Halloween (Modern Family)
Encyclopedia
"Halloween" is the sixth episode of Modern Family
' s second season
. It originally aired on October 27, 2010 on the ABC network
in the United States. The episode was written by Jeffrey Richman
and directed by Michael Spiller
and was based on an idea by cast member Eric Stonestreet
. The episode follows Claire's love for Halloween, which leads her to transform the Dunphy residence into a haunted house for trick-or-treaters. Cameron (Eric Stonestreet
) can't shake a childhood trauma related to the holiday, Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson
) has a terrible day at work. Gloria (Sofía Vergara
) acts weird after Jay (Ed O'Neill
) and Manny (Rico Rodriguez) tease her about her accent.
"Halloween" received mostly positive reviews from critics, with Donna Bowman of The A.V Club comparing it to the first season's critically praised episode, "Fizbo
" and was also named among the best 2010 episodes of Modern Family. According to Nielsen Media Research
, "Halloween" became the most viewed episode of the series and tied for the series' highest rated episode among adults between ages 18 and 49. It later became the second highest rated show for the week as well as the week's highest rated scripted program. This episode received multiple Primetime Emmy Award
nominations. Jesse Tyler Ferguson is nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor for his performance in this episode.
) learns that his neighbor, Gary has had a divorce. Phil is initially sad for Gary, but soon fears that the same thing might happen to him and his wife, Claire (Julie Bowen
). Phil soon assumes Claire concentration of completing the haunted house is a sign she isn't loving him anymore. He soon does the opposite of what Gary did that caused the demise of his marriage, like being spontaneous, with all of Phil's attempts failing.
Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson
) also gets excited when he learns that his new law firm
allows employees to wear Halloween costumes, and decides to wear a Spider-Man costume to work. Unfortunately, he learns too late that "only tools and douches wear costumes". He quickly puts on a suit over the costume, thinking that he can change out of the costume later, but he is pulled into several meetings and is not given the chance to take it off. Meanwhile, Gloria (Sofía Vergara
) gets offended by Manny (Rico Rodriguez) and Jay (Ed O'Neill
) correcting her accent.
At Claire's finished haunted house, everything goes wrong with Jay late at activating the effects, Gloria speaking in her "english" voice, and Cameron won't stop talking about his "traumatic" Halloween story. After two failed attempts at scaring trick-or-treaters, Claire becomes furious and walks out of the haunted house. Phil then asks her if she's tired of him, to which she responds that they're happily stuck together as a couple. While they talk, the rest of the family finishes the haunted house perfectly, to Claire and Phil's happiness.
. Ferguson later said in an interview that:
", becoming the most viewed episode of the series in total viewers and the highest rated episode in the 18-49 demographic, tying with "The Old Wagon
". The episode also became the highest rated scripted program and the second highest rated program overall for the week it premiered among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. Added with the DVR
viewers, the episode received a 6.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic, adding a 1.4 rating to the original viewership.
s Donna Bowman compared "Halloween" to the highly praised episode "Fizbo
", saying "'Halloween' reminded me very much of season one’s 'Fizbo,' especially in the chaotic climax where everyone contributes their particular insecurity or neurosis." James Poniewozik of Time
gave the episode a positive review calling it "fine", but not his "favorite". He named Gloria's storyline his favorite, saying "Sofia Vergara's exaggerated, passive-aggressive American accent was brilliant". Joel Keller of TV Squad praised the development of Claire, and felt that her "losing it" helped "soften her character." Joye Eng of TV Guide
named Gloria's storyline the best moment of the week the episode premiered. She named Gloria's "reaction shot when he inevitably unwraps a package of tiny Jesus figurines" and "Sofia Vergara's version of a typical American accent" the most "fun". Kara Klenc of the same website called it a "great episode". It was later named it the eleventh best television episode of 2010 by the website. The A.V. Club later named it, along with "Fifteen Percent
" and "Truth Be Told
", the best 2010 episodes of Modern Family.
On the other hand, Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly
gave the episode a negative review. He wrote: "The unimaginatively titled "Halloween" was probably the least hilarious installment to date of Modern Family's second season". He also criticized the ending to Cameron's story, saying "while I expected the big reveal would leave me howling, when it finally came ('I wet my pants!'), I didn't even crack a smile."
nominations. The episode was nominated for Outstanding Art Direction For a Single Camera Series, Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
, Outstanding Picture Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series
and Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (Half-Hour) And Animation. Ferguson, who submitted this episode, was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2011, but lost to co-star Burrell.
Modern Family
Modern Family is an American television comedy series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, which debuted on ABC on September 23, 2009. Lloyd and Levitan serve as showrunner and executive producers, under their Levitan-Lloyd Productions label...
Modern Family (season 2)
The second season of the comedy television series, Modern Family premiered September 22, 2010 and ended on May 25, 2011 on the American Broadcasting Company in the United States. The series is produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Lloyd-Levitan Productions with creators...
