First Days (Modern Family)

Last updated
"First Days"
Modern Family episode
Episode no.Season 5
Episode 2
Directed by Steven Levitan
Written byPaul Corrigan
Brad Walsh
Production code5ARG02
Original air dateSeptember 25, 2013 (2013-09-25)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Suddenly, Last Summer"		Next →
"Larry's Wife"
Modern Family season 5
List of episodes

"First Days" is the second episode of the fifth season of the American sitcom Modern Family , and the series' 98th overall. It was aired on September 25, 2013, the same day as the premiere episode, Suddenly, Last Summer. The episode involves each character dealing with the difficulties of beginning new challenges. As the kids start school again, the parents find challenges in juggling schedules, beginning intimidating new jobs and coping with children growing older and less dependent.

Contents

The episode was written by Paul Corrigan & Brad Walsh and directed by series co-creator Steven Levitan.

Plot

Luke (Nolan Gould) and Manny (Rico Rodriguez) have their first day at high school. The two of them take this change really well, something that is not happening with Phil (Ty Burrell) and Gloria (Sofía Vergara) because they realize that the boys are growing up very fast and they are going to lose them.

Claire (Julie Bowen) starts working at Jay's (Ed O'Neill) closet company making her big return. On her first day, she tries to get close to her co-workers and to convince them to not look at her as "Pritchett's daughter" but as Claire.

Cam (Eric Stonestreet) starts a new substituting gig at the high school where Alex (Ariel Winter) is attending and the lesson he has to teach is History. The only problem is that Cam does not know anything about the subject and Alex is the one who ends up teaching the other kids. Cam realizes that he can not teach History and he quits. However, as he is quitting, Cam incidentally reveals his keen coaching prowess and is immediately re-hired as a gym teacher and coach of the football team.

Mitch (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), with Cam going to his new job, tries to juggle Lily's (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons) first day of preschool and a very important meeting at work. Lily has a little accident, so Mitch takes her with him at the office and calls Haley (Sarah Hyland) to come and baby sit her. When Haley arrives at Mitch's office, his boss (Justin Kirk) hits on her, making Mitch very uncomfortable.

Reception

Ratings

In its original American broadcast, "First Days" (that was aired along with the premiere episode, Suddenly, Last Summer) was watched by 11.68 million. [1]

Reviews

"First Days" received generally positive reviews.

Joe Reid of The A.V. Club gave a 'B+' grade to the episode (along with the Suddenly, Last Summer one) saying: " "First Days" is less [than Suddenly, Last Summer] heartwarming, by design, but it pairs up the characters interestingly enough that it works." [2]

Leigh Raines of TV Fanatic rated the two episodes with a 5/5 saying that both of the show's episodes were strong. "I laughed out loud a few times, got a little misty eyed at moments and did a combination of the two when Jay started crying at Manny's letter and wanted to mail him his second robe. Only the best shows can bring out that kind of dual reaction!" [3]

Matt LeMaire from The MacGuffin net rated both episodes with 8/10. "All in all, it’s a good episode that’s a bit too predictable given our knowledge of these characters, but it still provides some good laughs." It closes the review with: "As a premiere, both episodes did a good job of bringing us back into the world of Modern Family and while there were certainly some predictable elements, it’s our love of these characters that shines through as they navigate through their daily lives." [4]

Emily Carlstrom from Better With Popcorn rated both episodes with 7.5/10. "This [Cameron's plot] is another thing the show does well. It subtly undermines stereotypes: Cam being the more theatrical of the gay couple is also a tough country boy and former football player." [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Me? Jealous?</span> 14th episode of the 3rd season of Modern Family

"Me? Jealous?" is the 14th episode of the third season of the American sitcom Modern Family and the series' 61st episode overall. It was aired on February 8, 2012. The episode was written by Ben Karlin and directed by Michael Spiller.

"Bringing Up Baby" is the first episode of the fourth season of the American sitcom Modern Family, and the series' 73rd episode overall. It aired on September 26, 2012. The episode was written by Paul Corrigan & Brad Walsh and directed by Steven Levitan.

"Schooled" is the second episode of the fourth season of the American sitcom Modern Family, and the series' 74th episode overall. It aired October 10, 2012. The episode was written by Steven Levitan & Dan O'Shannon and directed by Jeff Melman.

"The Butler's Escape" is the fourth episode of the fourth season of the American sitcom Modern Family, and the series' 76th episode overall. It aired October 17, 2012. The episode was written by Bill Wrubel and directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller.

"A Slight at the Opera" is the 14th episode of the fourth season of the American sitcom Modern Family, and the series' 86th episode overall. It aired February 6, 2013. The episode was written by Paul Corrigan & Brad Walsh and directed by James Bagdonas. For his performance in the episode, Nathan Lane received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.

"The Future Dunphys" is the 19th episode of the fourth season of the American sitcom Modern Family, and the series' 91st episode overall. It was aired on April 3, 2013. The episode was written by Elaine Ko and it was directed by Ryan Case.

