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Modern Family: Season 2 (TV) (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (2nd January 2014). |
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The Show
 ***This is an A/V and extras review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** Meet the Dunphys. WINNER OF SIX EMMY® AWARDS, including Outstanding Comedy Series, Modern Family is a refreshingly hilarious look at what it means to be a family in today’s hectic, unpredictable world. While fledgling fathers Cameron and Mitchell struggle with learning the ropes of parenthood, longitime parents Claire and Phil try to keep the spice in their marriage amid the chaos of raising three challenging children. Meanwhile, family patriarch, Jay, has more than his hands full with his sexy, spirited wife, Gloria, and her precocious son. Still no matter the size, shape or situation, family always comes first in this laugh-out-loud, critically acclaimed hit.
Video
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment have released the second season of US sitcom "Modern Family" onto Blu-ray in the United Kingdom in the original aspect ratio of 1.78:1. Spread out over three discs, the episodes are presented in 1080p using an AVC MPEG-4 codec. Overall, this is quite a solid transfer, and what I expect from such a new show from one of the major channels. Filmed in a very natural style, colours look great. They are never overly vivid apart from when the occasion calls, such as the clown outfit, or the garish pinks of Lily's castle. Black levels are consistently strong, though there is some barely noticeable banding and haloing during two or three of the darker scenes. Detail is great throughout. Facial details such as freckles and stubble look immaculate, whilst threads in clothing and everyday household items in the background also look sharp. There were a couple of moments of motion judder - generally when a character was going up staircases, but it wasn't bad enough to become an annoyance. Also worth noting, is the odd occurrence of aliasing, which only happens for split seconds, such as the top left of the outside view of the Dunphy's house, immediately after the earthquake. There are no scratches in the print, and no other signs of damage. The discs are region A/B encoded.
Audio
There's just a single audio track included on this release; English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Unsurprisingly, this is very much an affair kept to the front speakers - in fact, 90% is kept to the front centre speaker. Occasionally, the surrounds do kick into action, but this is generally when a music track plays a part in what is happening, or when a scene takes place in a more bustling environment. The most use of the surrounds actually comes from the theme tune. Dialogue is always clear, and there are no signs of any sort of damage. There are no scratches or drop outs, and I noticed no background hiss. Overall, it's quite uneventful, but then there aren't exactly a million chances in the show for the surrounds to kick into life. Optional subtitles have been included in English, French and Spanish.
Extras
DISC ONE A selection of deleted family interviews (3:54) includes Phil talking about his ability to sell, Cam talking about Mitchell's inability to show public displays of affection and Mitchell informing us of how he was unable to kill a deer whilst hunting. There are several other segments here, and the majority are reasonably funny and were likely only deleted because of issues with the run times of the episodes. The first disc features some deleted and extended scenes (9:54) which are fairly standard stuff. There is nothing here that is particularly stand out, and the majority seem as though they were well selected for the chop in order to keep the tight pacing and to avoid tangents. The "Strangers on a Treadmill" table read (37:35) features the cast reading the initial script for the episode in front of a live audience, including scenes that never made the final cut. The whole cast is here, with stage directions being read by who I assume is executive producer Steven Levitan, though it is never made clear. It was filmed at the Zanuck Theater on the 10th August 2010 and also has the scriptwriters sitting in the front row ready to make adjustments to the final script and gauge which jokes work based on the reactions of the audience. Chris Lloyd is also present, but makes a sharp accent as soon as his name is mentioned. "Mitch's Flash Mob" is a short featurette (2:43) looking at the flash mob scene from episode eight, which takes place after Mitchell is hounded for not being spontaneous enough. Actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson talks about how he was sent a youtube video of a flash mob so he knew what he would have to do, and that it was quite a slow process for him to learn the choreography. It ends with a funny scene from the episode where Cam shows his displeasure. DISC TWO The second disc once again chucks us a selection of deleted family interviews (4:50). This time round, Phil talks about is relationship with Jay, Phil and Claire talk about the speeding driver, Phil talks about the guy who has won salesman of the quarter, Phil talks about how Claire says he betrayed her on every level, Phil... Well... Phil talks a lot in this small selection with other characters not getting much airtime (Phil gets the first three minutes). This disc also sees some more deleted and extended scenes (10:45). Again, these are very much standard cuts, mainly for pacing, and it was obvious why they had been removed. I do like it when deleted scenes feature also have an optional audio commentary though, as it can give is more insight into the thinking behind why scenes were shot to begin with. The final disc two extra is a music video for "Imagine Me Naked" (3:38). Sang by Dylan (Reid Ewing) it's quite an amusing song, and actually no worse than any of the stupidly written popular crap that adorns our charts week in week out. It's a single watch track though. DISC THREE Just like the first two discs, we get a series of deleted family interviews (2:04) as well as another selection of deleted and extended scenes (0:59). I won't go into detail, as it is quite obvious what to expect here after being given similar items on the previous discs. The Gag Reel (8:21) is quite standard stuff, with the usual fluffed lines and silliness. There are a number of lines messed up by Sofia Vergara as she struggles to reel off certain English pronunciations. There's a good selection here from all the characters, but nothing particularly funny. Line fluff ups often feel like you had to be there in my opinion. The "Modern Family Holidays" featurette (13:02) is essentially a behind the scenes look at moments in the season that take place during various 'holidays' such as Valentine's Day, and Mother's Day. It features various clips from the relevant episodes, with some minor b-roll footage and interview segments giving us more of an insight into the thought processes behind what happens in these segments. The "Waiting for Oprah" featurette (3:51) shows various cast members talking about getting ready for the Oprah Winfrey television crew who filmed some behind the scenes footage. We get shown some interesting places that you don't generally see in featurettes, such as the food canteen they have on set. What's quite amusing, is the guys filming this segment, are documenting the Oprah Winfrey crew, documenting the show, so there are a lot of cameras in shot sometimes. It also shows a little footage from when Oprah interviewed the cast for her talk show, but there is no sign of Oprah herself (not even her voice) in any part of this featurette. "Chatting with Steve Levitan" interview (4:12) asks one of the co-creators a few questions about what Modern Family is truly about. He tells us how they try to make it as lifelike as possible, pitching stories from their own family lives and basing entire episodes around them. He talks about some of the cameos and how they haven't used as many big guests as they could do because they do not want Modern Family to be another show that becomes all about the guest stars, rather than the storylines. The "At Home with Modern Family" featurette (6:10) has production designer Richard Berg giving a tour of Mitchell and Cam's home, from rounded arches to the mural in Lily's bedroom. We hear how a few minor things have changed from filming the pilot in an actual house, to the series on a stage, but also how much has been kept the same. We also get a little tour of the Dunphy's house, and of Jay and Gloria's house. Before each tour, there is even a little introduction from the characters.
Overall
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