Pilot
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| Pilot | ||
|---|---|---|
| Modern Family episode | ||
| ||
| Season | 1 | |
| Episode | 1 | |
| Writer: | Steven Levitan Christopher Lloyd | |
| Director: | Jason Winer | |
| Guests: | Reid Ewing as Dylan Matt Corboy as Josh Marcus Brown as Security Guard Jenica Bergere as Soccer Mom Lilian Adams as Passenger #1 Duane R. Shepard, Sr. as Passenger #2 Heather Lee as Passenger #3 Hayley Erin as Brenda Feldman | |
| Production Code | 1ARG79 | |
| Airdate | September 23, 2009 | |
| Episode List | ||
| previous "None" | next "The Bicycle Thief" | |
Contents |
Summary
Edit
Jay Pritchett recently married Gloria Delgado. Now, Jay is trying hard to keep up with his much younger and hotter Colombian wife, along with her passionate preteen son, Manny. Claire Dunphy is having a hard time raising her own family: her husband Phil is great, except that he thinks he's "down" with their three kids, much to all their embarrassment. Meanwhile, Mitchell and his enthusiastic partner Cameron Tucker have just made a major life change by adopting a Vietnamese baby named Lily.
SynopsisEdit
The episode begins at the home of Phil and Claire Dunphy and their three children Haley, Alex and Luke. Claire and Phil shout up the stairs to the children. When Haley emerges, Claire tells her that her skirt is too short but Phil allows her to wear it. Meanwhile, Luke get his head stuck in the banister. In interviews, Claire says that if she can prevent her children from making the same mistakes she did when she was growing up, she has "done our job".
Gloria Pritchett and her husband, Jay, are watching Gloria's son Manny play soccer. Gloria is overenthusiastic, shouting encouragement to her son and arguing with another parent. Jay asks her to take it down a notch. Gloria and Jay are then interviewed, where Gloria discusses the differences between their backgrounds: she comes from a small village in Colombia which is "number one for murders", while he comes from the city and owns a big business.
Back on the pitch, Manny lets the other team score a goal when he is distracted by a beautiful sixteen-year old girl riding by on a bicycle, much to the team's dismay and the dismay of one of the parents, who Gloria threatens to 'take her out'. Gloria speaks to the father of one of the other players, who assumes that Jay is her dad.
The scene shifts to Mitchell and Cameron, a gay couple, who are on a plane returning from Vietnam having adopted a baby, Lily. The other passengers admire Lily, with one man commenting, "You and your wife must be thrilled". When Cameron walks on board and sits down beside Mitchell, an uneasy silence develops. In an interview the characters say that they have been together for five years. Back on the plane, Mitchell threatens to make a speech and does so when a woman says "look at that baby with those cream puffs", which he believes is a reference to he and Cameron. In fact, she is referring to the cream puffs Lily is eating. Cameron apologizes by offering to pay for headsets for all the passengers.
Back at the Dunphy residence, Haley is informing her parents that she has invited Dylan, a senior boy from her high school, over and tells them to try not to embarrass her. In an interview, Phil tells the camera crew that he is the 'cool dad' because he texts and knows all the lingo and dances to High School Musical. He proceeds to show the kids the dances.
Alex and Luke were outside playing when Luke shoots her with a BB gun. Claire reminds Phil that she warned him that this would happen and instructs Phil to follow through with the agreement: that Phil shoots Luke.
Back at the soccer game, Manny informs Gloria that he's quitting soccer and wants to go to the mall and tell the sixteen year old, Brenda, that he loves her. In an interview, Gloria tells that Manny is more like his father; very passionate. She says that all they did was 'fight and make love'. This is news to Jay.
Cameron and Mitchell are arriving home, and Mitchell is worried that there is something wrong with Lily because she hasn't slept. In an interview, Cameron talks on how he gained wait during the adoption process. Cameron then shows Mitchell the surprise he has in Lily's nursery. Mitchell is worried that his family won't accept Lily. Cameron then proceeds to invite them all over.
Dylan arrives at the Dunphy household. Claire instructs Phil to "scare him". In an interview, Phil says that it's 'eye communication' that will scare Dylan. Phil hurts his back in the process and Dylan is forced to carry Phil to the couch.
At the mall, Jay tries to bribe Manny not to confess his love for Brenda, but Manny does it anyway. Meanwhile, Manny reads a poem for the sixteen-year old and is crushed when she says she has a boyfriend. Jay is mistaken for a mall walker so he decides to buy some 'hip' new clothes.
