The Kiss (Modern Family)
Encyclopedia
"The Kiss" is the second episode of the second season
of the American
sitcom Modern Family
and the 26th episode overall. The episode aired September 29, 2010, and was written by Abraham Higginbotham
and directed by Scott Ellis
. The episode also featured guest starred Aaron Sanders as Jeremy, Alex's love interest. The episode serves as a response to a criticism for the first season that Mitchell and Cameron never kissed.
In the episode, after Claire (Julie Bowen
) finds flirty texts from a boy on Alex's phone, Claire tells Haley (Sarah Hyland
) to give her advice, in which she tells Alex (Ariel Winter
) to kiss the boy, which makes her go up to the boy, and asks' him in front of his friends, embarrassing him, also Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson
) is having trouble kissing Cam (Eric Stonestreet
) in public.
"The Kiss" received generally positive reviews with many praising the subtle nature of the kiss. According to the Nielsen Media Research
the episode received a 4.6 rating/13% share in the 18-49 demographic going down from the season premiere, but still becoming the highest rated show on Wednesday and the second highest rated scripted program after Glee
.
) after "accidentally" reading Alex's text messages asks Haley (Sarah Hyland
) to talk to Alex (Ariel Winter
) about the flirty text messages on her phone while Phil (Ty Burrell
) helps Jay with his printer. Haley gives bad advice to Alex saying if she doesn't kiss the boy he'll think she's a lesbian
. Alex runs to Jeremy's house to tell him about her feelings and asks him to kiss her before realizing Jeremy's friends are behind the door. She proceeds to run home and learns that is was Claire's idea for Haley to talk to Alex, making her furious.
Meanwhile, Gloria (Sofía Vergara
) starts cooking traditional Colombia
n meals in honor of her recently deceased grandmother, which Jay (Ed O'Neill
) makes fun of. After realizing that Gloria is upset Jay decides to help her cook, whereupon Gloria uses tricks to get revenge on Jay. Meanwhile, whilst shopping for a new shirt Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson
) rejects a kiss from Cameron (Eric Stonestreet
) prompting a confrontation about Mitchell's problem with Public Displays of Affection
. Mitchell retaliates by commenting on Cameron's neediness.
Soon the whole family come together to honor Gloria's grandmother, but the party turns south when Mitchell avoids another kiss from Cameron. The family then realize that Mitchell's aversion to kissing in public is due to Jay being emotionally closed off. Phil then runs down the stairs after printing a picture of Gloria's grandmother for Jay. Jay's response creates more evidence why Mitchell won't show PDA. In order to shut them up, Jay kisses Mitchell then Claire with Mitchell and Cameron kissing in the background. After the party Claire finally tells Alex the truth about her past. Alex is still initially angry, but then becomes happy again when she and Jeremy decide to wait before kissing. The episode then ends with a epilogue by Gloria.
and directed by Scott Ellis. It is Abraham Higginbotham's first writing credit as he is part of the new writers who joined at the beginning of the production season. The episode guest starred Aaron Sanders as Jeremy, the boy Alex likes. Abraham had previously worked with Jesse Tyler Ferguson
on the short lived sitcom, Do Not Disturb
. The episode was also the fourth episode made and was filmed during late-August. The episode originally aired September 29, 2010.
The episode deals with some criticism from some quarters for the first season's portrayal of Cameron and Mitchell as not being physically affectionate with each other. The criticism spawned a Facebook
campaign to demand Mitchell and Cameron be allowed to kiss. It was also criticized by Ryan Murphy, creator of Glee
who called it "ridiculous". In response to the controversy, producers released a statement that a season two episode would address Mitchell's discomfort with public displays of affection
. Executive producer and co-creator Steven Levitan
has said that it was "unfortunate" that the issue had arisen, since the show's writers had always planned on such a scene "as part of the natural development of the show." Eric Stonestreet
who plays Cameron says the episode isn't "driven by anything political or motivated by a movement." The episode later had a rerun on October 1, 2010, the Friday after its original airing. Alex states a quote from "Notting Hill
" and later calls it an "underrated movie". Cameron makes up a game called "Kiss buggy" a parody of, "Punch buggy
".
