watch some quality TV shows.  Some of those engineering students were probably a little annoyed that Smokey had to take off his headphones to listen to their questions at the help desk, but these shows are seriously not bad not bad not bad not bad.  Yea, 4 not bads.  That means they are fucking good.

1  The Wire

Hands down, this is Smokey’s all-time favorite TV show period.  The Wire is set in the city of Baltimore and initially focuses on a drug trafficking crew and a police detail in charge of taking down a drug kingpin.  At first glance the show looks like another cop drama, but it far more than that.  Dozens of story-lines fill each season.  The character development is very deep and stretches through seasons and the acting is superb all around.  There is no main character and this serves the show’s theme of portraying the complexities of a metropolitan city.  Everything and everyone in the show is connected, from a police patrolmen or a corner boy selling drugs to a the Mayor and the drug kingpins.  The Wire has dozens of complex and interesting characters and the story itself is never dumbed down for the viewer.

Critics  have praised it as a “visual novel”, mainly because each episode do not get wrapped up at the end like in most TV shows.    The episodes do not follow the “case of the week, theme of the week” formula with each one getting neatly wrapped up at the end.  Each episode feels like a chapter of a novel with all the complicated side-plots not getting tied up until the end of the season/novel.   There are never any filler episodes that leaves the episode wondering “wtttf was that?”.  This also means that you cannot skip episodes or you will be lost.  This is the same when you read a book, every scene in the Wire has significance in the overall plot.  Finishing a season of the Wire is very rewarding and truly does feel like finishing a good book.  The series is now over after 5 seasons, and Smokey feels that no TV series can be more complete than the Wire.

The following clip is  a small scene in Season 1-  a lesson on chess and the “game” surrounding the drug trade.

Here is a clip featuring Omar, who is one of Smokey’s favorite TV characters ever.

Where else can you hear someone say “shieeet” like this?

2  The Sopranos

A TV show about mobsters.  That’s good enough for Smokey!!

But seriously, this show is the shit.  It is centered around the Tony Soprano and how he deals with issues among his family and that other family, the Mafia.

Smokey is a big fan of Mafia-related films such as the Godfather, Goodfellas, Casino,Miller’s Crossing, and the Departed.  For Smokey, the Sopranos is everything he could wish for a mob film-to-TV series transition, while also adding a modern touch.

The opening scene alone is famous, leading to many spoofs including one done by the Simpsons.

Watching mobsters muscle out civilians never gets old:

This next scene is beautifully done and reminds me of the Godfather.

3  The West Wing

Is this supposed to be a sick joke?  A show about politics?!

Yeah, Smokey doesn’t really follow up on politics.  But this drama series makes Smokey want to!  Even if the show is a glorification of the actual jobs.  The acting in this show is superb and the writing is unmatched.  The Season 2 Finale of the West Wing “Two Cathedrals” is perhaps Smokey’s favorite episode from ANY show.

Also, Martin Sheen carries.

Best Xmas-themed scene ever: