Fifteen Percent
Encyclopedia
"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" (Chazz Palminteri
), might be secretly gay. Jay doesn't believe it for a second except for all the questionable signs he now keeps noticing. Meanwhile Gloria (Sofía Vergara
) gives Manny's (Rico Rodriguez) date a makeover. Also, Claire (Julie Bowen
) faces off with Phil's (Ty Burrell
) universal remote. While golfing it is revealed that Shorty is not gay, but in debt with which Jay offered to help thinking he was gay. Phil teaches Haley how to use the remote and in the night with everybody asleep Haley teaches Claire how to use the remote and Whitney, Gloria's new project, falls in love with Cameron not knowing he's gay.
The episode was written by co-creator Steven Levitan
and directed by Jason Winer
. The episode aired in the United States
on January 24, 2010 on ABC and achieved a Nielsen rating
of 4.2/11, attracting 9.828 million viewers. The episode received generally positive reviews from critics.
Ariel Winter
and Nolan Gould
do not appear in the episode.
The central plotline involves Mitchell planting the seed in Jay's head that he thinks one of Jay's buddies, Shorty, might be secretly gay. Jay and his buddies met Cameron, whom Jay introduced as Mitchell's friend. This incensed Mitchell, who tells Jay that Shorty sets off his gaydar by the way he talks, dresses and acts. (To the camera, Mitchell and Cameron discuss Mitchell's coming out to his father and that Jay had a hard time accepting it.) Jay doesn't believe it, but Gloria does when Jay informs her of Mitchell's opinion. He begins noticing signs after he starts watching how Shorty acts and comes to think it may be possible, but once he offers support to Shorty, he discovers that his friend is a bad gambler with smart dress habits. Meanwhile Gloria gives Manny's surprise date, Whitney, a shabbily dressed young twenty-something, a makeover so that she can feel better about herself. Cameron ends up meeting Manny's date, who thinks Cameron may be the guy for her after a short conversation. Jay confronts Mitchell, telling him that in offering his support to his friend Shorty, he's had to loan him $20,000 to cover gambling debts. Mitchell tells his father he's proud of him, for becoming more open-minded than he was when Mitchell was younger.
The Dunphy family plotline concerns Claire and her inability to work Phil's universal remote for their new home theater system. Phil teaches Haley how to handle the remote after Claire decides that no one in their family can learn the remote. Once Phil is asleep, Claire begs Haley to teach her as Phil talks to her like a child when doing so.
The episodes title refers to Mitchell's concluding voice-over, explaining that people may change a little, perhaps fifteen percent, if they really want to do so.
who co-created the show and directed by Jason Winer. It is his third episode, written after the pilot
and "The Incident
". It was Jason Winer's ninth episode he directed the first being the pilot. The episode was both the thirteenth episode aired and broadcast. The episode featured a big list of guest stars including Chazz Palminteri
as Shorty, Kristen Schaal
as Whitney, Reid Ewing
as Dylan, Darius Dudly as Dale, William Jones as Scotty and Bernardo Badillo as Delivery man.
. The episode ranked 21st in the weekly ratings the highest ranking for Modern Family
and became the third highest ranking show on ABC
after The Bachelor and Grey's Anatomy
. Also it ranked 9th in the weekly 18-49 ratings. The episode got mostly positive reviews. Robert Canning of IGN
gave the episode a 7.9/10, the lowest review yet saying that "This was the set up for three storylines showing us just how much people can actually change. Two of those storylines were silly sitcom filler with just enough good jokes not to become dull." Jason Hughes of TV Squad gave it a positive review saying that "As usual, there was a ton going on this week, with all three families dealing with different types of crises. Kristen Schaal (Flight of the Conchords
) was in one of the more unusual guest roles I've seen in awhile. You can't really describe how she came to be on the episode without it sounding all kinds of creepy, and yet the show managed to avoid any of the cliche reactions to what happened." and that "There's just something more authentic about all these relationships, and I think a lot of it is bucking expectations. Lesley Savage of Entertainment Weekly
gave it a positive review saying that " Tonight’s overarching theme was about change – big and small. From guest star Kristen Schaal’s makeover to Jay’s slow acceptance of his friend’s supposed (but ultimately false) homosexuality, to Claire’s ability to handle technology and admit she can be wrong. But this being Modern Family, no one actually changed that much (and thank goodness for that, we love them all as they are) — just 15 percent." Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club
gave it an A with readers giving it a B+ saying that " It can be a little easy to think that the Dunphy stuff isn't as interesting when it's in its own little bubble, particularly as so many of the stories boil down to the sort of "Husbands are dumb, and wives are smart!" stuff that so many sitcoms have already been built around. But I liked what "Fifteen Percent" did with this storyline, even as it delved into a fairly stereotypical storyline in and of itself. Claire doesn't know how to use the AV system in the living room? Y'don't say. Yet, at the same time, this is the kind of storyline that still rings true enough to life that it has some bite to it, and it also gives Phil one of the rare occasions when he's the smart one in the relationship, with Claire having to turn to him to figure out what's going on".
