I have also been composing my best of lists! I will be posting my Best of the Year and Best of the Decade in the next couple weeks, but I am curious to know what are your favorites? It could be a moment, an episode, anything…

My decade list is going to be tough. I have a ton of shows I watched this decade…many of which were my favorites. Friends, Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars, The Office and Arrested Development come to mind. As for Best of the Year, Glee and Modern Family will be on that list. I also have really enjoyed Parks and Recreation this season. And there are many others too. Tell me what you think!

What I’m looking forward to in 2010: ABC Family had such great programming this summer with Make it or Break It and Secret Life of the American Teenager. I am looking forward to their premieres on January 4th. Of course, I am excited about the last season of LOST, which premieres on February 2nd. (Also, a little sad about it). Chuck returns on January 10th! Glee returns in April (far, far too long to wait). V comes back on March 30th, and I’m looking forward to seeing what direction they are going in. In Treatment will be back for a 3rd season in the summer, and I adore that show. So there is definitely a lot to look forward to in 2010, I am just wishing it would come sooner! What are you looking forward to?

Take a look at the list of (most) Television nominees and my thoughts:

BEST TV SERIES – DRAMA

• Big Love
• Dexter
• House
• Mad Men
• True Blood

I think most of these are good choices. Noticeably absent however, is Lost.

BEST ACTOR – TV DRAMA SERIES

• Simon Baker, The Mentalist
• Michael C. Hall, Dexter
• Jon Hamm, Mad Men
• Hugh Laurie, House
• Bill Paxton, Big Love

I support all these choices. They are all good leading men.

BEST ACTRESS – TV DRAMA SERIES

• Glenn Close, Damages
• January Jones, Mad Men
• Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
• Anna Paquin, True Blood
• Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

I adore Kyra Sedgwick, so I am happy to see her get a nod. Julianna Margulies has been wonderful in The Good Wife, so that nomination is well deserved. And Anna Paquin is just great in True Blood. Although where is Mariska Hargitay?

BEST COMEDY SERIES

• 30 Rock
• Entourage
• Glee
• Modern Family
• The Office

So, so, so, so, so glad Glee and Modern Family are on this list. Perhaps the 30 Rock era is done? Not that I have anything against the show, I am just so totally in love with Glee and Modern Family. I’m going to pick Glee to win by a narrow margin. The only series I would have liked to see up there is Parks and Recreation. They have had an amazing second season, and they deserve some recognition.

BEST ACTRESS – TV COMEDY

• Toni Collette, United States of Tara
• Courteney Cox, Cougar Town
• Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
• Tina Fey, 30 Rock
• Lea Michele, Glee

Lea Michele — for the win! I’m glad to see Cougartown represented there, and United States of Tara, but Lea Michele is unstoppable. I sense an Emmy nomination in her future.

BEST ACTOR – TV COMEDY

• Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
• Steve Carell, The Office
• David Duchovny, Californication
• Thomas Jane, Hung
• Matthew Morrison, Glee

I am so excited for Glee! I want to pick Matthew Morrison to win, but he is in a category with Steve Carell and Alec Baldwin, so I say it’s anyone’s game.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS- SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE

• Jane Adams, Hung
• Rose Byrne, Damages
• Jane Lynch, Glee
• Janet McTeer, Into the Storm
• Chloe Sevigny, Big Love

The nominees are truly wonderful. But if the Hollywood Foreign Press doesn’t honor Jane Lynch for her comedic genius, I’m pretty sure I may swear off the show next year. (Who am I kidding, I’d never do that–but I am clearly rooting for Lynch here)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR- SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE

• Michael Emerson, Lost
• Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
• William Hurt, Damages
• John Lithgow, Dexter

My heart wants Neil Patrick Harris to win. I absolutely adore How I Met Your Mother. However, John Lithgow is amazing on Dexter. We shall see!

