"Best Men" is the 17th episode of the fourth season of the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

sitcom ''

Modern Family ''Modern Family'' is an American family sitcom television series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan for the American Broadcasting Company. It ran for 11 seasons, from September 23, 2009, to April 8, 2020. It follows the lives of th ...

'', and the series' 89th episode overall. It aired February 27, 2013. The episode was written by

Dan O'Shannon Dan O'Shannon (born March 10, 1962) is an American television writer and producer who has worked on shows such as ''Newhart'', '' Cheers'', and ''Frasier''. He was an executive producer of the ABC show ''Modern Family'', but left the show at th ...

and

Abraham Higginbotham Abraham Higginbotham is a writer, producer, and occasional actor for popular comedy series such as ''Arrested Development'', ''Will & Grace'', '' Back to You'' and '' Do Not Disturb''. Career Higginbotham began his career in television by submitt ...

based on a story by O'Shannon, Higginbotham and Bianca Douglas. It was directed by series co-creator

Steven Levitan Steven E. Levitan (born April 6, 1962) is an American television producer, director, and screenwriter. He has created such television series as ''Just Shoot Me!'', '' Stark Raving Mad'', ''Stacked'', '' Back to You'', ''Modern Family'', and ''R ...

Plot

Sal (

Elizabeth Banks Elizabeth Banks (born Elizabeth Irene Mitchell; February 10, 1974) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is known for playing Effie Trinket in ''The Hunger Games'' film series (2012–2015) and Gail Abernathy-McKadden in the ''Pitch Perf ...

), Mitch ( Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Cam's (

Eric Stonestreet Eric Allen Stonestreet (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for portraying Cameron Tucker in the ABC mockumentary sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he received two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporti ...

) best girlfriend back from their party years, unexpectedly comes to their home and announces them that she will marry Anthony ( Michael Masini) someone whom she met just three months ago. The wedding is the next day and she asks them to be her best men. Of course they accept but they are not sure if Sal is ready for a wedding since she was always been the party girl. When Sal makes out with the bartender just one hour before the wedding, Cam wants to stop the wedding. Jay (

Ed O'Neill Edward Leonard O'Neill (born April 12, 1946) is an American actor and comedian. His roles include Al Bundy on the Fox Network sitcom '' Married... with Children'', for which he was nominated for two Golden Globes, and Jay Pritchett on the a ...

) and Gloria (

Sofia Vergara Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and has ...

) have hired an English nanny named Daliya (Nosheen Phoenix), but Gloria has some trust issues with her. Meanwhile, they also have to deal with Manny's ( Rico Rodriguez) preoccupation with female nudes, which they feel is a result of Gloria's practice of breast-feeding Joe in front of everyone. However, it is then revealed that it is a result of the crush that Manny has developed on Daliya. To arrange some alone time with her, Manny convinces Jay and Gloria to go to the movies, and he prepares a romantic dinner for him and Daliya. While Jay and Gloria are out, they find out about Manny's love for Daliya and they rush back home. Claire (

Julie Bowen Julie Bowen Luetkemeyer (born March 3, 1970) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Claire Dunphy in the ABC sitcom ''Modern Family'' (2009–2020), for which she received critical acclaim and six nominations for the Prime ...

) and Haley (

Sarah Hyland Sarah Jane Hyland (born November 24, 1990) is an American actress and singer. Born in Manhattan, she attended the Professional Performing Arts School before having small roles in the films '' Private Parts'' (1997), '' Annie'' (1999) and ''Blin ...

) have one of their rare bonding moments, and Claire asks Haley to go out for dinner, just the two of them. While dropping off Alex ( Ariel Winter) to the bar she is playing with her band, Haley encounters a friend of hers and she leaves with her, ditching her plans for dinner with Claire. Later, she comes back and hangs out with Claire because she feels guilty leaving her while they had plans. A nice surprise awaits both of them when Alex's band starts playing. Meanwhile, Phil (

Ty Burrell Tyler Gerald Burrell (born August 22, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. Burrell is best known for his role as Phil Dunphy on the ABC sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor i ...

) tries to help Luke (

Nolan Gould Nolan Gould (born October 28, 1998) is an American actor known for his role as Luke Dunphy on the ABC sitcom ''Modern Family''. Early life and education Gould was born in New York City, the son of Angela and Edwin Gould. Shortly after his bi ...

) get a date with Simone (Olivia Rose Keegan) through

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. When the date is arranged, Phil goes with Luke at the Dinner and sits at the bar to wait for him. Things get awkward when Simone's divorced mom, Valerie (Janelle Marra), comes to the bar to introduce herself, and it is revealed that she was the one writing the messages on Facebook on behalf of her daughter.

Reception

Ratings

In its original American broadcast, "Best Men" was watched by 10.53 million; down 0.09 from the previous episode.

Critical reception

Eric Adams of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' gave a B grade to the episode, stating that it was absurdly overstuffed but the show has many potential storylines. "The episode is modern TV comedy presented as a Whitman’s Sampler, multiple variations on the same show housed in one convenient package. And when you can please that many segments of an audience in a single half-hour, longevity and syndication are almost a given." Dalene Rovenstine from ''

Paste Magazine ''Paste'' is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publication fro ...

'' rated the episode with 8.1/10 saying that the season was a roller coaster and she was not expecting much since the moment Elizabeth Banks appeared. Michael Adams of ''411mania'' gave the episode 8/10 saying that this episode was an improvement from last week's one. "I thought every storyline was strong, and there were some definite character developments that I assume are going to come into play in later episodes, particularly the ones between the Dunphy girls. The only disappointment in this episode was that they teased us early on this season about the wedding. I really thought it was going to be Mitchell and Cam's wedding, but obviously, it wasn't. I'm ok with how it turned out..." Victoria Leigh Miller from ''Yahoo! TV'' said that Micth and Cam are the best best men in TV history. Leigh Raines from TV Fanatic rated the episode with 4.5/5 while Zach Dionne of ''Vulture'' rated it with 3/5.

References

External links

*
"Best Men"
at ABC.com {{Modern Family, 4 Modern Family (season 4) episodes 2013 American television episodes