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...
sitcom 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...
.
Mitchell plants the seed in Jay's head that he thinks one of Jay's old buddies, "Shorty" (Chazz Palminteri
Chazz Palminteri
Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri is an American actor and writer, best known for his performances in The Usual Suspects, A Bronx Tale, and his Academy Award nominated role for Best Supporting Actor in Bullets Over Broadway....
), might be secretly gay. Jay doesn't believe it for a second except for all the questionable signs he now keeps noticing. 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...
) gives Manny's (Rico Rodriguez) date a makeover. Also, 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...
) faces off with Phil's (Ty Burrell
Ty Burrell
- External links :*...
) universal remote. While golfing it is revealed that Shorty is not gay, but in debt with which Jay offered to help thinking he was gay. Phil teaches Haley how to use the remote and in the night with everybody asleep Haley teaches Claire how to use the remote and Whitney, Gloria's new project, falls in love with Cameron not knowing he's gay.
The episode was written by 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 directed by Jason Winer
Jason Winer
Jason Winer is an American director, producer, writer, actor and comedian. He is best known for being one of the directors on the award-winning series Modern Family on ABC.Winer was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland...
. The episode aired in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on January 24, 2010 on ABC and achieved a Nielsen rating
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
of 4.2/11, attracting 9.828 million viewers. The episode received generally positive reviews from critics.
Ariel Winter
Ariel Winter
Ariel Winter Workman , known in television shows and films as Ariel Winter, is an American teen actress and singer. Winter is best known for her current role as Alex Dunphy in the TV series Modern Family, for which she has won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series, along...
and Nolan Gould
Nolan Gould
Nolan Gould is an American child actor best known for his starring role as Luke Dunphy on the ABC comedy Modern Family. He is the brother of Aidan Gould-Acting career:...
do not appear in the episode.
Plot
The wraparound theme of this episode involves the characters changing and growing.The central plotline involves Mitchell planting the seed in Jay's head that he thinks one of Jay's buddies, Shorty, might be secretly gay. Jay and his buddies met Cameron, whom Jay introduced as Mitchell's friend. This incensed Mitchell, who tells Jay that Shorty sets off his gaydar by the way he talks, dresses and acts. (To the camera, Mitchell and Cameron discuss Mitchell's coming out to his father and that Jay had a hard time accepting it.) Jay doesn't believe it, but Gloria does when Jay informs her of Mitchell's opinion. He begins noticing signs after he starts watching how Shorty acts and comes to think it may be possible, but once he offers support to Shorty, he discovers that his friend is a bad gambler with smart dress habits. Meanwhile Gloria gives Manny's surprise date, Whitney, a shabbily dressed young twenty-something, a makeover so that she can feel better about herself. Cameron ends up meeting Manny's date, who thinks Cameron may be the guy for her after a short conversation. Jay confronts Mitchell, telling him that in offering his support to his friend Shorty, he's had to loan him $20,000 to cover gambling debts. Mitchell tells his father he's proud of him, for becoming more open-minded than he was when Mitchell was younger.
