Strangers on a Treadmill
Encyclopedia
"Strangers on a Treadmill" is the fourth episode of the second season
of the American
sitcom, Modern Family
. The episode originally aired October 13, 2010 on American Broadcasting Company
(ABC). The episode was written by Danny Zucker and directed by Scott Ellis
.
In the episode, Claire (Julie Bowen
) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson
) try to spare their significant others from embarrassment; Haley (Sarah Hyland
) tries to teach Alex (Ariel Winter
) how to be cool, and Jay (Ed O'Neill
) tries to prove to Gloria (Sofía Vergara
) he knows his employees.
"Strangers on a Treadmill" received mostly positive reviews with Joel Keller saying the secondary plots "didn't quite make it", but had "fun moments". According to the Nielsen Media Research
received a 4.8 rating/13% share in the 18-49 demographic increasing 4% from the previous episode, "Earthquake
". The episode also became the first of the series to become the highest rated scripted program of the week in the 18-49 demographic.
) writing jokes for the SCARB (Southern California Annual Realtors Banquet) that he is hosting. Unlike what he thinks Claire (Julie Bowen
) believes he is going to bomb with his unfunny jokes. Also Cameron decides to workout with bike shorts much to Mitchell's (Jesse Tyler Ferguson
) chagrin. While working out Claire and Mitchell decide to tell the others spouse of their bad habit (like Strangers on a Train
). At the Dunphy's house Mitchell arrives to tell Phil about his bad jokes. Unfortunately Mitchell can't go through it after seeing Phil's sad face. Meanwhile Claire tells Cameron about how he doesn't look good in bike shorts causing Cameron to go and cry in the hallway. Later that day Claire calls Mitchell asking him why he didn't go through it. While saying she didn't go through her part of the deal Cameron hears the conversation and becomes sad once again. To prove their relationship can stand anything Mitchell gets ready to cut off his beard, but after only cutting a single part of it Cameron tell him he loves his beard. Soon the couple kiss and make up, but they soon get into another fight. At the SCARB Claire hides Phil's lines in her purse. Phil decides to go up their and improvise which somehow works to Claire's confusion. At their house Phil tells her he knows she took the cards and that he is OK with what she did.
Meanwhile at Jay's house Gloria (Sofía Vergara
) reminds Jay (Ed O'Neill
) about his co-workers quinceanera
. Initially Jay decides not to go, but to prove a point to Gloria, Jay decides to go. When they arrive Jay convinces Manny (Rico Rodriguez) to ask everybody their name to win the fight between him and Gloria. Gloria soon realizes they are at an engagement party
which is next door to the quinceanera
. Gloria tries to tell him this, but Jay won't listen. Soon the engaged couple kiss each other and Jay tries to stop it. At the Dunphy house, hearing Alex (Ariel Winter
) nervously calling a girl named McKenzie, Haley (Sarah Hyland
) decides to help Alex become more popular by teaching her the basics of adolescent social maneuvering. Soon her help works when Alex begins to take control of the relationship with McKenzie, saying she'll "try to come" to the other girl's party. It then turns into chaos when Alex mentions she has to do homework, panics and says she loves homework, becomes even more nervous and says "I love you" to McKenzie. Alex then becomes sad when Claire comes to comfort her.
". The episode originally aired October 13, 2010 and was rated TV PG-D
. Before airing, the episode was read at a live table read on August 3, 2010. More details of the plot were revealed at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards
by Eric Stonestreet
. Mitchell and Claire's plan and the title are based on the movie, Strangers on a Train
. Phill's line "I know it was you Claire" serves as a homage to The Godfather Part II.
". "Strangers on the Treadmill" was the most-watched scripted show for the week of broadcast among adults aged 18–49, marking a first for the series. The episode also became the eighteenth most-watched show among all viewers.
s Donna Bowman rated the episode with a B+ commenting that Luke was the best supporting character. He also called Phil's success during his speech "one of the best moments this show has produced". James Poniewozik of Time
stated in his review "not a remarkable episode, but one with several nice moments.
