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"The Wow Factor" is the 18th 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, p ...
sitcom ''
Modern Family ''Modern Family'' is an American television sitcom, created by Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd, that aired on ABC for 11 seasons from September 23, 2009, to April 8, 2020. The series follows the lives of three diverse but interrelated fa ...
'', and the series' 90th episode overall. ''Modern Family'' is an American television mockumentary family sitcom created by
Christopher Lloyd Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and television shows since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future (franchise), ''B ...
and
Steven Levitan Steven E. Levitan (born April 6, 1962) is an American television producer, director, and screenwriter. He has created many television series such as ''Just Shoot Me!'', '' Stark Raving Mad'', '' Stacked'', '' Back to You'', ''Modern Family'', a ...
for the
American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio Radio network, network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division ...
. It ran for eleven seasons, from September 23, 2009 to April 8, 2020. It follows the lives of Jay Pritchett and his family in suburban Los Angeles, including his second wife, her son (his stepson), their son, and his two adult children and their husbands and children. It was aired on March 27, 2013. The episode was written by
Ben Karlin Benjamin Miles Karlin (born c. 1971) is an American television producer and writer. He has won eight Emmy awards, and is best known for his work in ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' and ''The Colbert Report''. He is one of three co-creators of ...
and directed by Levitan.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson Jesse Tyler Ferguson (born October 22, 1975) is an American actor. From 2009 to 2020, he portrayed List of Modern Family characters#Mitchell Pritchett, Mitchell Pritchett on the sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he earned five consecutive nomin ...
submitted this episode for consideration due to his nomination for the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre, or even gender, specific. Beginning ...
at the
65th Primetime Emmy Awards The 65th Primetime Emmy Awards, honoring the best in prime time television programming from June 1, 2012, until May 31, 2013, were held on Sunday, September 22, 2013, at the Peacock Theater, Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California. CBS ...
. Ferguson also named this episode as his favorite one of the fourth season.


