My Funky Valentine
Encyclopedia
"My Funky Valentine" is the fifteenth episode of first season
of Modern Family
. It premiered on ABC
on February 10, 2010.
, but after being shocked by Dylan's present for Haley, they decide to instead spending the night at a hotel and indulging in role playing. Meanwhile Mitchell and Cameron break their valentine date, because Mitchell has a case that he has been working on for weeks. Jay and Gloria will go to a Comedy club where David Brenner
is performing.
Phil poses as Clive Bixby, a visiting businessman and Claire as Julianna, a local house-wife. The two meet at a bar and he "picks her up", she goes to the bathroom and comes back wearing her coat with no clothes underneath. As they preparte to go upstairs she gets her coat stuck in the escalator, which she cannot take off. The situation turns worse when they begin running into a lot of acquaintances from work and school, all of whom suggest that she take the coat off.
Meanwhile Mitchell comes back home with no Valentine's spirit since his client decided to settle before he had any chance at giving one of his best speeches. Manny arrives since Cameron agreed to look after him, which seems to lift Mitchell a bit but it soon goes south when they see that Manny is terribly depressed because he wrote a Valentine for a girl, but someone else took the credit. So they go to the restaurant where Manny had arranged for his date confronts her about the true authorship of the poem. Mitchell then defends Manny by using the speech he was going to use from the case which makes Cameron happy. Unfortunately, the girl still likes the other boy, because he says he had the feelings, but did not know how to express them.
At David Brenner's show he starts insulting Jay's age compared to Gloria's which makes him angry so he leaves and Gloria comes to comfort him. As they leave to go salsa dancing, which was Gloria's first choice for the Valentines, they find Phil and Claire with Claire still stuck in the escalator. Gloria helps Claire out (because it has happened to her before, as she states) and then Jay and Gloria leave and Phil and Claire go upstairs into their hotel
room. The next morning it turns out that Phil still managed to make a disaster of Clive and Julianna's rendez vous by spilling oil all over the place, which he confesses during a phone conversation with Claire which is heard by the entire family in the van's hands-free system.
. Jay mentions David Brenner
was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
.
and The Pilot
and helping it come second in its timeslot after American Idol
, and making it the most viewed episode on ABC Comedy Wednesday helping ABC come third for the night after CBS and FOX. The episode ranked 13th in the 18-49 rating with 5,438 million viewers from that rating watching and ranked 23rd in the total viewership for the week. The episode got positive reviews. Robert Canning gave the episode a 8.6 saying it was "Great" and "the three storylines from "My Funky Valentine" had a lot of laughs. The episode continued to prove Modern Family is the best new comedy of the season." Jason Hughes of TV Squad gave the episode a positive review saying that "Again, it's those genuine little moments that help the audience believe in these characters, and believing in them makes the situations they find themselves in that much funnier." Donna Bowman of The A.V. Club
gave the episode an A- saying that "It may not be the freshest idea in the world, but I haven't laughed this hard at a sitcom in a long time." and that "Nothing new about these storylines. But it's not about the situation -- it's about the comedy. And what we have here are comic actors playing characters -- especially Mitchell, Cam, and Phil -- that can make everything old new again." Lesley Savage of Entertainment Weekly
gave the episode a positive review saying that "How is it possible that this show gets funnier every week? I mean, you would think that it would have to plateau at some point, but the last few episodes have just gotten better and better. While I thought that last week was ultra-quote worthy, this week’s Valentine’s Day-themed episode may have just topped it.
Modern Family (season 1)
The first season of the television comedy series Modern Family aired between September 23, 2009 and May 19, 2010, on ABC in the United States. The season was produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Lloyd-Levitan Productions with series creators Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan as executive...
of Modern Family
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...
. It premiered on ABC
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...
on February 10, 2010.
Plot
Phil and Claire are arranging their Valentine's date at their usual restaurantRestaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
, but after being shocked by Dylan's present for Haley, they decide to instead spending the night at a hotel and indulging in role playing. Meanwhile Mitchell and Cameron break their valentine date, because Mitchell has a case that he has been working on for weeks. Jay and Gloria will go to a Comedy club where David Brenner
David Brenner
David Brenner is an American standup comedian, actor, author, and filmmaker.-Career:Born and raised in poor areas of Philadelphia, Brenner found comedy a major source of relief from the daily trials and tribulations he faced in his youth. His neighborhood has been one of the top-ranked crime...
is performing.
