[1] The season was produced by Lloyd-Levitan Productions in association with 20th Century Fox Television, with series creators Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd serving as showrunners.

The second season of the show was produced by Lloyd-Levitan Productions in association with 20th Century Fox Television and airs on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC).

[4] Returning writers from the first season included Paul Corrigan, Joe Lawson, Levitan, Lloyd, Dan O'Shannon, Brad Walsh, Ilana Wernick, Wrubel, and Danny Zuker.

[5] Joining the writing staff during the second season were Jerry Collins, Alex Herschlag, Abraham Higginbotham, Elaine Ko, Jeffrey Richman.

Claire is a homemaker mom married to Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell); they have three children, Haley (Sarah Hyland), the typical teenager,[9] Alex (Ariel Winter), the smart middle child,[10] and Luke (Nolan Gould), the offbeat only son.

[11] 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 return of Shelley Long as DeDe Pritchett who brought a new boyfriend, Claire's ex-boyfriend who was played by Matt Dillon.

[18] Other guest appearances included Danny Trejo played a janitor at Manny and Luke's school who is feared by many students and adds tension to Claire's relationship with Gloria in the tenth episode.

For example, Phil and Claire's storyline in "Manny Get Your Gun" was based on a personal experience of executive producer Steven Levitan's in which he and his wife would debate on which way was the fastest to go home from a restaurant.

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

Claire gets stuck in the bathroom with a plumber, while Phil scrambles to cover up the damage caused by a fallen shelf he had failed to secure properly.

Their plan backfires when the friend arrives to help, leading Cameron to awkwardly confess the truth, which only makes things worse.

Phil is set to host a Realtors' event and has written a speech filled with jokes that Claire finds painfully unfunny.

Meanwhile, Phil is busy trying to land an important listing with a difficult client, Jay teaches Manny and Gloria how to ride a bike, and Mitchell and Cameron meet a charming mysterious neighbor.

While Claire runs herself ragged trying to play peacemaker with Haley and Alex, Phil sneaks off for a nice relaxing day at the spa.

Meanwhile, Gloria is horrified by Jay's morbid plans to purchase two primo side-by-side crypts in preparation of the inevitable future, and Cameron decides he wants to write a book that celebrates the fact that Lily is adopted -- however, during the process he unearths artifacts that are quite disturbing.

'Modern Family's' outstanding cast continues to impress, and even wobbly episodes reliably supply sharp observations and goofball charm.

[56] Robert Bianco of USA Today gave the new season four stars out of four saying "Not since Frasier has a sitcom offered such an ideal blend of heart and smarts, or proven itself so effortlessly adept at so many comic variations, from subtle wordplay to big-laugh slapstick to everything in between.

[58] TV Squad writer Joel Keller praised the show's avoidance of the sophomore slump writing "Steve Levitan, Christopher Lloyd, and their cast and crew haven't missed a beat, churning out consistently funny episodes as if its wildly-successful first season never ended.".

[59] "Manny Get Your Gun" received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics with many of them comparing it to the quality of the first-season episodes,[60][61] with TV Guide writer Matt Roush calling it "comedy gold".

[62] The episode was later put in for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series along with "The Old Wagon", "The Kiss", "Caught in the Act", "Someone to Watch Over Lily" and "Mother's Day".

The show is still capable of greatness (and should have a solid set of Emmy tapes to submit, when the time comes), but it's distressingly free of the kinds of B/B+ episodes that let you know you're in good hands.

"[68] Milagros Lizarraga, founder of the online group Peru USA Southern Ca, told the Associated Press, "It's incredible that in a country where everything is politically correct, ABC would have a line of this sort.

New York writer Rachel Muddux while reviewing "Chirp" wrote that "Modern Family feels like it's still struggling a little to live up to the Emmy-winning highs of its first, negotiating the boundaries of its family-sitcom roots and attempting to transcend cheap laughs.

"[70] She later went on to say in a later review that "after three spot-on episodes in a row and nearly a month of reruns, the show kicked off its second season's second half in such fine form that we're hoping next week we won't feel at all compelled to mention how iffy things were looking there for a while.".

[75] Joyce Eng of TV Guide named Julie Bowen, Ed O'Neill and Nolan Gould among her dream ballot for Best Supporting Actor/Actress in a Comedy Series at the Emmy's.

[81] Vergara received another acting nomination at the 17th Screen Actors Guild Awards, as did Burrell and O'Neill with the cast winning Ensemble in a Comedy.

[110] The lowest rated episode of the season was "Mother Tucker", which was viewed by an estimated 10.53 million households with a 3.7 rating/12% share among 18- to 49-year-olds, which much like "Fizbo", might have received a drop due to airing on Thanksgiving Eve.