This Was the Worst Episode of 'Modern Family'
Modern Family ran for 11 seasons, for 250 episodes. The show won 22 primetime Emmys and was nominated 85 times. Even five years after the official end of the show, you can find it clipped endlessly, with short videos regularly going viral on TikTok. But even a show as widely acclaimed as Modern Family has some stinkers.
I’ll be honest upfront, and say that I hate every plotline that relates to Fizbo. For those that need the refresher, Fizbo is Cam’s (Eric Stonestreet) clown persona. It’s an entirely inescapable part of the show, and I can’t fault every episode that features a Fizbo storyline.
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But “Finding Fizbo,” Season 8, Episode 15 takes it too far, going down an unforgivable, unfunny Fizbo-centric wormhole.
The episode is one of the lowest rated episodes of the whole show on IMBd—and for good reason. When Cam finds out that his Fizbo costume is being desecrated online, he goes on a single minded mission to save the clown’s reputation. That objective is bad enough—it’s not one you can really root for, and it brings out the worst of Cam’s sometimes-overbearing qualities. It is like the least likeable parts of the character were drawn into stark relief in order to make this Fizbo plotline work, at the expense of the viewer’s enjoyment.
Cam isn’t the only character exhibiting their worst tendencies. Manny (Rico Rodriguez) is also at his most Manny during this episode, subjecting Gloria (Sophia Vergara), Claire (Julie Bowen), and Haley (Sarah Hyland) to a play he’s written. Phil (Ty Burrell), meanwhile is playing into one of his own worst traits, desperately seeking the approval of others; though in this case it’s not actually Jay (Ed O’Neill).
Ultimately, the real drag of this episode isn’t Fizbo the Clown—though that is unbearable—or even a handful of the characters on the show acting their most unreasonable and annoying. The biggest problem, and what makes it stand out as the worst of the show, is that it highlights an underlying problem that the show hit in the later seasons of Modern Family.
It just felt…pointless. When you’re hundreds of episodes deep, it’s understandable to get a little lost. But for the love of God, don’t throw Fizbo into the mix as well.
