Claire is a homemaker mom married to Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell); they have three children, Haley (Sarah Hyland), the typical teenager,[1] Alex (Ariel Winter), the smart middle child,[2] and Luke (Nolan Gould), the offbeat only son.

[3] Jay is married to a much younger Colombian woman, Gloria (Sofía Vergara), and is helping her raise her pre-teen son, Manny (Rico Rodriguez).

The episode "Fizbo" received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics, with BuddyTV naming it the second best show of 2009.

[7] Originally, the camera crew would be run by a fictitious Dutch filmmaker named Geert Floortje who had lived with Jay's family as a teenage exchange student.

[12][13] On January 12, 2010, ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson announced that Modern Family had been renewed for a second season.

[7] The show's writers include Paul Corrigan, Sameer Gardezi, Joe Lawson, Levitan, Lloyd, Dan O'Shannon, Brad Walsh, Caroline Williams, Bill Wrubel, and Danny Zuker.

Claire is a homemaker mom married to Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell); they have three children, Haley (Sarah Hyland), the typical teenager,[1] Alex (Ariel Winter), the smart middle child,[2] and Luke (Nolan Gould), the offbeat only son.

[3] Jay is married to a much younger Colombian woman, Gloria (Sofía Vergara), and is helping her raise her pre-teen son, Manny (Rico Rodriguez).

The season featured the first appearance of Fred Willard as Phil's father as Frank Dunphy in two episodes, "Undeck the Halls" and "Travels with Scout".

[18] He later went on to be nominated at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, but lost to Neil Patrick Harris's performance on Glee.

[19] Other guest spots included Elizabeth Banks and Edward Norton who appeared in the eighth episode, "Great Expectations" with both performances receiving positive reviews.

[20][21] Shelley Long appeared in the fourth episode of the season as DeDe Pritchett, Claire and Mitchell's mother and Jay's ex-wife.

[22] Many critics gave her casting positive reviews,[23][24] with Entertainment Weekly writer Michael Slezak calling it a "stroke of genius".

[83] Entertainment Weekly gave it an A−, calling it "...immediately recognizable as the best new sitcom of the fall..."[84] In Time's review the show was named "the funniest new family comedy of the year.

[88] TV Squad writer Allison Waldman called the series "overrated" saying "it's disconnected and uneven" and "The hokey, voice-over narrations at the end of most shows is toe-curling.".

"[90] A poll by the Los Angeles Times said Modern Family is to win Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series and beat three year in a row winner 30 Rock.

[91] Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly ranked the season the third best series of 2009, praising it for finding its tone so fast.

[93][94] It ranked number 27th on BuddyTV list of top 50 best episodes of 2009 calling it a "perfect ensemble piece".

[96] The episode was later nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for Eric Stonestreet's performance as Cameron Tucker and later won.

[97][98] Modern Family drew criticism from some quarters for its portrayal of Cameron and Mitchell as not being physically affectionate with each other.

In response to the controversy, producers released a statement that a season two episode would address Mitchell's discomfort with public displays of affection.