LOS ANGELES – Phil accidentally puts his wife and daughter up for sale, and Cam turns into the director from hell when he tries to overhaul Manny and Luke’s school play.
We love it when Phil messes up. We just can’t get enough. And tonight’s screw-up was one for the books. When Claire said, “You heard your father, he’s not just selling houses, he’s selling us,” she had no idea how true that would be. In an attempt to drum up real-estate business, Phil created a banner ad with his family’s photo and the logo: “I can’t be satisfied until you’re satisfied.” What that has to do with buying and selling houses is lost on me, but that’s why we love Phil. He then has the banner shrink wrapped onto the family minivan (classy! as Luke so aptly put it).
However, once in place, the ad looks like it’s selling Claire and Haley, not real estate. And thus the honking (and some of the best sound bites of the season) began. This plotline reminded me of Three’s Company – the whole misunderstanding, misconstrued quotes and Phil trying to keep Claire in the dark, all reminded me of something Jack Tripper would get messed up in.
Meanwhile, the Pritchett men were trying their darndest to be supportive – something that does not come easy for either one of them.
Mitchell tries with all his might not be a wet blanket on Cam’s enthusiasm to create “the best show in the world” when he takes over directing Manny and Luke’s school musical. Cam as a bossy dictator was hilarious! I could have watched him berate those kids all night long. And Jay takes a break from making his brother fall on his face when he discovers he has cancer – but ends up punching him in the gut anyway, as brothers should!
Other highlights of the evening belong to the kids of the Family. Alex’s perfectly timed mean-girl sarcasm gets better every episode. And Manny’s competition with Luke for the affection of a classmate Emma was hilarious, if only for the line: “I’m thinking of taking a run at her.” It can’t get more Manny than that. All with his deadpan expression. And Luke doing his whole comedy routine was pretty priceless – though it wasn’t as good as his endless dangling from the ceiling.