Overall thoughts: I have been writing about Glee since Day 1. It feels so great to see it honored at the Golden Globes. Lea Michele and Jane Lynch are so incredibly talented (as is Matthew Morrison), and I can’t wait to see them recognized. Also, if Lea wanted to sing Don’t Rain On My Parade, I would have no objections. Modern Family has been one of my favorite comedies since the pilot. I wish it were nominated for more than just Best Comedy Series, but I’ll take it. Eric Stonestreet, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell will get their nominations one day. I think that overall, I like most of the nominations. I think Ricky Gervais will make it an interesting night, and I can’t wait to see who wins. (But a preliminary congratulations to Lea Michele…)

This week, you are going to be featured as Fizbo the Clown. Can you talk a little bit about what that was like to film, and whose idea it was — since I know you have a background in it.
Yeah, what happened was — during the pilot I was talking about my clown character that I did as a kid. I was very fascinated with clowns from about age five on and by age nine — my grandma Louise was making clown outfits for me, and by eleven I was performing at kid’s parties, and wanted to join the circus and perform for people all over the world. There’s an article that you’ll see in the episode of the show that’s a real article written about me, in Kansas City. We were talking about that, and the writers and producers of the show decided that they wanted to incorporate my clown character into an episode and now America’s going to get to meet Fizbo the Clown.

That’s awesome. You also have a background in improv, at Second City and Improv Olympic in Chicago, has that ever worked its way onto the show?
Oh of course, you know, we always get to play with the words a little bit. I mean obviously, it’s 98 percent scripted, and we stick to the script, but there’s always an opportunity to throw our own take on things, and we do it in interviews and we do it in moments. But yeah, absolutely there’s improv, but for the most part it’s all scripted. You know, really, my improv background suits me just for the style of the show, to keep it loose and free and natural and not too stuffy.

Your character Cameron is very beloved, and incredibly hilarious. Have you had any interesting fan reactions to your character?
(laughs) Well, you know, being that I’m different than Cameron in that I’m a straight, straight, female loving man…the biggest, fun aspect of it is some of the support that I’ve gotten from some of my male fans. It’s very much appreciated. And I take it all as a compliment, and I would say that’s probably been the biggest thing. Jesse [Tyler Ferguson] gets very jealous, because girls are after him, and guys are after me, and we need to figure out how to switch those two things around.

You and Jesse (who plays Mitchell) have really great chemistry. Did that come instantly?
You know, I think it’s speaks to sort of — we’re both pretty normal, regular guys. I mean, Jesse has the New York Broadway experience, and I come from sort of the improv — guest-starring and commercial world of Los Angeles. But I think just we have a lot in common as far as what we think is funny, and we have a lot in common of how we care and treat other people, and yeah I think we just liked each other. I think that’s a fundamental element. It certainly, with actors, can be manufactured, not everybody on every show likes each other. We happen to have gotten a really great group of people that I think because of our journeys individually to this project — specifically our journeys in our careers — has sort of prepared us and trained us to not take anything for granted, take everything with a grain of salt, and just be very thankful and humble about all the success that sort of is starting to trickle in.

On such a funny set, I’m sure there have been some great behind-the-scenes moments. Have there been any great pranks?
I think we’re starting to get into that world now. I think we’re all familiar enough — I think I have a prank. I can’t tell you what the prank is but I have a prank that I want to pull on Jesse, that involves his stand in. We all have stand-ins that stand there very nicely while they light the shot. And I have a prank idea that I can’t tell you publicly what it is, because you’ll give it away, but you can tease that I have a prank coming on Jesse. But I think pranks are going to come in season 2 — if we are lucky enough to get a season 2 — when we’re all familiar with each other. But Ty is hilarious. Julie is the one we all have to watch out for. Julie’s the one with the wicked sense of humor.

Be sure to tune in tonight at 9 pm on ABC to see Eric Stonestreet play Fizbo the Clown, and other awesome things that come along with Modern Family.