Plot

Cam (
Eric Stonestreet Eric Allen Stonestreet (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Cameron Tucker in the ABC sitcom ''Modern Family'' (2009–2020), for which he received two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Com ...
) and Claire (
Julie Bowen Julie Bowen (born Julie Bowen Luetkemeyer; March 3, 1970) is an American actress. She starred as Claire Dunphy in the ABC sitcom '' Modern Family'' (2009–2020), for which she received widespread critical acclaim. She won the Primetime Emmy A ...
) work together on the renovation of a house they intend to flip later, but they seem to disagree on many things. A disagreement on their respective visions of the backyard makes Cam call his lesbian friend, Pam (
Wendi McLendon-Covey Wendi McLendon-Covey (née McLendon; born October 10, 1969) is an American actress known primarily for her work in comedic and improvisational roles. From 2013 until 2023, she played the role of family matriarch Beverly Goldberg on the ABC come ...
), whose son attends the same school as Lily (
Aubrey Anderson-Emmons Aubrey Frances Anderson-Emmons (born June 2007) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Lily Tucker-Pritchett on ABC's ''Modern Family'' (2011–2020). Early life Anderson-Emmons is the daughter of Amy Anderson and Kent Emmons, w ...
), to tell them what she thinks since she is working on the constructions with the intent to make her side with Cam. This backfires when Claire charms Pam with her physique, swaying Pam in her favor. Nevertheless, Cam still goes ahead and makes the fountain he wanted on his own. Claire and Pam accept the feature but soon change their minds after goldfish in the fountain get sucked into the pump and are killed. Mitchell (
Jesse Tyler Ferguson Jesse Tyler Ferguson (born October 22, 1975) is an American actor. From 2009 to 2020, he portrayed List of Modern Family characters#Mitchell Pritchett, Mitchell Pritchett on the sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he earned five consecutive nomin ...
) drops off Lily at school, when he sees that there is a playground bully named Milo (Luke Grakal) who is being unfair to the other kids. His first attempt to teach him a lesson is to compete against him in a match of handball, which failed because of Mitch's lack of skill; he then asks for Luke's (
Nolan Gould Nolan Gould (born October 28, 1998) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Luke Dunphy on the ABC sitcom ''Modern Family'' (2009–2020). Early life and education Gould was born in New York City, to Angela and Edwin Gould. Shortly ...
) help. He ultimately wins the second time around, but his victory is frowned upon by parents watching the match and he ends up receiving complaints. Meanwhile, Jay (
Ed O'Neill Edward Leonard O'Neill (born April 12, 1946) is an American actor, comedian, and former football player. Over his career, he has earned four Screen Actors Guild Awards as well as nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe ...
) encourages Gloria (
Sofia Vergara Sofia 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 part of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river and has many mineral springs, such as the ...
) to spend some time with Manny ( Rico Rodriguez) since both of them feels like she is ignoring him lately because of Joe, her newborn baby; thus, the two of them strike a deal: Jay spends time with Joe (in order to avoid having to go to a four-hour
Moby Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...
reading with Manny) and Gloria, with Manny. On his way to the baby class, he encounters an old high school friend of Claire's, Rachel (Margaret Easley), and after a little talk, Jay decides to skip the baby class and go to the movies with the baby. However, Joe starts crying during the movie and Rachel offers to take him outside until the movie ends. When Gloria sees her baby with a stranger, she berates him for it, but it is soon revealed that she pretended to misunderstand some English so as to also not have to listen to Moby Dick. In the end, Manny and Jay read Moby Dick together. At the Dunphy's house, Phil (
Ty Burrell Tyler Gerald Burrell (born August 22, 1967) is an American actor. Burrell is best known for playing Phil Dunphy on the ABC sitcom '' Modern Family'' (2009–2020), for which he won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in ...
) tries to teach Alex (
Ariel Winter Ariel Winter Workman (born January 28, 1998) is an American actress. She is best known for playing Alex Dunphy in the ABC sitcom '' Modern Family'' (2009–2020), for which she and her several costars won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Ou ...
) and Haley (
Sarah Hyland Sarah Jane Hyland (born November 24, 1990) is an American actress. Born in Manhattan, she attended the Professional Performing Arts School before having minor roles in the films '' Private Parts'' (1997), '' Annie'' (1999) and '' Blind Date'' ...
) a few basic things about home management improvement. Attempting to explain them how the
water heater Water heating is a heat transfer process that uses an energy source to heat water above its initial temperature. Typical domestic uses of hot water include cooking, cleaning, bathing, and space heating. In industry, hot water and water heated t ...
works, he breaks it. Seeing that he cannot fix it, he asks the girls to go to the store to buy him a screwdriver so that he can call his dad (
Fred Willard Frederick Charles Willard Jr. (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his work with Christopher Guest in his mockumentary films ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984), ''Waiting for Guffman'' (1996), ''Be ...
) to tell him what to do while being alone.


Reception


Ratings

In its original American broadcast, "The Wow Factor" was watched by 9.09 million; down 1.44 from the previous episode.


Reviews

"The Wow Factor" received generally positive reviews. Donna Bowman of ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an 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 created in ...
'' gave a B+ grade to the episode saying that the structure of the episode is conventional but the way the script gets around to its key setpieces is appreciable. "Last time Karlin gave us a Modern Family script, the overall structure was the gem. Here, it’s the little moments that elevate what’s around them to something out of the ordinary." Dalene Rovenstine from ''
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'' rated the episode with 8.8/10 but stated that the writers wasted the talent of Wendi McLendon-Covey by not given her many lines. Michael Adams of ''411mania'' gave the episode 8/10 saying that this episode did what it needed to do. "I liked tonight, thought it was pretty funny and am happy that they brought back the house flip. Keep things as funny as tonight, if not funnier, tie in some story arcs from this past season, give me Jay's birthday or a vacation, and end the season on a high note." Leigh Raines from ''TV Fanatic'' and Zach Dionne from the ''Vulture'', both rated the episode with 4/5 with the latter saying that the episode is a "winner". Wyner C of ''Two Cents TV'' also gave a good review saying that the episode was "cute".


References


External links

*
"The Wow Factor"
at ABC.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Wow Factor Modern Family season 4 episodes 2013 American television episodes