WhatsApp rubbed salt on the wounds of Modern Family fans by releasing a short and brilliant ad. The ad had fans yearning for little more than just the 30-second video, who have long wanted some spinoffs of the show. Phil, Claire, Mitchell and Cameron are once again at the Dunphy house, pulling Mitchell’s leg at his texts in a group chat. The ad, promoting WhatsApp’s new feature of combining both Android and iPhone messaging, has fans pleading to the studios to give them some new Modern Family content. Modern family has cracked the code to becoming a cult classic show, and will continue to have fans buzzing with excitement anytime anything happens related to the it.
Why Modern Family is still so loved
It has been 4 years since Modern family ended. In an emotional finale, we see how everyone has gone their own ways. The teens are now tackling adult life, while the kids too are growing up to build their own identities. Modern family built its solid fandom with its fresh take on comedy especially with the mockumentary style of writing. The Office, a cult classic that retired in 2013, is also created in the same style. Modern family is a critics favorite too, having won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series 5 years in a row.
Modern Family wouldn’t have seen this success without its excellent characterization. Gloria and Phil Dunphy are easily the most loved characters from the show. The characters also served as the break that made the careers of Sofia Vergara and Ty Burrell. Families are not a novel idea in the sitcom genre. In fact, it’s always either a family, or a group of friends that form the ensemble cast of these shows. Yet Modern Family, with its large cast, is one sitcom that has endured its ending. In the 4 years since its end, the show has retained its fans and has transformed from being a regular primetime show to a binge-watch worthy one.
The show has become a cultural icon, that even mere meetups of the cast members have the fans once again in awe. Sarah Hyland, who plays Haley Dunphy, had roped in her on-screen father (Burrell) to officiate her wedding. But Burell had to miss out due to an emergency, which led Jesse Tyler Ferguson, aka Mitch, to step in. But also in attendance were other members of the star cast: Julie Bowen, Sofia Vergara, Nolan Gould, and Ariel Winter. Recently, Ferguson had attended Aubrey Anderson-Emmons’ (who plays Lily) school play. They showed up again as a team at the SAG Awards earlier this year. The bond that the actors share in real life mimic those that their characters shared on the screen. This is an aspect that fans love most about the show.
A much needed glimpse into the Modern Family future
The WhatsApp ad, however, is the first time, the actors have reprised their roles since the show’s end. There is, another Modern Family-WhatsApp ad, that features only Claire and Phil. Even for such short screen times, the actors have seamlessly shifted back to their characters. Phil is his usual secret-spilling and his yearning-dad self in the ads, making it hard to believe that TV’s favorite dad was absent from the screen for so long.
The ads might be the closest thing to a Modern Family spinoff fans might get. Fans are bummed and happy at the same time, because the only semblance about the future of Modern Family is in the form of two Whatsapp ads. One fan share that he’s “tired of spinoffs being commercials.” Another fan, however is happy with this breadcrumb-like content, saying that “the [M]odern [F]amily cast just needs to work together until the end of time.”