Haley brings her boyfriend upstairs while Alex helps Claire cook, however Alex's constant jokes and comments about how "awesome" it would be to see Haley pregnant cause Claire to rush upstairs and break the two up. Haley goes downstairs to complain to Phil, who is preparing to shoot Luke. Phil accidentally shoots Luke, Dylan, and then himself.
An in interview, Mitchell explains how his dad isn't comfortable with him being gay even after 5 years. The last scene is at Mitchell and Cameron's house where Lily is going to be introduced to the rest of the family. We learn that all three families are related. Before Lily is introduced, Jay, who is uncomfortable having a gay son, says that Mitchell and Cameron shouldn't adopt and, if they're bored, should get a dog. Cameron enters, holding Lily aloft before the family while "Circle of Life" from The Lion King plays. The entire family, including Jay, fawns over her.
Cast & CrewEdit
Main CastEdit
- Ed O'Neill - Jay Pritchett
- Sofía Vergara - Gloria Pritchett
- Julie Bowen - Claire Dunphy
- Ty Burrell - Phil Dunphy
- Jesse Tyler Ferguson - Mitchell Pritchett
- Eric Stonestreet - Cameron Tucker
- Sarah Hyland - Haley Dunphy
- Ariel Winter - Alex Dunphy
- Nolan Gould - Luke Dunphy
- Rico Rodriguez II - Manny Delgado
- Ella & Jaden Hiller - Lily Pritchett-Tucker
Supporting CastEdit
- Reid Ewing - Dylan
- Matt Corboy - Josh
- Marcus Brown - Security Guard
- Jenica Bergere - Soccer Mom
- Lillian Adams - Passenger #1
- Duane R. Shepard Sr. - Passenger #2
- Heather Lee - Passenger #3
CrewEdit
Directed By:
Jason Winer
Written By:
Steven Levitan
Christopher Lloyd
Produced By:
Paul Corrigan .... co-executive producer
Joe Lawson .... consulting producer
Steven Levitan .... executive producer
Christopher Lloyd .... executive producer
Jeffrey Morton .... producer (as Jeff Morton)
Dan O'Shannon .... co-executive producer
Chris Smirnoff .... associate producer
Brad Walsh .... co-executive producer
Jason Winer .... co-executive producer
Bill Wrubel .... co-executive producer
Danny Zuker .... co-executive producer
ProductionEdit
While working in the office Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan were inspired for the show by telling stories about their family and they thought that could be a show idea and started working around the idea of a family being observed in a mockumentary style show. They then later decided it would be a show about three families and their experiences. [5] Originally called My American Family, the camera crew would be run by a Dutch filmmaker named Geert Floorjte who had lived with Jay's family as a teenage exchange student and developed a crush on Claire (while Mitchell had a crush on him), but the staff decided against it.[6][7] The creators pitched it to the four major networks except for Fox with CBS not ready for a big commitment, NBC already having two mokumentaries, The Office and Parks and Recreation, and ABC like CBS not ready for a commitment especially since they never had a single-camera show before, but eventually they picked it up.[8]
The series was given a full season pickup on October 8, 2009.[9][10] On January 12, 2010, ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPhersonannounced that Modern Familyhad been renewed for a second season Casting for Modern Family was very difficult for the final cast (except for Jesse Tyler Ferguson) to be cast. Initially Ed O'Neill had lost the part to Craig T. Nelson (who would later go on to play Zeek Braverman on Parenthood on NBC.) although eventually he was eventually cast. Eric Stonestreet who was unknown at the time has to fight for the role of Cameron more. It was also difficult for Julie Bowen as she was pregnant with twins during filming while Ty Burrell had to test for the role of Phil Dunphy three times. Initially Jesse Tyler Ferguson had auditioned for the role of Cameron before he, Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan thought he would be better suited for the role Mitchell.
The episode was filmed in Los Angeles in the United States and is set in a nameless suburban neighborhood.[2] It was written and produced by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, who had worked together on Frasier. When Julie Bowen, who plays Claire Dunphy, read the script, she "desperately wanted to do it" but was pregnant with twins.[13] Bowen "auditioned, begged and pleaded", eventually convincing the show makers to film around her stomach.[13] In the pilot, shot when Bowen was 8½ months pregnant,[14] Bowen hides her stomach with laundry.[15] When Phil was dancing to the High School Musical song the was very difficult to not laugh to with everyone laughing when the director said cut.
