Caught in the Act (Modern Family)
Encyclopedia
"Caught in the Act" is the thirteenth episode of the second season
of the American television comedy series, Modern Family
and the 36th overall episode of the series. Co-creator Steven Levitan
and Jeffrey Richman
wrote the episode, and Michael Spiller
directed it. The episode originally aired on the American Broadcasting Company
(ABC) in the United States on January 19, 2011. It featured guest star Rachael Harris
as restaurant owner, Amelia.
In the episode, Gloria and Jay are about to go on vacation while Manny is away visiting his father, but their plans are interrupted when they accidentally send an insulting email to Claire. When they go to the Dunphys' house to apologize, they find Claire and Phil in a state of dismay because their kids have just walked in on them having sex. Meanwhile, Mitchell and Cameron have trouble getting reservations at a popular new restaurant so they try to ingratiate themselves with the restaurant's owner, who is one of the parents at Lily's preschool.
"Caught in the Act" received mixed reviews from critics. According to the Nielsen Media Research
, "Caught in the Act" dropped four percent in the ratings from the last episode of the series to air in its regular timeslot and received a 4.6 rating/12% share in the 18-49 demographic. Despite this, the episode won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.
. Luke is not quite sure what is going on but does not fail to remark that Phil had the same face as when he smells a new car, while Haley and Alex are reeling with shock and horror because they know exactly what they saw. Claire is much more upset about the kids seeing them than Phil is, largely due to her memory of walking in on Jay and her mom making love when she was a child. While Claire and Phil hide out in their bedroom, the kids leave the house and talk about what happened on a gas station bench, with Luke noting that he would rather have parents who do that than parents who are divorced like many of his friends; they make a deal to sit smiling-faced through Claire's subsequent address to them (while thinking about something else), which makes Claire happy—along with Phil stating that every anniversary with her makes him happy. In the end, the kids come up with an ideal anniversary present: a lock for their parents' bedroom door. However, the lock makes a loud ricochet sound when Phil and Claire use it, thus horrifying the Dunphy brood anew as an indicator of unseen parental sex.
Jay and Gloria's vacation to Las Vegas (and a three-tower restaurant wine room) is ruined when a brutally honest email is accidentally sent out by Gloria; Gloria is mad at Claire for being too officious regarding an upcoming school bake sale and Jay offers to type out a diplomatic version of her ideas which turns out to be very acerbic because he only wrote what Gloria told him word-for-word before she had any chance of even looking it through. They first call Claire to apologize but she will not take the call, so Gloria makes Jay turn back (not before he had criticized Phil for not standing up to his wife). When they show up at the Dunphys', Gloria starts apologizing, however as she refers that "that has happened to her before with another woman" triggers a huge misunderstanding between them because Claire thinks Gloria is referring to the sex show while Gloria is actually referring to the e-mail; after offering "her cupcakes" for them to taste and that she is willing to join Phil and Claire, she comes to realize about her mistake, so she tells Jay the real reasons behind Claire and Phil's state and then goes to Claire's computer to delete the e-mail
. Claire then confronts Jay for burying her own accidental sight of him making love to his wife, and Phil figures out what Gloria was really looking for. Gloria and Jay lie that the e-mail was a naked picture of Gloria, which nearly causes Phil to pass out. In the end, the e-mail is deleted without further Claire-Gloria acrimony.
