"Manny Get Your Gun" is the eighth episode of the second season of the

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

, ''

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 thr ...

'' and the 32nd overall. It originally aired November 17, 2010 on the

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Cali ...

(ABC). The episode was written by

Danny Zuker Daniel "Danny" Zuker (born c. 1964) is an American television writer and producer. Biography Born to a Jewish family, Zuker graduated from Syracuse University in 1986, where he was a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity. He is best known for his ...

, from a story by ''Modern Family'' co-creator,

Christopher Lloyd Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and on television since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in the ''Back to the Future'' tril ...

and was directed by

Michael Spiller Michael Alan Spiller (born August 1, 1961) is an American cinematographer and television director.TV Squad Weblogs, Inc. was a blog network that published content on a variety of subjects, including tech news, video games, automobiles and pop culture. At one point, the network had as many as 90 blogs, although the vast majority of its traffic could be ...

'' naming it "one of the better ones of the season. According to the

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

, the episode received the same ratings as the previous episode, "

Chirp A chirp is a signal in which the frequency increases (''up-chirp'') or decreases (''down-chirp'') with time. In some sources, the term ''chirp'' is used interchangeably with sweep signal. It is commonly applied to sonar, radar, and laser system ...

" and became the second highest rated scripted series of the original week it aired.

Plot

The episode begins with Manny ( Rico Rodriguez) starting his birthday speech to a table filled with angry family members. The episode then goes 30 minutes earlier showing 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 Primetim ...

) hurrying everyone to get to the party on time. This prompts a contest between Claire and 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 in ...

) to see whose route is quicker. Phil rides with Alex (

Ariel Winter Ariel Winter Workman (born January 28, 1998) is an American actress. She starred as Alex Dunphy in the ABC comedy series ''Modern Family'', for which she and her co-stars won four consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Ensemble ...

) 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 ...

), and 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 bir ...

) with Claire. In Claire's car, Luke asks Claire why she is separating from Phil misunderstanding Claire's earlier statement of the two parents were "separating". Claire reassures Luke that they are fine and just going separate routes. Claire then starts asking Luke why he wanted to go with Phil instead of her. She stops the car to have a talk with Luke which makes her sadder, but Luke makes her happy by telling her that she is fun too but he wanted to be with Phil because he thought Phil needed him more than Claire does and that her route is faster than Phil's. In Phil's car, while he tries convincing the girls the race is not a waste of time, the car's wheels go out. After fixing it, Haley and Alex tell him that they do not want to go to family camp. This causes Phil to cry which in turn causes Haley and Alex to cry. This saps Phil's motivation to beat Claire, but Haley and Alex eventually restore his motivation to win. Meanwhile, Mitchell (

Jesse Tyler Ferguson Jesse Tyler Ferguson (born October 22, 1975) is an American actor. From 2009 to 2020, he portrayed Mitchell Pritchett on the sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he earned five consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding ...

) and Cameron (

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 Supporting ...

) are walking through the mall looking for a present for Manny. While there, Cameron stops to help an elderly man named Donald (

Norman Lloyd Norman Nathan Lloyd (' Perlmutter; November 8, 1914 – May 11, 2021) was an American actor, producer, director, and centenarian with a career in entertainment spanning nearly a century. He worked in every major facet of the industry, including ...

) to convince an old lady name Helen (

Norma Michaels Norma Michaels (March 13, 1924 – January 11, 2020) was an American television and film character actress, with a career spanning six decades from her debut in 1954 until 2018. She was best known of the latter for her portraying of elderly woman ...

) to take him back, despite Mitchell's protests that they are running out of time. Cameron is initially delighted to help before realizing Donald is an adulterer. Cameron and Mitchell soon continue their fight about Mitchell not being spontaneous but in the middle of the discussion, Mitchell takes part in a

flash mob A flash mob (or flashmob) is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform for a brief time, then quickly disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression. Flash mobs may be organized via t ...

with a bunch of people to "

Free Your Mind Free Your Mind may refer to: * ''Free Your Mind'' (Cut Copy album), 2013 * ''Free Your Mind'' (Maliq & D'Essentials album), 2007 * Free Your Mind (MTV award) Free Your Mind is an award granted by MTV during its shows in order to award actions or ...

". Mitchell initially thinks Cameron will be happy, but Cameron becomes angry that Mitchell kept it a secret from him. They soon have another fight in their car. In the Pritchett house, Gloria (

Sofía Vergara Sofía Margarita Vergara Vergara (; born July 10, 1972) is a Colombian and American actress and model. She was the highest paid actress in American television from 2013 to 2020.

) and 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 awar ...

