Princess Party (16 Feb. 2011)

Dede hooks up with Claire's high school boyfriend the night before Lily's birthday party. Meanwhile, Mitchell won't let Cameron play Fizbo the Clown at the party, while Gloria self-medicates to cope with Dede.

Director:

Michael Spiller

Writers:

Christopher Lloyd (creator), Steven Levitan (creator),

Stars:

Ed O'Neill, Sofía Vergara, Julie Bowen

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Ed O'Neill	...	Jay Pritchett
Sofía Vergara	...	Gloria Delgado-Pritchett
Julie Bowen	...	Claire Dunphy
Ty Burrell	...	Phil Dunphy
Jesse Tyler Ferguson	...	Mitchell Pritchett
Eric Stonestreet	...	Cameron Tucker
Sarah Hyland	...	Haley Dunphy
Ariel Winter	...	Alex Dunphy
Nolan Gould	...	Luke Dunphy
Rico Rodriguez	...	Manny Delgado
Matt Dillon	...	Robbie Sullivan
Shelley Long	...	DeDe Pritchett
Kate Reinders	...	Princess

Storyline

The guest list for Lily's princess-themed birthday party gets a little out of hand when Mitchell decides to invite mom, much to Claire's dismay, and disinvite Fizbo, much to Cameron's dismay. Things get even more strange when Dede shows up with Claire's old high school boyfriend in tow, and Jay and Gloria each turn to their own unique methods of dealing with this gathering of misfits.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 February 2011 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Levitan / Lloyd, 20th Century Fox Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

21 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Haley claims to be learning-disabled, she says that letters jump around on the page and look backwards, and Claire responds with, believe me, I was hoping for dyslexia. This perpetuates the false but common belief that dyslexia is about letters appearing backward. This is not true - dyslexia is a syndrome characterized by, among other things, difficulty reading because of weaknesses in phonological processing not due to visual processing deficits (such as letters appearing backward).

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Quotes

DeDe Pritchett: I don't know about you, but that's not the way I was raised.
Claire Dunphy: You raised me.

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Connections

Spoofs Jaws (1975)

User Reviews

Send in the clown

Has it ever occurred to you what really happens when two former lovers, now with different relationships meet again? Well, that is the thought running through this chapter of this funny sitcom.

DeDe, Jay's former wife, and mother of his two children, decides to come for a visit to attend Lily's birthday party. Her arrival always have a bad effect on her kids, especially Claire, in whose house she will be staying. DeDe has the effect of being 'the mother from hell'. Not only is she disruptive, but she has asked Robbie Sullivan to dinner without even consulting her daughter! Robbie happens to be Claire's former boyfriend, and by all indications, their relationship was not only stormy, but they were a hot item.

At Lily's party, Mitchell and Cameron have engaged a princess to entertain the guests. Cam had wanted to do his clown routine, but since the theme was a 'princess party', he was outvoted. As the party is in progress, DeDe arrives with Robbie in tote. Claire and Mitchell are taken aback by the brazen way her mother carried on with the much younger Robbie.

Jay and Gloria come to the party too. Gloria is intimidated by meeting Jay's former wife. There is no love lost between them. Jay could not care less what DeDe might be doing with Robbie, a man he detests. To fortify herself, Gloria takes a tranquilizer. She is too mellow to notice when DeDe attacks her in front of everyone. Revenge was in DeDe's mind all along.

Directed by Michael Spiller, this is the first solo effort by Elaine Ko, who is listed in the credits as 'staff writer'. Ms. Ko's screenplay is funny and it keeps moving at a great pace, helped, no doubt, by Mr. Spiller sure hand with the material. Guests stars include Shelley Long and Matt Dillon who interact perfectly with the regulars.