Finally watched the Finale and as I feared, I was crying like a baby. Modern Family has been a big part of my life and from comments online, I take it many others too. I think the reason we(those who do) love the show so much is because it is so sincere.
The cast of this show IS a family, even though none of them are related. But the kids grew up on the set, went to set school together, travelled together...Julie went through her divorce, raised her kids...Ty had kids...
In a world where sincerity and kindness seems to be seen as weakness, this show was such a wonderful ray of hope. Not since Moonlighting has a show meant so much to me and I still can't believe it is over. I don't know what I should do without it :(. Of course I will re-watch it, but you can't do that every month and it will probably make me cry every time it ends again.
I don't understand why many dislike the show though. Yes, they might have run out of ideas after 250(!) episodes and earlier seasons were stronger. But which show didn't have that issue? How many recent shows even make 22-24 episodes a season? Most of them are cartoons and writing is often an issue there too. This show may not be for everyone and that is fine. But I believe that none of them had to act in the final scene...the tears were real (you can also see that in the documentary about the show). And knowing that just impresses me more and makes me feel my tears are not wasted or silly, but deserved. I salute the cast, writers and creator and all the people that made this wonderful show happen and sincerely hope I can meet at least one of them one day to thank them in person. This show has meant a lot to a lot of people and the finale didn't disappoint!