) have a fight over Gloria's habit of losing everything and currently losing her keys. Jay initially believes he is right before finding the keys in his pockets, but instead of apologizing to Gloria he secretes the keys in her purse. In the meantime, Manny becomes depressed after Jay informs him he never truly acted like a kid. He tries to live his life as a kid before the party with bad

prank calls A prank call (also known as a crank call) is a telephone call intended by the caller as a practical joke played on the person answering. It is often a type of nuisance call. It can be illegal under certain circumstances. Recordings of prank pho ...

and mixing sodas. He then opens his old Christmas present (a flotation device) and putting it in a pool. A furious Gloria angry at Manny not wanting to go his own party shoots the flotation device with a

BB gun A BB gun is a type of air gun designed to shoot metallic spherical projectiles called BBs (not to be confused with similar-looking bearing balls), which are approximately the same size as BB-size lead birdshot used on shotguns ( in diameter ...

Jay gave him. In the car, Jay finally tells Gloria the truth making her furious. After all the family members see that they are about to arrive late, they race to the restaurant, coming close to crashing into each other. The scene then goes to Manny finishing his speech saying that he has enough time to act like a kid, as his older family members still do, leading to everyone reconciling with one another.

Production

"Manny Get Your Gun" was written by

, but was based on a story by ''

's'' co-creator,

. The episode marked Zucker's fifth writing credit for the series and Lloyd's first story credit. The episode was directed by

Michael Spiller Michael Alan Spiller (born August 1, 1961) is an American cinematographer and television director. "Manny Get Your Gun" originally aired on November 17, 2010. The episode was filmed on October 20, October 21, and October 27, 2010. The episode was originally titled "Dash, Flash, Crash" in the original press release, the episode's title was later formally changed to "Manny Get Your Gun". Part of the episode's plot is based on a personal experience of

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 (TV series), Stark Raving Mad'', ''Stacked'', ''Back to You ( ...

. He stated in an interview "My wife and I have a constant argument about when we're in a restaurant, which way to take home - which is the faster way home." On October 15, 2010, William Keck of ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' reported that

of '' St. Elsewhere'' was to guest star as a senior citizen who Cameron befriends. He filmed his appearance on October 21, 2010. The episode was later put in for

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series is an annual award given to the best television comedy series of the year. From 1960 to 1964, this category was combined with the Comedy Specials (one time programs) category so that both type ...

along with " Caught in the Act", "

The Musical Man "The Musical Man" is the 19th episode of the American comedy television series, ''Modern Familys second season and the 43rd episode overall. It originally aired on April 13, 2011 on American Broadcasting Company (ABC). The episode was written b ...

" and "

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the ...

Reception

Ratings

In its original American broadcast, "Manny Get Your Gun" was viewed by an estimated 12.092 million households and received a 7.1 rating/11% share

Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...

meaning that the episode was watched by an average of 7.1% of households and 11% of all televisions were tuned to the episode when it was broadcast. The episode received a 4.8 rating/13% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, tying with the ratings from the previous episode, "

". The episode became the second highest rated scripted series of the week it aired after ''

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

''.

Reviews

The episode received positive reviews from critics. Joel Keller of AOL's ''

TV Squad Weblogs, Inc. was a blog network that published content on a variety of subjects, including tech news, video games, automobiles and pop culture. At one point, the network had as many as 90 blogs, although the vast majority of its traffic could be ...

'' called the episode "one of the better ones of the season". Despite this, he felt that the Mitch and Cam storyline while "funny" it was "not as funny as they usually are". He also commented that "It's just that sometimes Cam is too much Cam for his, or the audience's, own good." Donna Bowman 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 the episode an A− rating. She felt "this episode is a bit less than the sum of its parts; or maybe the jigsaw pieces have been forced into place a little too emphatically." Rachel Maddux of ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'' gave the episode a positive review. She felt that the episode brought the series "out of tsslump" and also commented "This kind of episode is pretty much why we started loving this show in the first place". Kara Klenk of ''

'' called it "another great episode." Matt Roush called the episode "comic gold" and felt the episode was "firing on all cylinders". James Poniewozik of ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' gave the episode a positive review. He felt that "This episode may not quite have reached the level of "

Fizbo "Fizbo" is the ninth episode of the first season of the American family sitcom television series ''Modern Family'' and the ninth episode of the series overall. It originally aired on ABC in the United States on November 25, 2009. The episode was w ...

", but by the time it built to its near-four-car-pileup, it had strung together quite a run of funny and sweet moments." ''

HitFix HitFix, or HitFix.com, was an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information, and reviews and critiques of film, music, and television. In mid-2010 HitFix crossed the 1,00 ...

'' writer Alan Sepinwall, who is often critical of the series's second season praised the episode commenting that "nearly everything was clicking". He also positively compared it to a season one episode of the series when "where everything came together at the end in the style of the strongest season one episodes ".

References

External links

*
"Manny Get Your Gun"
at ABC.com {{Modern Family, 2 2010 American television episodes Modern Family (season 2) episodes