The Dunphy family plotline concerns Claire and her inability to work Phil's universal remote for their new home theater system. Phil teaches Haley how to handle the remote after Claire decides that no one in their family can learn the remote. Once Phil is asleep, Claire begs Haley to teach her as Phil talks to her like a child when doing so.
The episodes title refers to Mitchell's concluding voice-over, explaining that people may change a little, perhaps fifteen percent, if they really want to do so.
Production
The episode was written by 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....
who co-created the show and directed by Jason Winer. It is his third episode, written after 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 "The Incident
The Incident (Modern Family)
"The Incident" is the fourth episode of the American family sitcom Modern Family. It premiered on American Broadcasting Company in the United States on October 14, 2009....
". It was Jason Winer's ninth episode he directed the first being the pilot. The episode was both the thirteenth episode aired and broadcast. The episode featured a big list of guest stars including Chazz Palminteri
Chazz Palminteri
Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri is an American actor and writer, best known for his performances in The Usual Suspects, A Bronx Tale, and his Academy Award nominated role for Best Supporting Actor in Bullets Over Broadway....
as Shorty, Kristen Schaal
Kristen Schaal
Kristen Schaal is an American actress, writer and comedienne, best known for her role as Mel in the HBO series Flight of the Conchords, as Louise in Bob's Burgers and as a contributor on The Daily Show.-Early life:...
as Whitney, Reid Ewing
Reid Ewing
Reid Ewing is an American actor best known for his recurring guest role as Dylan on the ABC comedy Modern Family.-Life and career:...
as Dylan, Darius Dudly as Dale, William Jones as Scotty and Bernardo Badillo as Delivery man.
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Fifteen Percent" was viewed by 9.829 million viewers with an 18-49 rating of 4.2/11. The episode recovered from a sharp drop in both overall viewers and 18-49 ratings the previous week, and received the best rating since the pilot episodePilot (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...
. The episode ranked 21st in the weekly ratings the highest ranking for 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 became the third highest ranking show 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...
after The Bachelor and Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
. Also it ranked 9th in the weekly 18-49 ratings. The episode got mostly positive reviews. Robert Canning of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the episode a 7.9/10, the lowest review yet saying that "This was the set up for three storylines showing us just how much people can actually change. Two of those storylines were silly sitcom filler with just enough good jokes not to become dull." Jason Hughes of TV Squad gave it a positive review saying that "As usual, there was a ton going on this week, with all three families dealing with different types of crises. Kristen Schaal (Flight of the Conchords
Flight of the Conchords (TV series)
Flight of the Conchords is an American television comedy series that debuted on HBO on June 17, 2007. The show follows the adventures of Flight of the Conchords, a two-man band from New Zealand, as its members seek fame and success in New York City. The show stars the real-life duo, Jemaine Clement...
) was in one of the more unusual guest roles I've seen in awhile. You can't really describe how she came to be on the episode without it sounding all kinds of creepy, and yet the show managed to avoid any of the cliche reactions to what happened." and that "There's just something more authentic about all these relationships, and I think a lot of it is bucking expectations. 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 it a positive review saying that " Tonight’s overarching theme was about change – big and small. From guest star Kristen Schaal’s makeover to Jay’s slow acceptance of his friend’s supposed (but ultimately false) homosexuality, to Claire’s ability to handle technology and admit she can be wrong. But this being Modern Family, no one actually changed that much (and thank goodness for that, we love them all as they are) — just 15 percent." Todd VanDerWerff 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 it an A with readers giving it a B+ saying that " It can be a little easy to think that the Dunphy stuff isn't as interesting when it's in its own little bubble, particularly as so many of the stories boil down to the sort of "Husbands are dumb, and wives are smart!" stuff that so many sitcoms have already been built around. But I liked what "Fifteen Percent" did with this storyline, even as it delved into a fairly stereotypical storyline in and of itself. Claire doesn't know how to use the AV system in the living room? Y'don't say. Yet, at the same time, this is the kind of storyline that still rings true enough to life that it has some bite to it, and it also gives Phil one of the rare occasions when he's the smart one in the relationship, with Claire having to turn to him to figure out what's going on".
External links
- "Fifteen Percent" at ABC.com