. It originally aired on October 27, 2010 on the ABC network
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in the United States. The episode was written by Jeffrey Richman
Jeffrey Richman
-Producer:* Stacked:* Frasier: executive producer* Charlie Lawrence : executive producer* Stark Raving Mad : co-executive producer* Wings : producer-Writer:* Stacked: 1 episode, 2005...
and directed by Michael Spiller
Michael Spiller
Michael Alan Spiller is an American cinematographer and television director.Spiller has directed on numerous series and has also served as a cinematographer prior to directing and worked frequently with Hal Hartley. He was a regular director on the HBO series, Sex and the City where he also served...
and was based on an idea by cast member Eric Stonestreet
Eric Stonestreet
Eric Stonestreet is an American actor, known for his starring role as Cameron Tucker on the ABC comedy Modern Family. Stonestreet has received critical acclaim for his performance in Modern Family and won the 2010 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his...
. The episode follows Claire's love for Halloween, which leads her to transform the Dunphy residence into a haunted house for trick-or-treaters. Cameron (Eric Stonestreet
Eric Stonestreet
Eric Stonestreet is an American actor, known for his starring role as Cameron Tucker on the ABC comedy Modern Family. Stonestreet has received critical acclaim for his performance in Modern Family and won the 2010 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his...
) can't shake a childhood trauma related to the holiday, Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Jesse Tyler Ferguson is an American actor who portrays Mitchell Pritchett on the ABC sitcom Modern Family. Previously he played the role of Richie Velch in the CBS sitcom The Class. He is openly gay.-Life and career:...
) has a terrible day at work. Gloria (Sofía Vergara
Sofía Vergara
Sofía Margarita Vergara Vergara is a Colombian actress, comedian, television hostess and model.Vergara had been widely known for co-hosting two TV shows for Univisión in the late 1990s. Her TV career opened up for her a window of exposure to North American audiences prior to her first notable...
) acts weird after Jay (Ed O'Neill
Ed O'Neill
Edward Phillip "Ed" O'Neill, Jr. is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the main character, Al Bundy, on the Fox Network sitcom Married... with Children, for which he was nominated for two Golden Globes...
) and Manny (Rico Rodriguez) tease her about her accent.
"Halloween" received mostly positive reviews from critics, with Donna Bowman of The A.V Club comparing it to the first season's critically praised episode, "Fizbo
Fizbo
"Fizbo" is the ninth episode of the first season of the American comedy series, Modern Family. It originally premiered on American Broadcasting Company in the United States on November 25, 2009...
" and was also named among the best 2010 episodes of Modern Family. According to Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
, "Halloween" became the most viewed episode of the series and tied for the series' highest rated episode among adults between ages 18 and 49. It later became the second highest rated show for the week as well as the week's highest rated scripted program. This episode received multiple Primetime Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
nominations. Jesse Tyler Ferguson is nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor for his performance in this episode.
Plot
At the Dunphy house, Phil (Ty BurrellTy Burrell
- External links :*...
) learns that his neighbor, Gary has had a divorce. Phil is initially sad for Gary, but soon fears that the same thing might happen to him and his wife, Claire (Julie Bowen
Julie Bowen
Julie Bowen is an American film and television actress. She played Carol Vessey on Ed and Denise Bauer on Boston Legal. She is best known for playing Claire Dunphy on the sitcom Modern Family, for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2011...
). Phil soon assumes Claire concentration of completing the haunted house is a sign she isn't loving him anymore. He soon does the opposite of what Gary did that caused the demise of his marriage, like being spontaneous, with all of Phil's attempts failing.
Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Jesse Tyler Ferguson is an American actor who portrays Mitchell Pritchett on the ABC sitcom Modern Family. Previously he played the role of Richie Velch in the CBS sitcom The Class. He is openly gay.-Life and career:...
) also gets excited when he learns that his new law firm
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
allows employees to wear Halloween costumes, and decides to wear a Spider-Man costume to work. Unfortunately, he learns too late that "only tools and douches wear costumes". He quickly puts on a suit over the costume, thinking that he can change out of the costume later, but he is pulled into several meetings and is not given the chance to take it off. Meanwhile, Gloria (Sofía Vergara
Sofía Vergara
Sofía Margarita Vergara Vergara is a Colombian actress, comedian, television hostess and model.Vergara had been widely known for co-hosting two TV shows for Univisión in the late 1990s. Her TV career opened up for her a window of exposure to North American audiences prior to her first notable...
) gets offended by Manny (Rico Rodriguez) and Jay (Ed O'Neill
Ed O'Neill
Edward Phillip "Ed" O'Neill, Jr. is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the main character, Al Bundy, on the Fox Network sitcom Married... with Children, for which he was nominated for two Golden Globes...
) correcting her accent.
At Claire's finished haunted house, everything goes wrong with Jay late at activating the effects, Gloria speaking in her "english" voice, and Cameron won't stop talking about his "traumatic" Halloween story. After two failed attempts at scaring trick-or-treaters, Claire becomes furious and walks out of the haunted house. Phil then asks her if she's tired of him, to which she responds that they're happily stuck together as a couple. While they talk, the rest of the family finishes the haunted house perfectly, to Claire and Phil's happiness.
