I don't watch these shows but they're reflective of America, at least somewhat. I don't miss the old "family shows" at all.

I love Modern Family. Easily one of the best shows on tv right now

Modern Family does promote the Nuclear Family. Clair and Phil and their kids are the archetypical Mom at Home, Dad at work, parents still married, three kids family. (My husband and I have to laugh, because their kids so often do and say things our own 3 kids do.) Cam and Mitch are also a Nuclear Family. Cam only went back to work part time when Lily started school. He's home by the time she gets home. They just happen to be gay. Jay and Gloria are also a Nuclear family, albeit, her son from her first marriage is living with them, and Jay is older than Gloria. (I don't have a problem with that.)

I think this show and others like it (although I've never seen The New Normal) do promote tolerance, without preaching or pushing. There are so many channels and so many different types of TV shows, that there is something for everyone. F'rinstance, My Man and I have nothing in common with the people on such shows as Happy Endings, The B---- in Apartment 3 and The Mindy Project but we occasionally have them on for background noise or when we're too lazy to do anything else.

There's something for everyone, and I appreciate the good writing on shows such as Modern Family. It's something we watch every week in fact.

I personally don't care for how families/acceptable living situations are being defined on tv, so I won't watch these shows or movies. Yes, I do agree that humor is being used to make the situations acceptable. I grew up with a lot of disfunction!!! Neither my sister or I found any of it funny, nor would we care for it if anyone laughed at it. I grew up in a city that was on the edge of the ghetto. A lot of my friends grew up with questionable living situations as well. I don't care what people say, that does hurt kids!!! Some people make this a political agenda.. To me it's not!!! No one bothers to ask a child how they would like to grow up that way. Or the children that are living in it, no one talks to them and asks them if they feel happy and would like people to laugh with them. I think it's sad that society is obviously going in the direction of being callus to this. But if it's all adults in the show and adults keep their children away, that's their thing!

TV shows don't really define anything. Good shows reflect the world we live in, especially the parts we haven't figured out 100% yet.

Modern Family reflects family life in the 2010s, just as All in the Family did for the 1970s and The Honeymooners did for the 1950s.

The only "agenda" for network television is to make a buck. By holding up a mirror so we can laugh at ourselves, great shows like these keep us coming back week after week.

I don't watch them. But think they reflect the times generally.

I think it's refreshing.

Modern Family is the best.

I think they're a good outlet for helping the, shall I say, older, or more conservative, populations realize that some of the things they consider taboo are really ok. Gay people have families, just like everyone else.