Lesley Savage of Entertainment Weekly
gave the episode a positive review. She stated in her review "by the time the frame-within-a-frame-within-a-frame title sequence kicked in after just four minutes of couch-potato time, all my tension and irritation had been washed away by a flood of laughter."
Alan Speinwall stated "an episode like "Strangers on a Treadmill" - while having a number of strong individual moments - was a reminder that sometimes the show can get too crowded for its own good." Matt Roush of TV Guide
wrote that "No show had me laughing out loud more this week (as usual) than the brilliantly structured Modern Family".
This episode won Julie Bowen an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series 2011
Modern Family (season 2)
The second season of the comedy television series, Modern Family premiered September 22, 2010 and ended on May 25, 2011 on the American Broadcasting Company in the United States. The series is produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Lloyd-Levitan Productions with creators...
of the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sitcom, Modern Family
Modern Family
Modern Family is an American television comedy series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, which debuted on ABC on September 23, 2009. Lloyd and Levitan serve as showrunner and executive producers, under their Levitan-Lloyd Productions label...
. The episode originally aired October 13, 2010 on American Broadcasting Company
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
(ABC). The episode was written by Danny Zucker and directed by Scott Ellis
Scott Ellis
Scott Ellis is an American stage director and television director.-Biography:Ellis has directed numerous Off-Broadway and Broadway productions, including the New York City Opera Company revivals at the New York State Theatre: A Little Night Music and 110 in the Shade up to his current show, the...
.
In the episode, Claire (Julie Bowen
Julie Bowen
Julie Bowen is an American film and television actress. She played Carol Vessey on Ed and Denise Bauer on Boston Legal. She is best known for playing Claire Dunphy on the sitcom Modern Family, for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2011...
) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Jesse Tyler Ferguson is an American actor who portrays Mitchell Pritchett on the ABC sitcom Modern Family. Previously he played the role of Richie Velch in the CBS sitcom The Class. He is openly gay.-Life and career:...
) try to spare their significant others from embarrassment; Haley (Sarah Hyland
Sarah Hyland
Sarah Jane Hyland is an American actress, currently starring as Haley Dunphy on the ABC comedy Modern Family.-Life and career:...
) tries to teach Alex (Ariel Winter
Ariel Winter
Ariel Winter Workman , known in television shows and films as Ariel Winter, is an American teen actress and singer. Winter is best known for her current role as Alex Dunphy in the TV series Modern Family, for which she has won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series, along...
) how to be cool, and Jay (Ed O'Neill
Ed O'Neill
Edward Phillip "Ed" O'Neill, Jr. is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the main character, Al Bundy, on the Fox Network sitcom Married... with Children, for which he was nominated for two Golden Globes...
) tries to prove to Gloria (Sofía Vergara
Sofía Vergara
Sofía Margarita Vergara Vergara is a Colombian actress, comedian, television hostess and model.Vergara had been widely known for co-hosting two TV shows for Univisión in the late 1990s. Her TV career opened up for her a window of exposure to North American audiences prior to her first notable...
) he knows his employees.
"Strangers on a Treadmill" received mostly positive reviews with Joel Keller saying the secondary plots "didn't quite make it", but had "fun moments". According to the Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
received a 4.8 rating/13% share in the 18-49 demographic increasing 4% from the previous episode, "Earthquake
Earthquake (Modern Family)
"Earthquake" is the third episode of the second season of the American Broadcasting Company American sitcom, Modern Family and the 27th episode overall. The episode originally aired October 6, 2010. The episode was written by Paul Corrigan and Brad Walsh and directed by Michael Spiller...
". The episode also became the first of the series to become the highest rated scripted program of the week in the 18-49 demographic.
Plot
The episode begins with Phil (Ty BurrellTy Burrell
- External links :*...
