SHEL TURTLESTEIN: How many times can we recount the ways in which Modern Family takes standard sitcom plots and infuses them with awesomeness? Okay, so maybe we need to talk a little about Mitchell's failure to appreciate what it means to be an attorney, but otherwise this show is sticking its landings on every move it attempts.
Let me instead focus on this: if Rico Rodriguez II doesn't get an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor - Comedy for his work as Manny, there will be hell to pay. That kid takes preposterous dialogue and sells it, week after week. He is adorable without being overly precocious and utterly plausible in his wise-beyond-his-years-ness. If this world is just, his name will be in the same category as Eric Stonestreet, Rainn Wilson and Neil Patrick Harris when the ballots go out.