". Despite this, the episode became the highest rated show on Wednesday and the third highest rated episode of the series so far. "The Kiss" was the most-watched scripted show for the week of broadcast among adults aged 18–49, and the twenty fourth most-watched show among all viewers.
who plays Cameron called the episode "smart and perfect". Joel Keller of TV Squad gave the episode a positive review naming "Phil squeal-gasped like a girl when Jay asked him for help with the printer." the best moment. Donna Bowman called it a "pretty solid episode" giving it a B. Lesley Savage of Entertainment Weekly
stated "Tonight's episode brought on the laughs ("Slap the chicken!"), but it also managed to be touching without leaving us feeling queasy". She also named Ed O'Neill the best part of the episode.
James Poniewozik of Time
liked the main plot and its subtle nature, but wished "the rest of the episode around it had been stronger". Alan Sepinwall of HitFix praised the fact that the kiss was in the background comparing it to better than the "ghoulish" episode of Cougar Town
. Tom Maursad of The Dallas Morning News
stated in his review "the episode was full of really funny moments". Matt Roush gave the episode a positive and praised Cameron's pratfall calling it "perfect slapstick".
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
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
and the 26th episode overall. The episode aired September 29, 2010, and was written by Abraham Higginbotham
Abraham Higginbotham
Abraham Higginbotham is a writer, producer, and occasional actor for popular comedy series such as Arrested Development, Will & Grace, Back to You and Do Not Disturb....
and directed by Scott Ellis
Scott Ellis
Scott Ellis is an American stage director and television director.-Biography:Ellis has directed numerous Off-Broadway and Broadway productions, including the New York City Opera Company revivals at the New York State Theatre: A Little Night Music and 110 in the Shade up to his current show, the...
. The episode also featured guest starred Aaron Sanders as Jeremy, Alex's love interest. The episode serves as a response to a criticism for the first season that Mitchell and Cameron never kissed.
In the episode, after 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...
) finds flirty texts from a boy on Alex's phone, Claire tells Haley (Sarah Hyland
Sarah Hyland
Sarah Jane Hyland is an American actress, currently starring as Haley Dunphy on the ABC comedy Modern Family.-Life and career:...
) to give her advice, in which she tells Alex (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...
) to kiss the boy, which makes her go up to the boy, and asks' him in front of his friends, embarrassing him, also 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:...
) is having trouble kissing Cam (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...
) in public.
"The Kiss" received generally positive reviews with many praising the subtle nature of the kiss. 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...
the episode received a 4.6 rating/13% share in the 18-49 demographic going down from the season premiere, but still becoming the highest rated show on Wednesday and the second highest rated scripted program after Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
.
Plot
At the Dunphy's house, Claire (Julie BowenJulie 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...
) after "accidentally" reading Alex's text messages asks Haley (Sarah Hyland
Sarah Hyland
Sarah Jane Hyland is an American actress, currently starring as Haley Dunphy on the ABC comedy Modern Family.-Life and career:...
) to talk to Alex (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...
) about the flirty text messages on her phone while Phil (Ty Burrell
Ty Burrell
- External links :*...
) helps Jay with his printer. Haley gives bad advice to Alex saying if she doesn't kiss the boy he'll think she's a lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
. Alex runs to Jeremy's house to tell him about her feelings and asks him to kiss her before realizing Jeremy's friends are behind the door. She proceeds to run home and learns that is was Claire's idea for Haley to talk to Alex, making her furious.
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...
) starts cooking traditional Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n meals in honor of her recently deceased grandmother, which 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...
) makes fun of. After realizing that Gloria is upset Jay decides to help her cook, whereupon Gloria uses tricks to get revenge on Jay. Meanwhile, whilst shopping for a new shirt 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:...
) rejects a kiss from 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...
) prompting a confrontation about Mitchell's problem with Public Displays of Affection
Public display of affection
Public displays of affection are acts of physical intimacy in the view of others. What are acceptable displays of affection vary between cultures as well as to time and context. Which acts are acceptable have also varied over time...
. Mitchell retaliates by commenting on Cameron's neediness.
Soon the whole family come together to honor Gloria's grandmother, but the party turns south when Mitchell avoids another kiss from Cameron. The family then realize that Mitchell's aversion to kissing in public is due to Jay being emotionally closed off. Phil then runs down the stairs after printing a picture of Gloria's grandmother for Jay. Jay's response creates more evidence why Mitchell won't show PDA. In order to shut them up, Jay kisses Mitchell then Claire with Mitchell and Cameron kissing in the background. After the party Claire finally tells Alex the truth about her past. Alex is still initially angry, but then becomes happy again when she and Jeremy decide to wait before kissing. The episode then ends with a epilogue by Gloria.
