While variances in fidelity exist – say from interior car cameras – much of the key set work is resolute and pure. Like nearly all current television, Modern Family is brought to life digitally, and it does so sans noise. Encoded with AVC and welcoming high bitrates, the three disc set is a wealth of fidelity which could never be captured during broadcasts given bandwidth limitations. Whether that adheres to standards across all local ABC channels or not, this Blu-ray is a reminder of how pitiful and compressed cable/OTA HD can be. Modern Family airs, at least locally, with a smothering of DNR which obliterates any semblance of fine detail. It is that rare network comedy which can nudge the audience forward in their thinking and still land on success without lapses in cohesion. Lifestyles are different not only for their character development, but to grab at the cross section of America’s growing acceptance, while being enormously entertaining in the process.

The show remains true to its namesake, hoisted on cultural diversity without proving exploitative of any specific subset. It is as much a peer into their dysfunction as it is the viewer’s own. Modern Family is consistently in a tireless pursuit for another jib or appropriate look direct at the camera, with a faux reality show veneer which is (smartly) never acknowledged. Most segues are lifted on laughs, adding strength to build-up in following scenes. Writing never ceases to latch onto key timing or rambunctious pre-commercial actions, acutely aware of generated laughs, breaking only when necessary. Each seamlessly embed themselves into this knotted, fourth-wall breaking family universe, without forgetting any traveling plot strings between episodes. Cameos remain and never prove intrusive, from Billy Dee Williams taking over a New Years party (playing himself), or Elizabeth Banks as an inopportune hussy. Season four seats itself in the home, sans any advertiser infused trips to Disney theme parks. ABC’s show has not evolved so much as it has blossomed on the strength of Phil’s (Ty Burrell) obsessions, Cameron’s (Eric Stonestreet) exaggerations, and Haley’s (Sarah Hyland) indiscretions as she follows a course set by her mother’s past. Modern Family shows no weariness in speed, chaos, or timing, fitted with a cast of likable regulars and determined traits with focus on their quirks. Instead of desperation, writers cast the pregnancy angle as the centerpiece, a twisting, winding narrative which can draw in each sector of the Pritchett clan. Except, Modern Family had no such doubts, reigning as a king of network comedy as it brought in pregnant Gloria (Sofia Vergara) to butter up plot lines for this fourth season.

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