Modern Family Is Second Most Popular TV Show Last Week

Not counting Sunday and Monday night football, Modern Family fell just below Two and a Half Men in the rankings of Adult viewers last week.

This is a huge achievement for the mockumentary type show, considering it was only launched in October of 2009.

Created by Christopher Lloyd and Steve Levitan as they realized that the stories they told to each other about their own complicated family situations could make for great television.

Although it was first going to be shot from the perspective of a Dutch foreign exchange student who was going to be living with Jay’s family, although he had a crush on Claire, (while Mitchell had a crush on him) this idea was rejected by the network and they ended up having an anonymous filming crew.

ABC originally was hesitant toward the show, picking it up because they were afraid other networks would get a hold of it, the series tested high with focus groups even after the first pilot.

But after it started running, it wasn’t just a hit with audiences; the critics loved it as well. Immediately the show received “universal acclaim,” scoring 86 out of 100 with the Metacritics. Entertainment Weekly even gave it an A-, saying it was “immediately recognizable as the best new sitcom of the fall.”

It was reviewed by the New York Times and called “the funniest new family comedy of the year.” BuddyTV sayd that the show was the second best in 2009 and said that “every actor is fantastic, every family is interesting, and unlike many shows, there isn’t a weak link.”

Even if the show doesn’t have the running head start that Two and a Half Men does, we can see Modern Family gaining momentum fast and topping the charts.