Production and cultural references
"The Kiss" was written by Abraham HigginbothamAbraham Higginbotham
Abraham Higginbotham is a writer, producer, and occasional actor for popular comedy series such as Arrested Development, Will & Grace, Back to You and Do Not Disturb....
and directed by Scott Ellis. It is Abraham Higginbotham's first writing credit as he is part of the new writers who joined at the beginning of the production season. The episode guest starred Aaron Sanders as Jeremy, the boy Alex likes. Abraham had previously worked with 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:...
on the short lived sitcom, Do Not Disturb
Do Not Disturb (TV series)
Do Not Disturb is an American sitcom, which debuted as a Fall entry on Fox's primetime lineup on September 10, 2008...
. The episode was also the fourth episode made and was filmed during late-August. The episode originally aired September 29, 2010.
The episode deals with some criticism from some quarters for the first season's portrayal of Cameron and Mitchell as not being physically affectionate with each other. The criticism spawned a Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
campaign to demand Mitchell and Cameron be allowed to kiss. It was also criticized by Ryan Murphy, creator of Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
who called it "ridiculous". In response to the controversy, producers released a statement that a season two episode would address Mitchell's discomfort with public displays of affection
Public display of affection
Public displays of affection are acts of physical intimacy in the view of others. What are acceptable displays of affection vary between cultures as well as to time and context. Which acts are acceptable have also varied over time...
. Executive producer and 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....
has said that it was "unfortunate" that the issue had arisen, since the show's writers had always planned on such a scene "as part of the natural development of the show." 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...
who plays Cameron says the episode isn't "driven by anything political or motivated by a movement." The episode later had a rerun on October 1, 2010, the Friday after its original airing. Alex states a quote from "Notting Hill
Notting Hill (film)
Notting Hill is a 1999 British romantic comedy film set in Notting Hill, London, released on 21 May 1999. The screenplay was by Richard Curtis, who had written Four Weddings and a Funeral. It was produced by Duncan Kenworthy and directed by Roger Michell...
" and later calls it an "underrated movie". Cameron makes up a game called "Kiss buggy" a parody of, "Punch buggy
Punch buggy
Punch buggy is a car game generally played by children in which participants punch each other in the arm upon first sight of a Volkswagen Beetle while calling out "Slug bug!" or "Punch buggy!" in reference to the Beetle's nickname, the Bug.- History :Most references about the game originate from...
".
Ratings
In its original American broadcast, "The Kiss" was viewed by an estimated 11.877 million viewers and received a 4.6 rating/13% share. This means that it was seen by 4.6% of all 18–49 years olds, and 13% of all 18–49 year olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. This marked a twelve percent decline in the ratings from the season premiere, "The Old WagonThe 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...
". Despite this, the episode became the highest rated show on Wednesday and the third highest rated episode of the series so far. "The Kiss" was the most-watched scripted show for the week of broadcast among adults aged 18–49, and the twenty fourth most-watched show among all viewers.
Reviews
"The Kiss" received generally positive reviews from critics. Eric StonestreetEric 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...
who plays Cameron called the episode "smart and perfect". Joel Keller of TV Squad gave the episode a positive review naming "Phil squeal-gasped like a girl when Jay asked him for help with the printer." the best moment. Donna Bowman called it a "pretty solid episode" giving it a B. 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...
stated "Tonight's episode brought on the laughs ("Slap the chicken!"), but it also managed to be touching without leaving us feeling queasy". She also named Ed O'Neill the best part of the episode.
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...
liked the main plot and its subtle nature, but wished "the rest of the episode around it had been stronger". Alan Sepinwall of HitFix praised the fact that the kiss was in the background comparing it to better than the "ghoulish" episode of Cougar Town
Cougar Town
Cougar Town is an American television sitcom that premiered on ABC on September 23, 2009. The series focuses on a recently divorced woman in her forties facing the often humorous challenges, pitfalls and rewards of life's next chapter, along with her son, ex-husband, and friends who together make...
. Tom Maursad of The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...
stated in his review "the episode was full of really funny moments". Matt Roush gave the episode a positive and praised Cameron's pratfall calling it "perfect slapstick".
External links
- "The Kiss" at ABC.com