"Career Day" is the 21st episode of the fourth season of the American sitcom Modern Family, and the series' 93rd episode overall. It was aired on May 1, 2013. The episode was written by Paul Corrigan & Brad Walsh and it was directed by Jim Hensz.

"My Hero" is the 22nd episode of the fourth season of the American sitcom Modern Family, and the series' 94th episode overall. It was aired on May 8, 2013. The episode was written by Abraham Higginbotham and it was directed by Gail Mancuso.

"Suddenly, Last Summer" is the first episode of the fifth season of the American sitcom Modern Family, and the series' 97th overall. It was aired on September 25, 2013. The episode was written by Jeffrey Richman and it was directed by James Bagdonas. Cam and Mitchell secretly set up a thrilling marriage proposal, while Gloria is saddened because of Manny going to Colombia. Claire and Phil attempt to send off the kids on a vacation to get some alone time.

"The Late Show" is the fifth episode of the fifth season of the American sitcom Modern Family, and the series' 101st overall. It aired on October 16, 2013. The episode was written by Abraham Higginbotham and directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller. The episode deals with the difficulties that can arise in relationships and the petty squabbles that can have injurious effects for those close.

"The Big Game" is the ninth episode of the fifth season of the American sitcom Modern Family, and the series' 105th overall. It was aired on December 4, 2013. The episode was written by Megan Ganz and directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller.

"The Old Man & the Tree" is the tenth episode of the fifth season of the American sitcom Modern Family, and the series' 106th overall. It was aired on December 11, 2013. The episode was written by Paul Corrigan & Brad Walsh and directed by Bryan Cranston.

"Other People's Children" is the 17th episode of the fifth season of the American sitcom Modern Family, and the series' 113th overall. It was aired on March 12, 2014. The episode was written by Megan Ganz and directed by Jim Hensz. As the episode's title suggests, the theme of the episode is sharing experiences with the children of others and the importance of removing oneself from his or her comfort zone.

"The Wedding" is the finale of the fifth season of the American sitcom Modern Family. It aired in two parts, on May 14, 2014 and May 21, 2014. The first part was written by Abraham Higginbotham, Ben Karlin and Jeffrey Richman, and directed by Steven Levitan. The second part was written by Megan Ganz, Christopher Lloyd, and Dan O'Shannon and directed by Alisa Statman. Both episodes received mixed reviews from critics, however the various guest performances were highly praised. This episode was filmed at the Trump National Golf Club, Los Angeles.

"Queer Eyes, Full Hearts" is the seventh episode of the sixth season of the American sitcom Modern Family, and the series' 127th episode overall. It originally aired on November 12, 2014. The episode was written by Stephen Lloyd and directed by Jason Winer.

"Summer Lovin'" is the season premiere of the seventh season of the American sitcom Modern Family. It aired on September 23, 2015, on American Broadcasting Company (ABC). The premiere is directed by Jim Hensz and written by executive-producer Abraham Higginbotham.

"The Day Alex Left for College" is the second episode of the seventh season and the 146th episode overall of the American sitcom Modern Family. It aired on September 30, 2015 on American Broadcasting Company (ABC). The episode is directed by Jeffrey Walker and written by Danny Zuker.

"The Closet Case" is the third episode of the seventh season of the American sitcom Modern Family, and the series' 147th episode overall. It aired on American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States on October 7, 2015. The episode was written by Paul Corrigan and Brad Walsh, and directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller.

"Finale" is the series finale of the sitcom Modern Family. It aired in two parts, both on April 8, 2020, on ABC. The first part was written by Steven Levitan, Abraham Higginbotham, Jon Pollack, Ryan Walls, Jeffrey Richman, Morgan Murphy, and Stephen Lloyd, and directed by Steven Levitan. The second part was written by Christopher Lloyd, Jack Burditt, Elaine Ko, Danny Zuker, Vali Chandrasekaran, Brad Walsh, and Paul Corrigan, and directed by Gail Mancuso.

References

  1. ↑ Kondolojy, Amanda (September 26, 2013). "Wednesday Final Ratings: 'The Middle', 'Modern Family' and 'Survivor' Adjusted Up; 'Nashville' & 'CSI' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013.
  2. ↑ Reid, Joe (September 26, 2013). "Suddenly, Last Summer/First Days". The A.V. Club.
  3. ↑ Raines, Leigh (September 26, 2013). "Modern Family Review: Today's a New Beginning". TV Fanatic.
  4. ↑ LeMaire, Matt. "Modern Family – "Suddenly, Last Summer / First Days" (S05E01 & S05E02) Review". The MacGuffin net.
  5. ↑ Carlstrom, Emily. "Modern Family S05E01-2 Recap: Suddenly, Last Summer/First Days". Better with Popcorn. Retrieved September 26, 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.