WARNING: By continuing to read the rest of this entry, you waive all rights to be angry that the plot has been spoiled. Additionally, you waive all rights to sue for damages due to having your world rocked because of the awesomeness that you are about to embark upon. If you haven’t already seen this episode (or want to watch it again), check out Hulu or ABC for access to full episodes of this show.

THE SUMMARY: this one is all about character development so rather than do a horrible job at writing a summary, i’ll just write the synopsis from tivo, which is sort of a spoiler for the last 10 minutes of show so definitely stop reading now if you haven’t seen it yet … “Jay has grown children, grandchildren and a gorgeous young wife, who has a preteen son of her own; all together they must bridge generational, cultural and social gaps.”

THE AWESOMENESS VERDICT: 9 out of 10 awesomes. i don’t mess around. i saw this pilot at the ABC 09/10 upfront presentation and then got a copy of the pilot afterwards and ended up watching it about 10 more times and still managed to not get tired of this one episode. even tonight, i continued to laugh quite a bit. this show is pretty f-ing awesome, especially considering this was just the pilot.

THE COMMENTARY: the casting on this show is amazing. a cast always makes or breaks a show and you can tell immediately from this one episode they did an awesome job with the casting and making sure they fit the awesome roles that they are playing.

quote worthy part 1 …
“if haley never wakes up on a beach in florida half naked, i’ve done my job.” – claire
“our job …” – phil
“right, i’ve done our job.” – claire

let’s talk about how awesome jesse tyler ferguson is. i fell in love with him in the class. i thought he was just as awesome in do not disturb (which wasn’t even that good of a show, so that’s saying something). and he’s even more amazing on this show.

quote worthy part 2 …
“i’m a cool dad. that’s, that’s my thing. i’m hip. i surf the web. i text. LOL, laugh out loud. OMG, oh my good. WTF, why the face? um, you know, i know all the dances to high school musical” – phil

haley, phil and claire’s daughter, is hilarious. i giggle quite loudly when she’s tattling on her brother and her parents ask her if she’s okay and she says “no, the little bitch shot me.” i’m pretty sure jay and claire’s family is an exactly replica of mine growing up. and oddly enough, the house looks rather similar to my parent’s house.

i can’t rave enough about the casting and the roles they each play. there’s not a character on this show that i don’t like.

quote worthy part 3 …
“red-headed dad is angry daddy.” – cameron

i think my favorite part of this show is that i can relate to every single part of it and especially identify with mitchell. tv shows that you can relate to are hands down the easiest to fall in love with. and yes, you can be in love with a tv show. just like you can have a sordid love affair with your tivo.

shooting your kid with a BB gun as punishment for doing the same to his sister … that is the way i anticipate raising my children. it only makes sense.

my second favorite part of this episode is when the whole family gathers and you have that “aha” moment and realize all of the characters that have been introduced so far are related. when i watched the pilot episode in may, this was the exact moment that i knew that not only did this show have a great cast, but that the writers were just as awesome.

my most favorite part of this epsiode? when cameron comes in with his and mitchell’s adopted baby. circle of life, homo in a kimono, handsome redhead, could you ask for any more?

I. LOVE. THIS. SHOW. if it isn’t wildly successful i will be devastated and horribly appalled at america for not tuning in.