Modern Family Review - 3.9 'Punkin Chunkin'
Posted by Michael Adams on 11.23.2011
Phil starts wondering "what if" when the boy who used to live next-door returns as an internet billionaire, Mitchell offends one of Cam's many stories and Jay criticizes Manny! 411's Michael Adams checks in with his review of "Punkin Chunkin!"
The Modern 411...
- Phil is providing the voice of the Thanksgiving Turkey as it gets stuffed by Claire. I am going to remember some of that for tomorrow at my family's.
- Kenneth, is coming to visit the Dunphy’s, more specifically Phil. He used to live next door to the Dunphys and he idolized Phil.
- Cameron tells his Punkin’ Chunkin’ story to a couple at the park. It’s a 3 second story that he turns into War and Peace.
- Manny has prepared a Thanksgiving centerpiece. Gloria loves it, Jay…not so much. He tells Gloria, that Manny needs a reality check.
- Kenneth has become quite successful…like MILLIONAIRE successful.
- Kenneth is a mini-Phil.
- Haley and Alex get into a car accident while looking up Kenneth on their phones.
- The girls are hiding the dent from Claire, which Alex isn’t happy about. Haley’s plan is to make Claire think that she did it while she was at the store.
- Cam is upset with Mitchell for not supporting his stories.When isn’t Cam upset with Mitchell for something? Mitchell loves his stories, but he should take Punkin’ Chunkin’ out of the rotation…because it's not real.
- Phil is trying to make Luke see in him what Kenneth does.
- Manny critiques Jay’s rice pilaf, so Jay tries to critique Manny’s centerpiece but Gloria stops him.
- Phil tells Claire that she always crushes his dreams, such as the Rice Pudding Store, the Aspirin Gun and the Head Scratcher ™
- We see a commercial for the Head Scratcher ™ starring Luke and Phil. It’s hilarious!
- As the guests come to the house, the girls make sure no one sees the car.
- Jay finally comes clean with Manny and he takes the news well.
- Phil says that Pritchetts bash dreams.
- Cam airs his grievance towards Mitchell about the Punkin’ Chunkin’ story. It appears that everyone believes he has made it up.
- To settle the score, they head to a football field to test the Punkin’ Chunkin’ story. It’s Dreamers vs Pritchetts!
- Turns out the pumpkin didn’t launch too far and while they should be happy to be right, the Pritchett’s realize they squashed some dreams today.
- The whole family then rallies together to launch the pumpkin.
- Right before the last chuck, Alex confesses to denting the car. The pumpkin hits the van. The girls could have gotten away with it.
A little more reading for you...
It's Thanksgiving, so you know the whole family is going to be together this week, but not before some separate family time.
The Dunphys are visited by Kenneth, the boy who used to live next door, played by Josh Gad. He has become a millionaire because of the inspiration he got from Phil as a kid. This causes Phil to start thinking outside of the box, but his box is quickly crushed by Claire. Alex and Hailey get into a little accident, which Haley tries to cover up, to Alex's displeasure.
Manny has created a centerpiece for the Thanksgiving table that isn't very good. Jay tells Gloria that they have to bring him down to earth a little bit. Gloria tells Jay that they can't kill his creativity. When Jay eventually does tell Manny that his centerpiece isn't his best work, Manny takes it well.
Mitchell tells Cam that his Punkin' Chunkin' story doesn't seem real, which upsets Cam.
At dinner, the family voices their concern that the Pritchetts are dream killers. So to prove them wrong, the family heads to a football field to chuck some pumpkins. When the pumpkin doesn't go as far as it did in Cam's story, the whole family joins in to help chuck them further and make it a great Thanksgiving.
This Week’s Top Quotes: Phil: If I had a son I’d want him to be Kenneth. Claire: You do have a son.
Kenneth:He encouraged me to always have fun and follow this thing.(he points to his heart.) Luke:Your lung?
Mitchell: It was a supportive “Womp Womp”.
Phil: I wonder if this is how the French do thanksgiving.
Claire: One long table honey. If it was good for the last supper, it’s good enough for us.
Manny: You hit those pot holes pretty hard. It’s like you didn’t see them. Jay: No, I saw them.
Phil: I love your I love you, getting awfully tired of your but.
Luke: Do you think this can launch a human? Phil: Oh Luke…lets test the pumpkin first.
Character of the Week: I’ve got to bestow the honor to Phil again this week. Boy, do I love Phil Dunphy. He has moments in every episode that make me laugh until it hurts. Tonight was the Head Scratcher™ commercial. Perhaps, that was because of the addition of Luke. Luke and Phil are one of the greatest Father/Son duo's in TV history. I loved the desire he showed to prove Claire wrong in this episode.
The 411: This weeks episode was done to make-up for the lack of a Halloween episode and it didn't disapoint. It had the perfect combination of funny and touching that makes Modern Family the best show on TV right now. It's not often that shows run a Thanksgiving special, so for the inaugural Modern Family Thanksgiving episode, it was just right. They made great use of their guest-star and had a story line that was captivating enough for a 30min sitcom.
Happy Thanksgiving to all Modern Family Fans!