) writing jokes for the SCARB (Southern California Annual Realtors Banquet) that he is hosting. Unlike what he thinks Claire (Julie Bowen
Julie Bowen
Julie Bowen is an American film and television actress. She played Carol Vessey on Ed and Denise Bauer on Boston Legal. She is best known for playing Claire Dunphy on the sitcom Modern Family, for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2011...
) believes he is going to bomb with his unfunny jokes. Also Cameron decides to workout with bike shorts much to Mitchell's (Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Jesse Tyler Ferguson is an American actor who portrays Mitchell Pritchett on the ABC sitcom Modern Family. Previously he played the role of Richie Velch in the CBS sitcom The Class. He is openly gay.-Life and career:...
) chagrin. While working out Claire and Mitchell decide to tell the others spouse of their bad habit (like Strangers on a Train
Strangers on a Train (film)
Strangers on a Train is an American psychological thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and based on the 1950 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith. It was shot in the autumn of 1950 and released by Warner Bros. on June 30, 1951. The film stars Farley Granger, Ruth Roman,...
). At the Dunphy's house Mitchell arrives to tell Phil about his bad jokes. Unfortunately Mitchell can't go through it after seeing Phil's sad face. Meanwhile Claire tells Cameron about how he doesn't look good in bike shorts causing Cameron to go and cry in the hallway. Later that day Claire calls Mitchell asking him why he didn't go through it. While saying she didn't go through her part of the deal Cameron hears the conversation and becomes sad once again. To prove their relationship can stand anything Mitchell gets ready to cut off his beard, but after only cutting a single part of it Cameron tell him he loves his beard. Soon the couple kiss and make up, but they soon get into another fight. At the SCARB Claire hides Phil's lines in her purse. Phil decides to go up their and improvise which somehow works to Claire's confusion. At their house Phil tells her he knows she took the cards and that he is OK with what she did.
Meanwhile at Jay's house Gloria (Sofía Vergara
Sofía Vergara
Sofía Margarita Vergara Vergara is a Colombian actress, comedian, television hostess and model.Vergara had been widely known for co-hosting two TV shows for Univisión in the late 1990s. Her TV career opened up for her a window of exposure to North American audiences prior to her first notable...
) reminds Jay (Ed O'Neill
Ed O'Neill
Edward Phillip "Ed" O'Neill, Jr. is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the main character, Al Bundy, on the Fox Network sitcom Married... with Children, for which he was nominated for two Golden Globes...
) about his co-workers quinceanera
Quinceañera
Quinceañera , sometimes called "Fiesta de quince años", "Fiesta de Quinceañera", "Quince años" or simply "quince", is the celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday in parts of Latin America and elsewhere in communities of immigrants from Latin America...
. Initially Jay decides not to go, but to prove a point to Gloria, Jay decides to go. When they arrive Jay convinces Manny (Rico Rodriguez) to ask everybody their name to win the fight between him and Gloria. Gloria soon realizes they are at an engagement party
Engagement party
An engagement party is a party thrown to celebrate a couple's recent engagement and to help future wedding guests to get to know one another. Traditionally, the bride's parents host the engagement party, but many modern couples host their own celebration....
which is next door to the quinceanera
Quinceañera
Quinceañera , sometimes called "Fiesta de quince años", "Fiesta de Quinceañera", "Quince años" or simply "quince", is the celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday in parts of Latin America and elsewhere in communities of immigrants from Latin America...
. Gloria tries to tell him this, but Jay won't listen. Soon the engaged couple kiss each other and Jay tries to stop it. At the Dunphy house, hearing Alex (Ariel Winter
Ariel Winter
Ariel Winter Workman , known in television shows and films as Ariel Winter, is an American teen actress and singer. Winter is best known for her current role as Alex Dunphy in the TV series Modern Family, for which she has won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series, along...
) nervously calling a girl named McKenzie, Haley (Sarah Hyland
Sarah Hyland
Sarah Jane Hyland is an American actress, currently starring as Haley Dunphy on the ABC comedy Modern Family.-Life and career:...
