u/Expensive_Brother_26

How common is it to become a state prosecutor after having spent his entire career in environmental law? He was clearly handling criminal cases as a prosecutor (as most state prosecutors) but I would assume that's unusual to transition to as an environmental lawyer?

I know sitcoms in general are lighthearted by design but I was wondering if there ever have been sitcoms where the comedy itself was darker than the average sitcom. The closest I can think of is The Class although it only lasted for one season.

JTF has always been good looking imo but he I feel like I started noticing it especially starting mid season 5 and more so in season 6. Like that bachelor's trip episode in season 5 is when I first noticed it and then essentially all of season 6 as well.

Mitch is arguably the most layered character in the show, and after Jay, probably the only one to have something resembling a real development arc. (I absolutely love the show, but the episodic switching between Levitan and Lloyd meant they rarely built upon the characters themselves.) He clearly carries some internalized homophobia early on (despite the airplane speech in the pilot) but he genuinely comes to accept himself as the show progresses. At times he's less comfortable than Cam engaging in behavior read as "too flamboyantly gay," but he also shows discomfort when Cam engages in it, and as the show goes on, he really grows out of that. I like that they gave him a realistic career trajectory, and that they actually addressed his complicated, baggage laden relationship with Jay, and, to an extent, with Claire. The show also digs into his vulnerabilities around parenting. If anything, I wish they'd given Claire that same nuance in her arc (and here I could get into how complicated female characters tend to get less development than male ones), and leaned harder into the "two siblings shaped by broken parenting" angle.

There's a lot more I could say about Mitch, but I have to bring up how underrated Jesse Tyler Ferguson's acting is on this show. I think the reason he never won an Emmy is that his role calls for subtler acting, and he often got overshadowed by Eric because of how flashy and flamboyant Cam is. I don't think Eric Stonestreet needed two Emmys , I'd have given one of them to JTF instead. The scene where Mitch tries to explain himself to Cam over the adoption certificate fiasco, and later his confrontation with Jay about his wedding, are some of the best acting on the show by anyone. Thinking about it more, I'd say Mitch is the only character who gets genuinely non-comedic, emotional moments, and it's genuinely hard to pull off dramatic scenes like that while still fitting the tone of an overall sitcom. You can't act like you're in Succession, no matter how emotionally heavy the scene is, and still have it work in Modern Family. Also, the scene where he gets high with Ty Burrell, very smart comedic choices from both of them, without leaning on big, over-the-top body language. (JTF is also just a talented actor overall, given his success as a stage actor, man's a Tony winner, after all.)

Opinions?

I saw Take Me Out four years ago and loved it and thought all the actors were fantastic and I especially liked both Jesse Williams and JTF. However, a couple of friends and I were talking a few weeks back about our Tony takes and almost all of mentioned that Take Me Out's weakest performer got awarded. I was surprised since I never thought so but I'm curious if it's a popular opinion, especially since I wasn't online for any of the discourse around that time.

Kid just turned 12. She is very academically motivated and strong (out of her own volition) and entering 8th grade (she skipped a grade so she is young for her class) and is part of the local chapter of the children's orchestra in our city. For the summer, she insisted on an advanced STEM camp that is 7 hours a day (with breaks), 5 days a week for four weeks. Her school recommended her and she qualified for a tuition waver. This is just to give context on her personality and interests. When she's not at camp, she's solving sudoku for fun and reading.

There is literally nothing for me to complain. Her screen time is technically high but it's mainly because of all the academic stuff she's interested in.

In my opinion, we should be hands off with with bed time and she'll just self regulate to what suits her? But my husband thinks we should enforce one around 10 but for a 12 year old, it just doesn't seem that useful. She usually reads or watches videos on her laptop at night and from what she's told me she goes to sleep around 11 to sometimes 12 at night. She needs to be out the door by 9 every morning during days of camp and she's never had trouble being showered, dressed and ready for breakfast by 8:30 so I do not see the point of enforcing a bed time.

Opinions?

ETA: I think one issue is that a lot of her downtime stuff she does like reading, playing chess, doing crosswords and sudoku are all on the screen.  Maybe starting to get print outs of these will be a good idea.

Modern Family's set up is extremely promising for a reimagination of essentially any setting. If Modern Family wasn't bound by the guidelines of a PG13 sitcom what would you do?

I think Modern Family would work really well as a black comedy like The End of the Fucking World.

I've watched both shows and I think their overall quality is evenly matched for the most part. The best of Modern Family is imo better than the best of The Middle but I'd argue that on average The Middle maintained quality for longer. Modern Family was really good the first five seasons with some good monents in season 6 and then suddenly the last season was really good but the ones in the middle were kinda meh. The Middle on the other hand I'd argue did a better job maintaining solid comedy throughout.

I'm really curious what worked with Modern Family that didn't with The Middle. While The Middle was obviously not an unsuccessful show by any means, I would argue its comedy is more accessible and relatable (similar to The Big Bang Theory or Friends) while Modern Family takes longer to digest. Modern Family was also an awards darling while The Middle wasn't.

I'm curious to hear thoughts. I'm not sure ratings wise how comparable they were, I remember a wikipedia post that said ratings wise MF ranked third behind The Big Bang Theory and Two and A Half Men. I'm not sure about The Middle.

Saw the SVU episode with Sarah Hyland and she was incredible. Julie Bowen did a really good job in her episode too. Also heard good reviews for Sofia Vergara in Griselda.

I'm especially curious to know if Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet or Ty Burell have done any dramatic work?

Mine has to be S15 E19 (Downloaded Child) right at the end where Cassidy tells Benson he loves her and she says it back. Then he leans in to kiss her forehead but for some reason chooses to BITE her eyebrow. Had my absolutely crying lmao.

I'm thinking the Mackenzie Shririlla case (The Crash). Anything else?

I loved Benson and Barba together and I really don't care if people read it as deeply intimate/hints of romantic/platonic/siblings whatever, I think I can see all sides of it. But more than anything I just want them to reconcile their friendship. I do think the situation was complicated af but aah idc I need Raul to come back for just one episode to get some closure between the two.

I love me some hurt/comfort and angst. I ship pretty much most things (Benson/Stabler, Benson/Amaro, Rollins/Carisi, Benson/Barba, Barba/Carisi) and I'm open to everything. I've been in a weird nick amaro phase lately so bonus for a fic featuring him.

Been a while since I've done one of these! Feeling the itch to read some fics:))

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