The Incident (Modern Family)
Encyclopedia
"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.
In the episode, Mitchell and Claire's mother visit the family months after she embarrassed Jay in front of his family on his wedding. Phil and Claire try to judge whether Haley's boyfriend is acceptable to take her to a concert or not. Mitchell goes to his father's house to tell him that they are inviting his ex-wife to a party, but doesn't tell Gloria. At the reunion, Gloria and Jay's ex-wife begin to fight, but Haley's boyfriend stops them.
The episode was written by co-creator and executive producer
of Modern Family
, Steven Levitan
and directed by series main director, Jason Winer
. The episode "The Incident" received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and received a 3.6/10 in the 18-49 demographic according to Nielsen Media Research
.
), Claire and Mitchell's mother, stops in for a surprise visit and wants to try to make up with everyone that she offended during "the incident" that she caused at Jay and Gloria's wedding. DeDe had become progressively drunk during the event, eventually having to be carried out, making a scene. Haley wants to attend a concert with her boyfriend, Dylan (Reid Ewing) but Claire and Phil refuse to let her go.
Later, everything comes into play when the whole family meets at Claire's house for dinner. Dylan sings a song to prove that he is good enough to take Haley to the concert. While the song still sounds appropriate Phil and Claire are considering it. But when Dylan starts singing the words "I just wanna do you, do you. Do you wanna do me, do me" and the parents see that Haley is smiling, Phil says "Not a chance in hell".
and directed by Jason Winer. The episode is Steven Levitan
's third writing credit after the "Pilot
" and "The Bicycle Thief
". The episode is also Jason Winer's fourth directors credit after "Pilot
", "The Bicycle Thief
" and "Come Fly With Me
. It is also Shelley Long
's first guest appearance on the show as Jay's Ex-wife and Mitchell & Claire's mother.
.
The episode has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics. BuddyTV
named this episode the 33rd best episode of 2009 saying "The matriarch of the family returned to cause trouble, but what sealed the deal on this episode's greatness was Dylan's performance of his catchy but wildly inappropriate song "In the Moonlight" Robert Canning of IGN
gave the episode a 9.0/10 saying it was "Outstanding" and ""The Incident" was a great episode with a far more personal storyline than generically learning responsibility with a new bike." referring to "The Bicycle Thief
" the second episode of the first season
" Jason Hughes of TV Squad gave the episode a positive review and praised the casting of Shelley Long
saying "She hasn't lost even a bit of her comic chops, either. I'm hoping she agreed to come back and play this role over and over again."
Donna Bowman of A.V. Club gave the episode a A saying "Last week I wrote that Modern Family's sense of sky's-the-limit potential arises "not because it's starting from somewhere and going somewhere else -- but because it's got so much territory to explore right where it's plopped itself down." And this week it's like they've set out to prove me right.". Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly
remarked that "Just when you think Modern Family can’t get any funnier, it does. And I say that both about the series generally and last night’s episode specifically. ". James Poniewozik of Time
stated "With the arrival of Mom (Shelley Long) providing the excuse (of Claire and Mitchell acting as brother and sister), this episode added some layers to their family dynamic (though we had already heard that Claire had been a rebellious daughter).
Many critics have praised the casting of Shelley Long
as DeDe. Michael Slezak said "The casting of Shelley Long as Jay’s passive-aggressive (except when violently aggressive) yet sexually reactivated ex-wife was a stroke of genius." Robert Canning said "Long was a great choice for this sweet but aggravating character that could be as free-spirited as she was mean.".
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 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...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on October 14, 2009.
In the episode, Mitchell and Claire's mother visit the family months after she embarrassed Jay in front of his family on his wedding. Phil and Claire try to judge whether Haley's boyfriend is acceptable to take her to a concert or not. Mitchell goes to his father's house to tell him that they are inviting his ex-wife to a party, but doesn't tell Gloria. At the reunion, Gloria and Jay's ex-wife begin to fight, but Haley's boyfriend stops them.
The episode was written by co-creator and executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
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...
, 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 series main director, 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 "The Incident" received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and received a 3.6/10 in the 18-49 demographic 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...
.
Plot
DeDe (Shelley LongShelley Long
Shelley Lee Long is an American actress best known for her role as Diane Chambers on the sitcom Cheers, for which she won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress and two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress...
), Claire and Mitchell's mother, stops in for a surprise visit and wants to try to make up with everyone that she offended during "the incident" that she caused at Jay and Gloria's wedding. DeDe had become progressively drunk during the event, eventually having to be carried out, making a scene. Haley wants to attend a concert with her boyfriend, Dylan (Reid Ewing) but Claire and Phil refuse to let her go.