) decides to help Alex become more popular by teaching her the basics of adolescent social maneuvering. Soon her help works when Alex begins to take control of the relationship with McKenzie, saying she'll "try to come" to the other girl's party. It then turns into chaos when Alex mentions she has to do homework, panics and says she loves homework, becomes even more nervous and says "I love you" to McKenzie. Alex then becomes sad when Claire comes to comfort her.
Production and cultural references
"Strangers on a Treadmill" was written by Danny Zucker, marking his fourth writing credit for the series. The episode was directed by Scott Ellis his second directing credit for the series having directed the episode "The KissThe Kiss (Modern Family)
"The Kiss" is the second episode of the second season of the American sitcom Modern Family and the 26th episode overall. The episode aired September 29, 2010, and was written by Abraham Higginbotham and directed by Scott Ellis. The episode also featured guest starred Aaron Sanders as Jeremy, Alex's...
". The episode originally aired October 13, 2010 and was rated TV PG-D
TV Parental Guidelines
The TV Parental Guidelines system was first proposed on December 19, 1996 by the United States Congress, the television industry and the Federal Communications Commission , and went into effect by January 1, 1997 on most major U.S...
. Before airing, the episode was read at a live table read on August 3, 2010. More details of the plot were revealed at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards
62nd Primetime Emmy Awards
The 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, took place on August 29, 2010, at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California beginning at 5:00 p.m. PDT...
by Eric Stonestreet
Eric Stonestreet
Eric Stonestreet is an American actor, known for his starring role as Cameron Tucker on the ABC comedy Modern Family. Stonestreet has received critical acclaim for his performance in Modern Family and won the 2010 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his...
. Mitchell and Claire's plan and the title are based on the movie, Strangers on a Train
Strangers on a Train (film)
Strangers on a Train is an American psychological thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and based on the 1950 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith. It was shot in the autumn of 1950 and released by Warner Bros. on June 30, 1951. The film stars Farley Granger, Ruth Roman,...
. Phill's line "I know it was you Claire" serves as a homage to The Godfather Part II.
Ratings
In its original American broadcast on October 13, 2010, "Strangers on a Treadmill" was viewed by 11.344 million households and received a 4.8 rating/13% share among viewers between the ages of 18 and 49. This means that it was seen by 4.8% of all 18–49 years olds, and 13% of all 18–49 year olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. This marked an improvement from the previous episode, "EarthquakeEarthquake (Modern Family)
"Earthquake" is the third episode of the second season of the American Broadcasting Company American sitcom, Modern Family and the 27th episode overall. The episode originally aired October 6, 2010. The episode was written by Paul Corrigan and Brad Walsh and directed by Michael Spiller...
". "Strangers on the Treadmill" was the most-watched scripted show for the week of broadcast among adults aged 18–49, marking a first for the series. The episode also became the eighteenth most-watched show among all viewers.
Reviews
The episode received positive reviews from critics. Joel Keller of TV Squad gave the episode a mostly positive review. He felt while the two main stories "clicked" he also felt "the two secondary stories didn't quite make it" although he stated they had "fun moments". He also complemented the writers for giving Alex and Haley more screen time. The A.V. ClubThe A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
s Donna Bowman rated the episode with a B+ commenting that Luke was the best supporting character. He also called Phil's success during his speech "one of the best moments this show has produced". James Poniewozik of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
stated in his review "not a remarkable episode, but one with several nice moments.
Lesley Savage of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the episode a positive review. She stated in her review "by the time the frame-within-a-frame-within-a-frame title sequence kicked in after just four minutes of couch-potato time, all my tension and irritation had been washed away by a flood of laughter."
Alan Speinwall stated "an episode like "Strangers on a Treadmill" - while having a number of strong individual moments - was a reminder that sometimes the show can get too crowded for its own good." Matt Roush of TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
wrote that "No show had me laughing out loud more this week (as usual) than the brilliantly structured Modern Family".
This episode won Julie Bowen an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series 2011
External links
- "Strangers on a Treadmill" at ABC.com