"Just A Shot In The Dark" (First Impressions - "The BIg Guns" - Season 6, Episode 12)

Another episode shift, as this episode was supposed to be the 14th episode.

Not much for Alex here (if anything? We are due for an Alex-less episode.), but hopefully with the return of the neighbors from Hell it will at least be funny.

And that will be the halfway point for the season.  Hopefully they're saving some big guns for Alex's stories in the second half.

“It's The Terror Of Knowing What This World Is About...” (1st Favorite Episode Retro Recap)

OK, so it's not as if it's a deep, dark secret which episode of Modern Family is my favorite, since I've mentioned it many times since I started this blog. And if it is, here's a hint - the above lyric comes from a song with the same name (I hated the song, but love this episode):

"Here In My Car, I Feel Safest Of All"(?) (First Impressions - “The Day We Almost Died” - Season 6, Episode 11)

Go here for the full press release (thankfully SpoilerTV kept the post short this time). This episode was supposed to be the thirteenth episode but got moved up.

“One Of These Things Is Not Like The Others” (2nd Favorite Episode Retro Recap)

So as you've probably guessed by now, this is the one episode of my top five that does not have an Alex story in it. She is in the episode, but only as a side part of two other stories. But that's OK (mostly – more on that in a moment), because the rest of the episode more than makes up for it.

Brought to you by the letters M and C, and by the number 2:

“Just A Small Town Girl Livin' In A Lonely World” (3rd Favorite Episode Retro Recap)

OK, so a Los Angeles suburb isn't exactly a small town, but since the above lyric starts a song which figures prominently in my third most favorite episode...

“Sparks Fly...It's Like Electricity” (4th Favorite Episode Retro Recap)

This actually is a rather famous episode of Modern Family, but not for reasons involving Alex. But she does have an interesting little story to tell, and that's what puts it in the top 4:

"You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch"

So ABC pulls a double Scrooge on us - they've taken "The Old Man And The Tree" off tonight's schedule and replaced it with "The Late Show".  Then, to add insult to injury (actually this was scheduled before the switch) they'll be airing the Alex-less "Three Dinners" for Christmas Eve.

Bah, humbug.

“I've Got The Brains, You've Got The Looks” (5th Favorite Episode Retro Recap)

So, with four weeks of downtime before the next new episode, I'd figured one way to fill the gap is post some thoughts on some Modern Family episodes from past seasons. Specifically, my five favorite episodes. Oddly, one of these episodes does not have an Alex-centric story (you'll have to wait to find out which one), but the rest should not be too surprising.  Over the next couple of weeks I plan on posting recaps of these episodes starting with #5 then going through to #1 (if I can keep my initiative the recap of #1 will be posted on Christmas Day.

Anyway, on to #5:

“Here's To Never Growing Up” (“Haley's 21st Birthday” Recap)

This was probably the easiest song lyric/title I've have to come up with for a blog post title, but sadly not just because of the main story of tonight's episode (and, to a degree, the story in which Alex had a small role). When word got out that Avril Lavigne, my favorite singer, was having health issues which she's decided not to disclose for now (I have no problem with her keeping her health life private, and I'm not going to speculate here, but hopefully it's something fixable) it was pretty much a given that I would be looking for a lyric snippet from one of her songs for my next post. It didn't take long for me to realize that the title of one her songs from last year's album was the obvious choice.

Anyway, getting back to last night's episode:

“When I Think About What Could've Been” (“Strangers In The Night” Recap)

Let's say you're playing a slot machine with a massive jackpot.

"You Don't Bring Me Flowers" ("Strangers In The Night" Promo Thoughts - UPDATED)

ABC has posted the promo for tonight's episode on YouTube.

UPDATE: And there's a sneak peak here which renders much of this post moot. At least I get to work on my strikethrough skills.

"Things That Make You Go 'Hmmmmm...' "

This tweet from Ariel probably means nothing, but...

On set...planning revenge on @DannyZuker 🙅
— Ariel Winter (@arielwinter1) December 2, 2014