Lately I’ve been thinking I should try posting more frequent, shorter blogs. My average is over nine hundred words, and many people like to read short blurbs more than full essays sometimes. Communists.

I don’t like “Modern Family” as much anymore. When it first aired, I thought it was the funniest show I’d seen in a long time, and everyone I knew agreed with me. The Emmy for best comedy was well-deserved. Every week, it had me laughing out loud, which is rare. I come from a long line of people who say “That’s funny” instead of laughing. When V was a baby, she was a very late smiler and an even later laugher. All of my on-line mommy friends were writing about their offsprings’ adorable smiles and heartmelting laughter. I had nothing. She did smile and laugh eventually, but I swear to you that my 21 month-old often looks me in the eye, smiles, and says, “That’s funny, Mommy,” instead of laughing. At least we know she’s mine.

What I don’t like about “Modern Family” is that many of the characters have become caricatures. The writers created an interesting fictional family with unique and multi-faceted characters. Now, they’re all just “types.” There’s the Type-A Mom, the Slutty Teenager (she’s a revamped Kelly Bundy), the Overly Precocious Kid, the Prissy Gay Guy, and The Amusing Foreigner. And I would probably still enjoy the show, except for the storylines with Cameron and Mitchell, the gay couple.

It’s not what you think. It’s because they don’t seem to like each other. Mitchell seems positively contemptuous of Cameron. The two of them are constantly trying to one-up each other with bitchy comments and put-downs. There’s no affection between them that I’ve ever seen. Just a power struggle. It’s uncomfortable to watch, but even worse, it’s not funny.

I still laugh at the Sofia Vergara character. Odie seems to like her a whole lot. I’ve rarely seen him take so much interest in an actress. I also get a huge kick out of Phil, although I always feel sad that such a genuinely nice guy is with such a castrating bitch of a wife. I’ll never forgive her for the way she hurt Dr. Jack Shepherd. Overall, though, I’m worried that the show is rapidly going downhill. The writers are falling back on obvious gags and stereotypes instead of exploring the complexities of the modern family in an interesting and funny way. They still have me, though. I haven’t given up on them yet. Besides, Odie won’t let me. He thinks that Sofia woman is really talented.