# Modern Family, March 14, 2012 -- "Send Out The Clowns" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 15, 2012, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859 "2012-03-15T14:08:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859/1 "2012-03-15T14:08:36Z")
So, what did you guys think of last night’s episode? ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859/2 "2012-03-15T14:41:09Z")
EXTREMELY upset that we never got to see Gloria’s pool party outfit. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859/3 "2012-03-15T14:55:44Z")
> [@Labtrash](#): > > EXTREMELY upset that we never got to see Gloria’s pool party outfit. That upset me, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859/4 "2012-03-15T15:12:03Z")
I liked the clown funeral in the cold open - especially the slide whistle as the casket was being lowered. Also Mitchell: How are you all going to fit in that little car? ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859/5 "2012-03-15T15:17:33Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Also Mitchell: How are you all going to fit in that little car? That was my favorite line. I was wondering if/how they were going to do a clown car bit. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859/6 "2012-03-15T15:59:05Z")
(Paraphrasing cuz I can’t remember the exact words…a rarity for me…) “Uh oh…trouble in queer-idise” That got a good “ha!” out of me ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859/7 "2012-03-15T17:49:12Z")
I like the arrangement of Jay’s staircase landing/dining table, though my dog would be on the dining table if I did that. “We _are_ gathered.” ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859/8 "2012-03-15T18:03:41Z")
It wasn’t my favorite episode, but who can argue with Bobby Cannavale as an evil clown! ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859/9 "2012-03-15T18:06:38Z")
I thought the Luke:Mitzi thing would have been more surprising if the reveal was it wasn’t a set up, plus any woman who would fake assault wouldn’t be moved by a kid. Which makes me wonder if it’s a recurring plot and the couple in the house really are a pair of psychos. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859/10 "2012-03-15T18:11:52Z")
With the exception of the little montage of Manny greeting his friends at the door- which made me laugh out loud- I thought it was one of this season’s weaker episodes. Although I discovered that not even clown makeup and a clown outfit can squelch my wife’s attraction to Bobby Cannavale. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859/11 "2012-03-15T18:45:42Z")
Didn’t much care for it. The clown stuff is just oo broad for this show. Plus, Jay’s “they think I’m the cool one” seemed way out of character for him, especially the part where he realized the friend liked Gloria and still though he liked him too. Ellen Barkin looked horrendous. I missed every joke while she was on screen b/c I was busy looknig at her, horrified. “Fonzi scheme” was my favorite part. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859/12 "2012-03-15T20:55:22Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > With the exception of the little montage of Manny greeting his friends at the door- which made me laugh out loud- I thought it was one of this season’s weaker episodes. I agree with this. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859/13 "2012-03-15T20:56:39Z")
I didn’t care for it either. The clown thing was funny once, and mostly because of Phil’s phobia and Jay acting cool was embarassing. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859/14 "2012-03-16T13:02:36Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Didn’t much care for it. The clown stuff is just oo broad for this show. While I thought the clown funeral was laugh-out-loud funny, you’re right that it wasn’t really keeping with the usual tone of the show. Same for the frying pan bit at the end. I do enjoy some good slapstick now and then, but for a series that does character-based humor so well, I was disappointed that we didn’t get more dialogue between Cam and Lewis. I’m sure with a little more effort they could have crafted a hilarious resolution to the story without any head injuries. And Ellen Barkin’s character _didn’t_ see that Luke was playing her from 3 miles away? She was the only one. For a minute I thought the twist was going to be that Luke did that on his own. “You see, kids, you don’t need to resort to dirty tricks to get ahead!” while Luke grins knowingly at the camera. Would have been funnier than the completely unnecessary flashback to the store _after_ we already knew how it went down. And while I’m picking nits here, I don’t think the other realtor saying “You can have the listing” means that Phil is actually going to _get_ the listing. The homeowners still think Phil pushed his competitor into the bushes and were appropriately appalled. Now they’re going to work with him? I criticize because I love. This is one of my favorite shows and it pains me when they come up short like this. ---
**Author:** ![Yaxche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8dc957/32.png) [@Yaxche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yaxche)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859/15 "2012-03-16T15:54:13Z")
They really need to tone down Cam, they are making him ridiculous. I understand some of this is to get a rise out of Mitchell, but they don’t need it. It’s just as funny when Mitchell gets upset about some day-to-day minutia, or some perceived slight. Right now it seems like Jay, Gloria and Manny are the only reason to tune in. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859/16 "2012-03-16T15:55:32Z")
I was a bit disappointed that Phil and Luke went for the “sympathy ploy” with the Ellen Barkin character, instead of exposing her as an evil, manipulative bitch. Also, Jay seemed a bit out of character, worrying about “being cool” for Manny’s friend. Still, it was a pretty funny episode! ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859/17 "2012-03-16T16:32:57Z")
“If you squeeze me, do I not honk?” This episode made me laugh out loud several times so that makes it a winner for me. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859/18 "2012-03-16T18:00:14Z")
I have to agree with a comment from my wife… there should have been a slo-mo shot of the clowns walking to the funeral like in Apollo 13 or a million other slo-mo walking shot. That alone would have been funny. I too was hoping for a bathing suit shot. ☹ Funny how the Facebook thing came back on Claire. What was she said at the end? “Take down the wall!?” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859/19 "2012-03-16T18:01:16Z")
I’m starting to get tired of Claire’s exasperated looks at the camera multiple times per episode. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859/20 "2012-03-16T18:08:47Z")
Another clunker. I think I only laughed once or twice, which is sad because Modern Family is usually up there with Parks & Rec and Community for me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-march-14-2012-send-out-the-clowns/615859.md?page=2)