Cheers & Jeers: Modern Family's Odd Couples

Cheers to Modern Family for mixing and matching its characters in delightfully unexpected ways.
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Who would've thought salty old man Jay (Ed O'Neill) would blend so beautifully with Cameron and Mitchell's most flamboyant homie, Pepper (Nathan Lane)? Turned out that after a few drinks, they found they had a lot more in common than just both believing Pepper would've had a shot with Montgomery Clift.And leave it to dimbulb Luke (the brilliant Nolan Gould) to befriend the Dunphys' nasty neighbor, Walt Kleezak (character actor extraordinaire Phillip Baker Hall, aka Seinfeld's library cop Lt. Bookman). Up, Gran Torino and True Grit notwithstanding, this unlikely pair proved that a non-cartoon curmudgeon and a kid can be friends without somebody losing a life or limb.Then there's Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and his first boyhood crush, Rob Lowe. Okay, that one we could've seen coming. Even Jay admitted the St. Elmo's Fire alum is "a good-looking kid."Did you think this week's Modern Family was more fun than Phil's "sexy dance"?

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