Meanwhile, Cameron and Mitchell reunite with their oldest friend Sal (played by the beautiful and talented Elizabeth Banks), who has no inhibitions. Several times during their night out, Sal implies that she wants to kill Lily. I don’t want to spoil every hilarious joke, so I’ll let you tune in for the clever one-liners. We discover later on that Sal is acting out for a reason, and Cameron and Mitchell end up having to comfort her.

While all of this hilarity is going on, it is “Jay’s night,” where Jay hosts a sleepover with all the grandchildren. Hayley wants to attend a party with Dylan, and Luke thinks Jay is dying. And of course there is Manny, who shamelessly flirts with his cousin Hayley.

I like that this episode, while full of extremely funny moments, also gets to the heart of things. The show is a comedy, but at the core, it is about a family (as crazy, dysfunctional and atypical as it may be). Phil and Claire might have this marriage that appears quite ridiculous on the surface (Phil is this goof-off dad who wants to be his kids’ friends, and Claire is this more serious, on top of things mom), but deep down, they really love each other. And Jay might be this patriarch figure who has made fun of his family from the outset, and is married to quite the firecracker, but deep down, he really loves his diverse family.

When I first heard of Modern Family before it premiered, a friend described it to me as “The Office” but with a family. I have a ton of love and respect for The Office, but Modern Family has really found it’s footing as a unique show. There is absolutely nothing like it on TV, and that is such a great thing. I can’t wait to see Fred Willard, Minnie Driver and all the other guest stars they have up their sleeves. It has been an amazing season so far, and I can’t wait to see more.

Be sure to tune in tonight for an all new episode of Modern Family at 9 pm on ABC. And next week I will be posting my interview with Eric Stonestreet (Cameron).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzKtgPXS7PE]

But there’s also so many other amazing moments: when Mitchell bumps Lily’s head on the ceiling but she is protected by a Donna Summer wig, when Phil tries to bond with Jay and ends up getting hit in the face by a model airplane, when Shelly Long guest starred as Mitchell and Claire’s mom and they talk about “the incident” at Jay and Gloria’s wedding. Each episode is full of great moments like this, but even more than that, it has what many comedies lack: heart. At the end of this week’s episode, Claire lets Phil win in a running race to spare his feelings. And Gloria, despite her ridiculous antics, really loves Manny and Jay and her new family. Clearly, in my opinion, this show has absolutely kept up its momentum from the pilot, and it just keeps getting better every week. I always expect great things from this show, and it constantly exceeds my expectations.

Grade: A

This week’s episode is no exception. The super talented Shelly Long guest stars as Mitchell and Claire’s mom, who wants to get past “the incident” that occurred at Jay and Gloria’s wedding, so she can move forward with her current boyfriend. I don’t want to spoil “the incident,” but let’s just say it involves some drunken ramblings and perhaps some insults of the racial variety. In addition, Phil tries to bond with Jay, which leads to disaster.

It is filled with so many perfect moments, including Shelly Long talking explicitly about her sex life. I just can’t say enough good things about this show. After tonight, you just might find yourself singing “I wanna do you.” You’ll have to tune in to find out why.

Modern Family airs Wednesday nights at 9 pm on ABC.

Modern Family is the story of three families–a newly married middle aged man, and his much younger wife (and son), a gay couple who just adopted a baby, and a married couple with three children. It is shot in an “unseen” documentary style (so think The Office, family edition), to show each family’s trials and tribulations (and successes too). The show is full of funny and heartwarming moments, and while the documentary style could be overdone, it is unobtrusive and works well. The show addresses the issues of age difference in relationships, growing up, and challenges of gay and straight couples. And they do all of this in a very charming way. It stars veteran tv actor Ed O’Neill who plays Jay (married to the younger woman) and Julie Bowen (Boston Legal) is one half of the other married couple.

Modern Family is definitely a must watch this fall. I can’t wait to see how each family’s future unfolds. It is created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan (creator of Just Shoot Me). Be sure to catch the premiere, Wednesday, September 23rd at 9 pm on ABC.