If you have flipped through channels on any given night in the week, read reviews of TV shows regularly, or happen to be in one of Gretchen Calhoun’s freshman world geography classes, then you have probably seen, or at least stumbled upon Modern Family. After five seasons of this show, although the characters may have gotten a bit stereotypical and the plot has weakened, the message stays the same. This TV show has shown people all over the country that it’s ok to be different. There’s a gay couple, an adopted child, a younger woman with an older man – the message of the show under all the humor is that it’s ok to love anyone.

 Modern Family is a “mockumentary” style show that is centered on the fictional character Jay Pritchet, his son and daughter, and all of their families, who are living in the suburbs of LA. With a wide variety of characters ranging from fun-loving Phil too uptight Jay, it feels like there’s always a character anyone can fall in love with. The incidents and predicaments that the characters overcome can often relate to my everyday life, and other’s as well.

 Created in 2008 by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, the show received glowing reviews all around. The original vision from Lloyd and Levitan was to “create a show that will show people the not-so-typical all American family.” as Levitan said in an interview with ABC. However, after only one season of the show, it was clear that it was going to have more of an impact. Fans were tweeting things such as “@ModernFamily has really changed the way I see same gender relationships,” and things along those lines.

Although the charm of the show may not be what it once was due to the fact that some of the characters have become slightly stereotypical, and the humor the show once had is now lacking, the show hasn’t lost it’s overall meaning and significance. The overall message still stays the same. If you’re looking for a show that will move you, and a show that breaks gender stereotypes and is still humorous, give the first few seasons of Modern Family a try.