Later, everything comes into play when the whole family meets at Claire's house for dinner. Dylan sings a song to prove that he is good enough to take Haley to the concert. While the song still sounds appropriate Phil and Claire are considering it. But when Dylan starts singing the words "I just wanna do you, do you. Do you wanna do me, do me" and the parents see that Haley is smiling, Phil says "Not a chance in hell".
Production
The episode "The Incident" 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....
and directed by Jason Winer. The episode is 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....
's third writing credit 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 Bicycle Thief
The Bicycle Thief (Modern Family)
"The Bicycle Thief" is the second episode of the ABC series Modern Family. It originally premiered on American Broadcasting Company in the United States on September 30, 2009...
". The episode is also Jason Winer's fourth directors credit after "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...
", "The Bicycle Thief
The Bicycle Thief (Modern Family)
"The Bicycle Thief" is the second episode of the ABC series Modern Family. It originally premiered on American Broadcasting Company in the United States on September 30, 2009...
" and "Come Fly With Me
Come Fly with Me (Modern Family)
"Come Fly With Me" is the third episode of the ABC series Modern Family. It premiered on ABC in the United States on October 7, 2009. In the episode, Jay tries to spend some time alone with his model airplane, but Phil ruins it; Alex and Gloria go to a mall and Gloria tries to convince Alex to...
. It is also Shelley Long
Shelley Long
Shelley Lee Long is an American actress best known for her role as Diane Chambers on the sitcom Cheers, for which she won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress and two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress...
's first guest appearance on the show as Jay's Ex-wife and Mitchell & Claire's mother.
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "The Incident" was viewed by an estimated 9.353 million households and a 5.8 rating/9% share Nielsen rating receiving a 3.6 rating/10% share in the 18-49 demographic coming second in its timeslot after Criminal MindsCriminal Minds
Criminal Minds is an American police procedural drama that premiered September 22, 2005, on CBS. The series follows a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit based in Quantico, Virginia. The BAU is part of the FBI National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime...
.
The episode has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics. BuddyTV
BuddyTV
BuddyTV is an entertainment-based website based in Seattle, Washington, which generates content about television programs and sporting events. The website publishes information about celebrity and related entertainment news through a series of articles, entertainment profiles, actor biographies and...
named this episode the 33rd best episode of 2009 saying "The matriarch of the family returned to cause trouble, but what sealed the deal on this episode's greatness was Dylan's performance of his catchy but wildly inappropriate song "In the Moonlight" 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 9.0/10 saying it was "Outstanding" and ""The Incident" was a great episode with a far more personal storyline than generically learning responsibility with a new bike." referring to "The Bicycle Thief
The Bicycle Thief (Modern Family)
"The Bicycle Thief" is the second episode of the ABC series Modern Family. It originally premiered on American Broadcasting Company in the United States on September 30, 2009...
" the second episode of the first season
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...
" Jason Hughes of TV Squad gave the episode a positive review and praised the casting of Shelley Long
Shelley Long
Shelley Lee Long is an American actress best known for her role as Diane Chambers on the sitcom Cheers, for which she won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress and two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress...
saying "She hasn't lost even a bit of her comic chops, either. I'm hoping she agreed to come back and play this role over and over again."
Donna Bowman of A.V. Club gave the episode a A saying "Last week I wrote that Modern Family's sense of sky's-the-limit potential arises "not because it's starting from somewhere and going somewhere else -- but because it's got so much territory to explore right where it's plopped itself down." And this week it's like they've set out to prove me right.". 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...
remarked that "Just when you think Modern Family can’t get any funnier, it does. And I say that both about the series generally and last night’s episode specifically. ". 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...
stated "With the arrival of Mom (Shelley Long) providing the excuse (of Claire and Mitchell acting as brother and sister), this episode added some layers to their family dynamic (though we had already heard that Claire had been a rebellious daughter).
Many critics have praised the casting of Shelley Long
Shelley Long
Shelley Lee Long is an American actress best known for her role as Diane Chambers on the sitcom Cheers, for which she won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress and two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress...
as DeDe. Michael Slezak said "The casting of Shelley Long as Jay’s passive-aggressive (except when violently aggressive) yet sexually reactivated ex-wife was a stroke of genius." Robert Canning said "Long was a great choice for this sweet but aggravating character that could be as free-spirited as she was mean.".
External links
- "The Incident" at ABC.com