Mitch and Cam have been unhappy with dinner lately, as Cam explains that Mitchell's long hours, the work involved in getting ready to go out with Lily, and their unwillingness to go back into traffic limits them to walking and that limits them to a nearby shawarma
joint. But good news beckons when they learn that the eponymous owner of the hot new eatery, Amelia's, is the mom of a little boy in Lily's preschool, and they set up a playdate with the ulterior motive of getting Amelia to get them a table at the restaurant. Just as Amelia is on the verge of telling them how they can get into the restaurant, she has to take a phone call. Mitch and Cam accidentally hear her telephone conversation over a baby monitor, and realize Amelia is an incredibly angry woman. When they agree to watch her son Jackson while she goes to deal with the contractor who enraged her, they see that one of Lily's juice boxes has burst and spilled red liquid all over a carpet that Cam recognizes as a $50,000 alpaca
-hand-made rug that used to belong to either Diane Keaton
or Anjelica Houston (but probably also to Joan Collins
). The guys ponder whether to move the entire carpet around to hide the stain but agree to face the consequences with the truth. When Amelia gets back she sees the stain and they quickly blame it on Jackson by lying that he took one of Lily's strawberry juice packs and drank some before spilling the rest. When Amelia hears this, Cam and Mitch learn that Jackson is allergic to strawberries and needs an immediate injection to prevent catastrophe, so they hold the poor kid down as Amelia prepares to inject him before finally admitting their ruse. With a table at "Amelia's" forever lost to them, they end up glumly returning for more shawarma and indifferent customer service.
and co-producer Jeffrey Richman
. The episode was also directed by Michael Spiller
. The episode was Levitan's sixth writing credit for the series. and Richman's second. The episode aired January 19, 2011 on the American Broadcasting Company
. This episode of Modern Family was filmed on December 2, and December 3, 2010. In August 2010, series co-creator and executive producer, Levitan revealed the Dunphy plot to TV Guide
. Four months later, more details of the plot were revealed to TV Guide
while filming the episode. The Dunphy plot was based on an incident when Levitan's daughter walked in on him and his wife having sex, which they kept quiet about for a long period of time. The Mitchell-Cameron plot was also based on a real-life incident. Co-writer Richman had "spilled wine on a friend's expensive rug then tried to turn the rug so that the stain was hidden under a piece of furniture". In an interview, Richman stated that:
Rico Rodriguez II
doesn't appear in this episode, due to his contract only calling for him to appear in only 22 episodes of the season.
. Despite this, the episode dropped 4% from "Slow Down Your Neighbors
" which was the last episode of the series to air in its regular timeslot. Added with the DVR
viewers, the episode received a 6.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic, adding a 1.7 rating to the original viewership.
gave the episode a more positive review. He mainly liked the Pritchett's and the Dunphy's storyline, but critizised Mitchell and Cameron's storyline saying "Look, Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson can make almost anything [...] enjoyable to watch, but their talents are wasted by running them through this same shtick again. They deserve better." He ultimately gave the episode a B. Despite the lukewarm reviews, the episode was nominated at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards
for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, and won.
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...
of the American television comedy series, 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...
and the 36th overall episode of the series. Co-creator Steven Levitan
Steven Levitan
Steven E. Levitan is an American director, screenwriter and producer of television comedies. He has created such TV series as Just Shoot Me!, Stark Raving Mad, Stacked, Back to You, and Modern Family....
and 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...
wrote the episode, and 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...
directed it. The episode originally aired on the American Broadcasting Company
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...
(ABC) in the United States on January 19, 2011. It featured guest star Rachael Harris
Rachael Harris
Rachael Elaine Harris is an American actress and comedian.-Early life:Harris was born in Worthington, Ohio. She graduated from Worthington High School...
as restaurant owner, Amelia.
In the episode, Gloria and Jay are about to go on vacation while Manny is away visiting his father, but their plans are interrupted when they accidentally send an insulting email to Claire. When they go to the Dunphys' house to apologize, they find Claire and Phil in a state of dismay because their kids have just walked in on them having sex. Meanwhile, Mitchell and Cameron have trouble getting reservations at a popular new restaurant so they try to ingratiate themselves with the restaurant's owner, who is one of the parents at Lily's preschool.
"Caught in the Act" received mixed reviews from critics. According to the Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
, "Caught in the Act" dropped four percent in the ratings from the last episode of the series to air in its regular timeslot and received a 4.6 rating/12% share in the 18-49 demographic. Despite this, the episode won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.
