I think the key is to get a real bouncy ball that looks like a basketball, rather than an actual basketball. That junk would hurt.
mmm
Yeah, I think it was a soft rubber ball, painted to look like a basketball with added sound effects for emphasis.
And edit in the sound of a real basketball-to-body impact - I can see some Foley artist throwing a BBall against side of beef and recording it to edit into the clip 
Cam: Shut UP!
Without any actual evidence of any sort to back me up other than “what I saw” I think that it was CGI. The ball jumps a bit weird and the path it takes is a bit too perfect for it to be natural, even with a bouncy ball painted.
Thank technology for DVRs because I had to pause after that because I was laughing so loudly and for close to a minute. Then I watched it 3 times in a row.
I was thinking that they were probably using a bouncy ball for that stunt.
Plus, the daughter’s face afterwards was great - as if, “What? Am I the only person in this family with a brain?!”
Good episode, but agree that the set up for the adoption agency dropping by could be seen 5 miles away - still, it was fun to see them really trash the place, even knowing what was coming.
Came in to mention that. The shot of Cam in t-shirt shouting Stella had me giggling … for the few seconds until the character mentioned it. Tsk, tsk. I suppose they make up for it a little when he asks the little girl if they can “depend on the kindness of strangers” (although even that would’ve been funnier if Cam had been doing it unintentionally).
Hah! I thoroughly missed that joke, or, rather, I misunderstood it. I thought the implication was that Phil was confused/slightly delirious from being hit in the head too many times. Would’ve been so much funnier if I’d gotten it.
I was thinking it would be a stunt ball too. They certainly didn’t hit that guy with a fully inflated regulation basketball in the rest of those shots (and all the shots that didn’t end up in the program. It looked a little smaller than a regulation basketball too. I erased the recording though, so I can’t recheck it. I don’t have a net up, but if the opportunity arises I’ll give it a try myself (not with a fully inflated real basketball though).
I wonder if the original line was “The black boy who played tight end.” - that would have been an offensive line! Is there anyway to find a rough draft of the script?
I think that was just a fortunate accident. You could see Eric Stonestreet reacting with a sort of “forcing himself to stay in character” look, but the take was too funny not to use.
So anyway, yeah, it wasn’t the strongest episode ever for various reasons. We all saw the adoption agent’s visit coming since before the show even started (I said out loud, "cue the doorbell!’ and sure enough…) and the end of the lost dog story didn’t even make any sense. The little girl stole the dog? Whuh?
Having said that, there were more laughs crammed into that half hour than anything I’ve seen on TV in a long time. I can forgive a lot when I’m laughing.
I watched last weeks episode with my roommates and neighbors. I was cracking up at the beginning of the Cam ‘Stanley’ scene but no one else in the room watching with me understood what I was laughing about. Just so you know, we are all in our mid to upper 20s. I am guessing the writers or someone in charge knew that joke would miss a lot of people, which is a shame.
As for the basketball gag, it seems like an awful waste of CGI if the actor knows how to head a soccer ball. With a hoop that low, its surprisingly easy to head a generic ball through a basket. We used to try to head in shots on a playground court after soccer practice while waiting for our parents. Our success rate was pretty high too and it was not all off the backboard (although that is considerably easier to accomplish). That hoop was around 9.5 feet high so I figure it cannot be too hard to hit something a foot or two shorter.
I watched it a week ago but I don’t recall him actively trying to head the ball in- he was more or less standing there unaware that the ball was coming, and it just sort of careened off his head. I don’t think he put any effort into sending it there. That would have killed the joke.
And besides, CGI is getting pretty cheap. Sofia Vergara is actually a middle-aged man who’s 3 feet tall and a baritone. 
I’d still do him.
Good point.
It just seems like everyone is pretty quick to claim “CGI” for things that really are not particularly difficult if rehearsed and shot in a few takes.
This season has started out quite nicely. I think one of my favorite parts is the interaction between the different family members.