The fifth season of the American television sitcom Modern Family aired on ABC from September 25, 2013 to May 21, 2014.
This season was ordered on May 10, 2013. The season was produced by Lloyd-Levitan Productions in association with 20th Century Fox Television, with series creators Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd serving as showrunners.
Cast
Main cast Ed O'Neill as Jay Pritchett Sofía Vergara as Gloria Pritchett Julie Bowen as Claire Dunphy Ty Burrell as Phil Dunphy Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Mitchell Pritchett Eric Stonestreet as Cameron Tucker Sarah Hyland as Haley Dunphy Ariel Winter as Alex Dunphy Nolan Gould as Luke Dunphy Rico Rodriguez as Manny Delgado Aubrey Anderson-Emmons as Lily Tucker-Pritchett
Recurring cast Adam DeVine as Andy Bailey Nathan Lane as Pepper Saltzman Christian Barillas as Ronaldo Reid Ewing as Dylan Marshall Dana Powell as Pam Tucker Celia Weston as Barb Tucker
Guest cast
Justin Kirk as Charlie Bingham Andrew Daly as Principal Brown Diane Farr as Diane Spenser McNeil as Reuben Fred Willard as Frank Dunphy Jordan Peele as Derrick Ann Guilbert as Cameron's grandmother Elizabeth Peña as Pilar Ramirez John Benjamin Hickey as Dr. Clark Jane Krakowski as Dr. Donna Duncan Jesse Eisenberg as Asher Chazz Palminteri as Shorty Rob Riggle as Gil Thorpe John Heard as Gunther Thorpe Aisha Tyler as Wendy Will Sasso as Señor Kaplan Alyson Reed as Angela Marc Evan Jackson as Tad Patton Oswalt as Ducky Fred Armisen as Langham Stephen Merchant as Leslie Higgins Rhys Darby as Fergus Anderson Elizabeth Banks as Sal Barry Corbin as Merle Tucker Kevin Daniels as Longines Colin Hanlon as Steven
Production The first episode of the season, "Suddenly, Last Summer", which premiered on ABC on September 25, 2013, made reference to the newly legalized same-sex marriage in California. The writers said that a wedding for Mitch and Cam was a "real possibility". In January 2014, it was announced that Modern Family's vacation episode would take place in Australia this season. The season was produced by Steven Levitan Productions and Picador Productions in association with 20th Century Fox Television, with creators Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd as showrunners.
Episodes
Reception
Reviews The fifth season of Modern Family received positive reviews from television critics. While episodes like "Larry's Wife", "Australia" and "Sleeper" were negatively received, others like "The Old Man & the Tree," "Las Vegas," and "Message Received" premiered to high acclaim, with the latter two frequently cited among the show's best episodes.
Reviewing the season's first eight episodes, Matthew Wolfson of Slant Magazine wrote that the show "appear[ed] to have finally arrived at the depressing and predictable low point toward which it [had] been trending for the past two years." He also went on to say that the show had "turned into a shrill pastiche of stereotypical characterizations and superficial banter lacking both feeling and wit", assigning it a rating of 1.5/4 stars. Different writers for The A.V. Club rated, in total, a majority of the former-half episodes with a "B−" grade or less. One writer for the magazine, Joshua Alston, gave "ClosetCon '13" a "C+" and remarked that "Modern Family becomes a high-wire act when it separates its characters into three storylines with no overlap between them." The second half was more warmly received, with three episodes rated an "A−" or higher.
Despite the somewhat mixed reception for the season, Aubrey Anderson-Emmons's performance as Lily received positive reviews. In his review of "The Help", Joe Reid, writing for The A.V. Club, called Lily a "veritable one-liner machine". Reviewing the same episode, Leigh Raines of TV Fanatic said that the funniest part of the half-hour was "Lily at the end rolling her eyes and banging her head on the table listening to Cam, Mitchell and Pepper arguing over wedding plans".
Ratings
Awards and nominations
Primetime Emmy Awards The fifth season received ten nominations at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards in total, including its fifth consecutive nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series. The ceremony for the Primetime Awards aired on August 25, 2013 on NBC while the Primetime Creative Arts Awards took place on August 16, 2013.
Primetime Awards Year Category Nominees For role/episode Outcome2014Outstanding Comedy SeriesModern FamilyOutstanding Supporting Actorin Comedy SeriesTy BurrellRole: Phil DunphyEpisode: "Spring-a-Ding-Fling"Jesse Tyler FergusonRole: Mitchell PritchettEpisode: "Message Received"Outstanding Supporting Actressin Comedy SeriesJulie BowenRole: Claire DunphyEpisode: "The Feud"Outstanding Directingfor a Comedy SeriesGail MancusoEpisode: "Las Vegas" Primetime Creative Arts Awards Year Category Nominees For role/episode Outcome2014Outstanding Castingfor a Comedy SeriesJeff GreenbergOutstanding Guest Actorin a Comedy SeriesNathan LaneRole: Pepper SaltzmanEpisode: "The Wedding (Part 2)"Outstanding Art Direction for a Contemporary ProgramEpisode: "Las Vegas"Outstanding Single-Camera PictureEditing for a Comedy SeriesRyan CaseEpisode: "Las Vegas"Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedyor Drama Series (Half-Hour) and AnimationStephen A. Tibbo, Dean Okrand, and Brian R. HarmanEpisode: "The Wedding (Part 1)"
Home Media release The Fifth season of Modern Family was released on DVD in a three-disc set on September 23, 2014. The box-set contains all 24 episodes, deleted and alternate Scenes, an extended episode, a blooper reel and more. Starting from this season on, 20th Century Home Entertainment decided to ditch the Blu-ray format and instead, they only released the subsequent seasons of the show on DVD and Digital HD. Modern Family: The Complete Fifth Season Set Details Special Features 24 episodes (1 Extended) 3-disc set 1.78:1 aspect ratio English (Dolby Digital 5.1) Subtitles: English, French, Spanish and Portuguese Runtime: 517 minutes Extended Episode - "The Big Game" Deleted and Alternate Scenes A Modern Family Vacation: Behind-the-Scenes in Australia A Day on Set with Jesse Shooting on Location in Las Vegas Mitch & Cam's Wedding: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at How It All Came Together Gag Reel Release Dates Region 1 Region 2 Region 4 September 23, 2014 September 15, 2014 October 7, 2014
References
External links Episode recaps at ABC.com