Plot
The Dunphy kids prepare a nice anniversary breakfast for their parents, but end up walking in on Phil and Claire having sexSex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
. Luke is not quite sure what is going on but does not fail to remark that Phil had the same face as when he smells a new car, while Haley and Alex are reeling with shock and horror because they know exactly what they saw. Claire is much more upset about the kids seeing them than Phil is, largely due to her memory of walking in on Jay and her mom making love when she was a child. While Claire and Phil hide out in their bedroom, the kids leave the house and talk about what happened on a gas station bench, with Luke noting that he would rather have parents who do that than parents who are divorced like many of his friends; they make a deal to sit smiling-faced through Claire's subsequent address to them (while thinking about something else), which makes Claire happy—along with Phil stating that every anniversary with her makes him happy. In the end, the kids come up with an ideal anniversary present: a lock for their parents' bedroom door. However, the lock makes a loud ricochet sound when Phil and Claire use it, thus horrifying the Dunphy brood anew as an indicator of unseen parental sex.
Jay and Gloria's vacation to Las Vegas (and a three-tower restaurant wine room) is ruined when a brutally honest email is accidentally sent out by Gloria; Gloria is mad at Claire for being too officious regarding an upcoming school bake sale and Jay offers to type out a diplomatic version of her ideas which turns out to be very acerbic because he only wrote what Gloria told him word-for-word before she had any chance of even looking it through. They first call Claire to apologize but she will not take the call, so Gloria makes Jay turn back (not before he had criticized Phil for not standing up to his wife). When they show up at the Dunphys', Gloria starts apologizing, however as she refers that "that has happened to her before with another woman" triggers a huge misunderstanding between them because Claire thinks Gloria is referring to the sex show while Gloria is actually referring to the e-mail; after offering "her cupcakes" for them to taste and that she is willing to join Phil and Claire, she comes to realize about her mistake, so she tells Jay the real reasons behind Claire and Phil's state and then goes to Claire's computer to delete the e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
. Claire then confronts Jay for burying her own accidental sight of him making love to his wife, and Phil figures out what Gloria was really looking for. Gloria and Jay lie that the e-mail was a naked picture of Gloria, which nearly causes Phil to pass out. In the end, the e-mail is deleted without further Claire-Gloria acrimony.
Mitch and Cam have been unhappy with dinner lately, as Cam explains that Mitchell's long hours, the work involved in getting ready to go out with Lily, and their unwillingness to go back into traffic limits them to walking and that limits them to a nearby shawarma
Shawarma
Shawarma is a Levantine Arab sandwich-like wrap of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or mixed meats. The meat is placed on a spit, and may be grilled for as long as a day. It is eaten with pita bread, tabbouleh, fattoush, taboon bread, tomato and cucumber. Toppings include tahini, hummus,...
joint. But good news beckons when they learn that the eponymous owner of the hot new eatery, Amelia's, is the mom of a little boy in Lily's preschool, and they set up a playdate with the ulterior motive of getting Amelia to get them a table at the restaurant. Just as Amelia is on the verge of telling them how they can get into the restaurant, she has to take a phone call. Mitch and Cam accidentally hear her telephone conversation over a baby monitor, and realize Amelia is an incredibly angry woman. When they agree to watch her son Jackson while she goes to deal with the contractor who enraged her, they see that one of Lily's juice boxes has burst and spilled red liquid all over a carpet that Cam recognizes as a $50,000 alpaca
Alpaca
An alpaca is a domesticated species of South American camelid. It resembles a small llama in appearance.Alpacas are kept in herds that graze on the level heights of the Andes of southern Peru, northern Bolivia, Ecuador, and northern Chile at an altitude of to above sea level, throughout the year...