Phil poses as Clive Bixby, a visiting businessman and Claire as Julianna, a local house-wife. The two meet at a bar and he "picks her up", she goes to the bathroom and comes back wearing her coat with no clothes underneath. As they preparte to go upstairs she gets her coat stuck in the escalator, which she cannot take off. The situation turns worse when they begin running into a lot of acquaintances from work and school, all of whom suggest that she take the coat off.
Meanwhile Mitchell comes back home with no Valentine's spirit since his client decided to settle before he had any chance at giving one of his best speeches. Manny arrives since Cameron agreed to look after him, which seems to lift Mitchell a bit but it soon goes south when they see that Manny is terribly depressed because he wrote a Valentine for a girl, but someone else took the credit. So they go to the restaurant where Manny had arranged for his date confronts her about the true authorship of the poem. Mitchell then defends Manny by using the speech he was going to use from the case which makes Cameron happy. Unfortunately, the girl still likes the other boy, because he says he had the feelings, but did not know how to express them.
At David Brenner's show he starts insulting Jay's age compared to Gloria's which makes him angry so he leaves and Gloria comes to comfort him. As they leave to go salsa dancing, which was Gloria's first choice for the Valentines, they find Phil and Claire with Claire still stuck in the escalator. Gloria helps Claire out (because it has happened to her before, as she states) and then Jay and Gloria leave and Phil and Claire go upstairs into their hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
room. The next morning it turns out that Phil still managed to make a disaster of Clive and Julianna's rendez vous by spilling oil all over the place, which he confesses during a phone conversation with Claire which is heard by the entire family in the van's hands-free system.
Cultural references
The title is a reference to the song My Funny ValentineMy Funny Valentine
"My Funny Valentine" is a show tune from the 1937 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart musical Babes in Arms in which it was introduced by former child star Mitzi Green...
. Jay mentions David Brenner
David Brenner
David Brenner is an American standup comedian, actor, author, and filmmaker.-Career:Born and raised in poor areas of Philadelphia, Brenner found comedy a major source of relief from the daily trials and tribulations he faced in his youth. His neighborhood has been one of the top-ranked crime...
was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
.
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "My Funky Valentine" was viewed by 10.11 million viewers with a Nielsen rating of 4.2/11 matching with the previous rating high from Fifteen PercentFifteen 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 The Pilot
Pilot (Modern Family)
The pilot episode of the television series Modern Family, written by Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd and directed by Jason Winer, premiered on ABC in the United States on September 23, 2009. The pilot introduces viewers to three sets of people who make up a single family...
and helping it come second in its timeslot after American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
, and making it the most viewed episode on ABC Comedy Wednesday helping ABC come third for the night after CBS and FOX. The episode ranked 13th in the 18-49 rating with 5,438 million viewers from that rating watching and ranked 23rd in the total viewership for the week. The episode got positive reviews. Robert Canning gave the episode a 8.6 saying it was "Great" and "the three storylines from "My Funky Valentine" had a lot of laughs. The episode continued to prove Modern Family is the best new comedy of the season." Jason Hughes of TV Squad gave the episode a positive review saying that "Again, it's those genuine little moments that help the audience believe in these characters, and believing in them makes the situations they find themselves in that much funnier." Donna Bowman of The A.V. Club
The 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...
gave the episode an A- saying that "It may not be the freshest idea in the world, but I haven't laughed this hard at a sitcom in a long time." and that "Nothing new about these storylines. But it's not about the situation -- it's about the comedy. And what we have here are comic actors playing characters -- especially Mitchell, Cam, and Phil -- that can make everything old new again." Lesley Savage 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 positive review saying that "How is it possible that this show gets funnier every week? I mean, you would think that it would have to plateau at some point, but the last few episodes have just gotten better and better. While I thought that last week was ultra-quote worthy, this week’s Valentine’s Day-themed episode may have just topped it.
External links
- "My Funky Valentine" at ABC.com