The show follows three family units. First you've got the traditional family - a husband and wife and their three kids. I like the husband Phil (Ty Burrell). The basic premise of his character is that he likes to think of himself as a "cool dad", when in reality he is far from cool. As far as the kids are concerned, you've got the smart one, the kinda dumb but pretty one, and the just plain dumb one. I think the kids' characters will get fleshed out more as they get older.
Then you've got the gay couple and their adopted baby. Of course their gayness is going to be the basis for some of the comedy here, but these seem like real people, not stereotypes. And they're both pretty damn funny.
Finally, you've got grandpa (Ed O' Neil aka Al Bundy from Married With Children), his hot younger second wife from Colombia, and her son from another marriage, Manny. Ed O' Neil is hilarious, his wife is, as I mentioned, incredibly hot, and the son Manny is the most interesting of the children so far - he's a chubby kid who imagines himself as some kind of lothario.
The humor in Modern Family is smart and understated. No pandering and few attempts at easy laughs. Just the way I like it. It doesn't completely avoid the sitcom trapping of "character learns a lesson" like say, Seinfeld, but it's never sappy. Another thing the show does well is balancing multiple storylines across the families.
Last week's Christmas episode really sealed the deal for me, it was great. I'm officially a fan. I missed some of the earlier episodes of the season, so I'll have to find them and get myself fully caught up.
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