-hand-made rug that used to belong to either Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton is an American film actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. Keaton began her career on stage, and made her screen debut in 1970...
or Anjelica Houston (but probably also to Joan Collins
Joan Collins
Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
). The guys ponder whether to move the entire carpet around to hide the stain but agree to face the consequences with the truth. When Amelia gets back she sees the stain and they quickly blame it on Jackson by lying that he took one of Lily's strawberry juice packs and drank some before spilling the rest. When Amelia hears this, Cam and Mitch learn that Jackson is allergic to strawberries and needs an immediate injection to prevent catastrophe, so they hold the poor kid down as Amelia prepares to inject him before finally admitting their ruse. With a table at "Amelia's" forever lost to them, they end up glumly returning for more shawarma and indifferent customer service.
Production
"Caught in the Act" was written by series co-creator Steven LevitanSteven Levitan
Steven E. Levitan is an American director, screenwriter and producer of television comedies. He has created such TV series as Just Shoot Me!, Stark Raving Mad, Stacked, Back to You, and Modern Family....
and co-producer 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...
. The episode was also 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...
. The episode was Levitan's sixth writing credit for the series. and Richman's second. The episode aired January 19, 2011 on the American Broadcasting Company
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...
. This episode of Modern Family was filmed on December 2, and December 3, 2010. In August 2010, series co-creator and executive producer, Levitan revealed the Dunphy plot to 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...
. Four months later, more details of the plot were revealed to 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...
while filming the episode. The Dunphy plot was based on an incident when Levitan's daughter walked in on him and his wife having sex, which they kept quiet about for a long period of time. The Mitchell-Cameron plot was also based on a real-life incident. Co-writer Richman had "spilled wine on a friend's expensive rug then tried to turn the rug so that the stain was hidden under a piece of furniture". In an interview, Richman stated that:
"After having pitched the story from my life and finding out I had done something so unlikable, to have actual characters on television do that, I realized America wouldn't like them. That made me think twice about what to pitch next time."
Rico Rodriguez II
Rico Rodriguez II
Rico Rodriguez is an American actor.Rodriguez currently plays the role of Manny Delgado on the ABC sitcom Modern Family. He is the younger brother of actress Raini Rodriguez.-Acting career:...
doesn't appear in this episode, due to his contract only calling for him to appear in only 22 episodes of the season.
Ratings
In its original American broadcast, "Caught in the Act" was viewed by an estimated 10.94 million households and received a 4.6 rating/12% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49 making it one of the few shows to not decline in the ratings against American IdolAmerican 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...
. Despite this, the episode dropped 4% from "Slow Down Your Neighbors
Slow Down Your Neighbors
"Slow Down Your Neighbors" is the eleventh episode of the second season of Modern Family and the 35th episode overall. It originally aired on January 5, 2011 on the American Broadcasting Company . The episode was written by Ilana Wernick and was directed by Gail Mancuso, who were also both credited...
" which was the last episode of the series to air in its regular timeslot. 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 6.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic, adding a 1.7 rating to the original viewership.
Reviews
The episode received mixed reviews from television critics. TV Squad writer Joel Keller wrote of the episode that it was "the first real clunker the show's had this season". He criticized Gloria's plot writing that "misunderstanding should have been funnier. But for some reason, it didn't hit with me. Maybe because the situations seemed forced together, or maybe Jay taking the bullet for Gloria by saying the e-mail she was trying to delete was one of her naked [...] was too easy of an out for Gloria. But that plot just fell flat." John Teti of 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...
gave the episode a more positive review. He mainly liked the Pritchett's and the Dunphy's storyline, but critizised Mitchell and Cameron's storyline saying "Look, Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson can make almost anything [...] enjoyable to watch, but their talents are wasted by running them through this same shtick again. They deserve better." He ultimately gave the episode a B. Despite the lukewarm reviews, the episode was nominated at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards
63rd Primetime Emmy Awards
The 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, honoring the best in primetime television programming from June 1, 2010 until May 31, 2011, was held on September 18, 2011, at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California. Fox televised the ceremony within the United States. Actress Jane Lynch hosted...
for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, and won.
External links
- "Caught in the Act" at ABC.com