Production
"Halloween" was directed by Michael Spiller and was the first episode Jeffrey Richman wrote for the series since joining the writing staff at the beginning of the second season. "Halloween" aired on October 27, 2010 as the first Halloween-themed episode and the 30th episode overall for the series. Parts of the episode were filmed on October 6, 2010, and October 8, 2010. The idea for the episode was pitched by cast member Eric Stonestreet. Stonestreet suggested that there should be a Modern Family episode about Halloween, and the series' producers liked the idea so much that they produced "Halloween". Many of the cast members costumes were revealed on the first day of filming by script coordinator Clint McCray through TwitterTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
. Ferguson later said in an interview that:
"The Spider-Man scene from the Halloween episode was my favorite to shoot thus far for the sheer fact that I was scaling down a wall in a Spider-Man costume. I will never in my life be cast in a movie where I am able to wear a super-hero costume and perform my own stunts. It was like I got to live a dream for a day."
Ratings
In its original American broadcast, "Halloween" was viewed by an estimated 13.143 million households and received a Nielsen rating of 7.8 rating/12% share, meaning that 7.8% of American households watched the episode and that 12% of all televisions in use at the time were watching it. The episode also received a 5.1 rating/14% share among adults between ages 18 and 49. The episode marked a nine percent rise in the 18-49 demographic from the previous episode, "UnpluggedUnplugged (Modern Family)
"Unplugged" is the fifth episode of the second season of the ABC sitcom, Modern Family. The episode originally aired October 20, 2010. The episode was written by series co-creator Steven Levitan and directed by Michael Spiller....
", becoming the most viewed episode of the series in total viewers and the highest rated episode in the 18-49 demographic, tying with "The Old Wagon
The Old Wagon
"The Old Wagon" is the second season premiere of the American sitcom Modern Family and the 25th episode overall. "The Old Wagon" premiered on September 22, 2010.. The episode was written by Bill Wrubel and was directed by Michael Spiller...
". The episode also became the highest rated scripted program and the second highest rated program overall for the week it premiered among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. Added with the DVR
Digital video recorder
A digital video recorder , sometimes referred to by the merchandising term personal video recorder , is a consumer electronics device or application software that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other local or networked mass storage device...
viewers, the episode received a 6.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic, adding a 1.4 rating to the original viewership.
Reviews
The episode received mostly positive reviews. The A.V. ClubThe A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
s Donna Bowman compared "Halloween" to the highly praised episode "Fizbo
Fizbo
"Fizbo" is the ninth episode of the first season of the American comedy series, Modern Family. It originally premiered on American Broadcasting Company in the United States on November 25, 2009...
", saying "'Halloween' reminded me very much of season one’s 'Fizbo,' especially in the chaotic climax where everyone contributes their particular insecurity or neurosis." James Poniewozik of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
gave the episode a positive review calling it "fine", but not his "favorite". He named Gloria's storyline his favorite, saying "Sofia Vergara's exaggerated, passive-aggressive American accent was brilliant". Joel Keller of TV Squad praised the development of Claire, and felt that her "losing it" helped "soften her character." Joye Eng of TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
named Gloria's storyline the best moment of the week the episode premiered. She named Gloria's "reaction shot when he inevitably unwraps a package of tiny Jesus figurines" and "Sofia Vergara's version of a typical American accent" the most "fun". Kara Klenc of the same website called it a "great episode". It was later named it the eleventh best television episode of 2010 by the website. The A.V. Club later named it, along with "Fifteen Percent
Fifteen Percent
"Fifteen Percent" is the thirteenth episode of the first season of the ABC sitcom Modern Family.Mitchell plants the seed in Jay's head that he thinks one of Jay's old buddies, "Shorty" , might be secretly gay. Jay doesn't believe it for a second except for all the questionable signs he now keeps...
" and "Truth Be Told
Truth Be Told (Modern Family)
"Truth Be Told" is the seventeenth episode of the first season of Modern Family. It premiered on American Broadcasting Company on March 10, 2010...
", the best 2010 episodes of Modern Family.
On the other hand, Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the episode a negative review. He wrote: "The unimaginatively titled "Halloween" was probably the least hilarious installment to date of Modern Family's second season". He also criticized the ending to Cameron's story, saying "while I expected the big reveal would leave me howling, when it finally came ('I wet my pants!'), I didn't even crack a smile."
Awards and nominations
"Halloween" received several Primetime Emmy AwardPrimetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
nominations. The episode was nominated for Outstanding Art Direction For a Single Camera Series, Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series is an Emmy presented to the best directing of a television comedy series.-1960s:*1960: Ralph Levy / Bud Yorkin – Jack Benny Hour Specials...
, Outstanding Picture Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series
This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Picture-Editing for a Comedy Series. It was created in 2003 alongside Outstanding Picture-Editing for a Drama Series...
and Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (Half-Hour) And Animation. Ferguson, who submitted this episode, was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2011, but lost to co-star Burrell.
External links
- "Halloween" at ABC.com