Episode Guide: Modern Family - Season 8, Episode 1

This episode of Modern Family will help you learn English while watching television. In it, I explain some jokes, cultural references, or vocabulary that you might not have unterstood. One way to use this page is to watch the show and then come back to see what parts you didn't understand. Or you can read this to prepare yourself so you can better understand what is happening while you watch. Enjoy!

English Language Jokes and American Cultural References

Phil: I know. It's killing me. Tomorrow's open-mic night at the Apollo.

The Apollo is a famous theater in NYC. Their open-mic night is notorious for being extremely difficult - the crowd will boo anyone that isn't great. Also, it is traditionally a venue where African-Americans perform, so Phil definitely wouldn't fit in.

​Claire: I had to get to Raleigh for the Carolina Closet Caucus.

Raleigh is the capital of North Carolina.

​Haley: We can use Luke's carnival settlement money.

A settlement occurs when two sides disagree on something, especially in legal matters. It is often used when someone gets injured at a business (in this case, a carnival) and threatens a lawsuit. Instead of going to court, the two sides agree to a settlement beforehand.

Phil : We could blow off the convention. We could stay here for a romantic few days.

To blow off something means to skip it.

​Cam: What are you saying Mitchell? We should pull the plug?

To pull the plug means to take someone off of life support (to stop helping them breathe artificially).

​Mitchell: She refers to me as 'the sissy'

Sissy is a derogatory term for someone who is effeminate, unmanly, or cowardly.

​Cam: Pam and I are going to sing a song we wrote when we were younger - Sweet Home Alagramma

'Sweet Home Alagrandma' is a parody of the song 'Sweet Home Alabama' by Lynyrd Skynrd which inserted "Grandma" into the title

​Jay: We look like 'the three amigos'

'The Three Amigos' is a comedy movie from 1986 starring Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short.

Jay: Aren't you 400 bucks in the hole on that thing?

To be "in the hole" means that you have lost money on something. In this case, he's pointing out that Gloria's "successful" business has actually lost 400 dollars so far (bucks is a slang term for dollars).

​Claire: Coming to you from West Virginia. What are you girls doing today?

Haley: You know, me and Alex just out shopping. (Who are you talking to?)

Luke: Dad. Who are you talking to?

Haley and Alex: Mom.

Claire: The Girls

Phil: Luke

All: Hold on!

Claire: I told them we were in West Virginia. What did you say?

Phil: Kentucky

Haley: Mom thinks were shopping.

Luke: I told dad I was making us breakfast.

Alex: When have you ever made us breakfast?

Claire: Ok girls, I gotta go.

Haley: Us too, drive safely!

Luke: Hey buddy, I should get going. There's a cop is walking towards us. I guess it looks weird with us parked on the state border with me up in here in Kentucky and your mom in the back seat in West Virginia

Luke: Got it, I should probably finish packing up the breakfast that I'm bringing the girls at the shopping mall where they're shopping.

Phil: That's how you do that.

Luke: Done.

West Virginia and Kentucky are two states in the US. They do share a border, so the statement Phil makes at the end could be true, but obviously is unlikely. Especially since you wouldn't cross that border when driving from NYC to Raleigh. I do know the border quite well, as I had to drive over it whenever I drove from my hometown in Kentucky to my college in Raleigh.

​Mitchell: Let go!

Pam: What are you telling her?!?!?

"Let go" can both mean to physically let go of something, as well as to give up. Pam thinks it's the second one, though the audience knows it's the first.

Cam: You didn't help your case by accidentally taping over her Matlocks.

Mitchell: Just drop it!

"To drop something" can mean to literally drop it/let it go, as well as metaphorically to stop talking about a subject. Mitchell means the second one, but everyone thinks he meant for them to just drop the casket and not be so careful.

Also, Matlock is a TV show from the 80s and 90s about a criminal defense lawyer.

Luke: It just popped in my head when I saw the Statue of Liberty holding that paintbrush. You know, which she used to paint freedom in America.

The Statue of Liberty is actually holding a torch, which symbolizes her lighting the path to freedom. In fact, the statue's official name is "Liberty Enlightening the World."

Phil: The sign says no loud noises. You'll scare David Blaine.

David Blaine is a famous American magician and illusionist, who's also done several feats of endurance. They include being frozen in a block of ice for 63 hours, standing on a pillar 30 meters high with no safety devices for 35 hours, and fasting in a see-through box for 44 days.

Sonia: My late aunt gave that hot sauce recipe to both of us.

When talking about people, the term "late" means the person has died. Examples include:

my late grandma

the late John F Kennedy



Lily: Grams left us all something in her will. Even you.

A "will" is a document which explains what happens with your possessions when you die.

Lily: ​The note says "Your grandpa tore it right off a dead kraut's wrist."

'Kraut' is a derogatory term for a German person (related to sauerkraut, a food that Germans often eat). Cam's grandfather was probably a soldier in World War II and stole the watch during the war.

​Jay: I don't know what can of worms this is! I know this is my day and I want you to calm down.

"Can of worms" refers to the idiom "to open up a can of worms." The "can of worms" means a potentially embarrassing, difficult, or awkward situation, and "opening" it means the situation being made known to everyone or the awkwardness starting.