"Ooh I'm Looking For Clues"

Episode 2's title has been revealed: "Blindsided".

And that about it - I would have thought we would have heard at least a little bit more about Alex's potential illness (it's possible that the above title could foreshadow something), but things have been quiet so far.

Oh, well, I was hoping to start my third year on this blog with a bang, but, alas...

"I Can't Get Out Of Bed Today"

It looks like we're going to get that "Alex gets mononucleosis" story sooner rather than later, based on an Instagram snap Ariel took earlier today, which I memorialized in this tweet (sorry, you're just going to have to click "Read more" to see it):

"We're The Kids In America"

As much as I've been harping this off-season about seeing Alex have a story or two (or more) away from the family, here's the one intra-family combination involving her I hope to see more of:

Happy birthday to my baby @superjmaguire ❤️❤️ Love you munchkin! pic.twitter.com/0HxL5Crfob

— Ariel Winter (@arielwinter1) August 11, 2016

With Andy out of the picture for now, maybe Jay and Gloria could use Alex for babysitting duty?

"Doctor, Doctor, Give Me The News"

Could I be updating the sad "Poor Alex" list I just posted a couple of days ago?  If what the first press release synopsis of  Season 8 says about Alex plays out in a certain way, maybe.

“Tell Me What Do You Do When It All Falls Apart?”

OK, it's August – time to pick up the pace just a little bit.

Modern Family had their first table read (a sort of informal rehearsal) of Season 8 last week, and Ariel was there, so I guess we can officially squash the rumor that Alex would be written off the show (for now).

There's no word yet on what role, if any, Alex has in the opener (the tentative title of it is “The Tale Of Three Cities” so it might mean she and her family will still be on their New York trip) or the rest of the season, but I'm sure spoilers for those will come out in due time.

So now that the news is out of the way, let me go ahead and do something I mentioned I would do some time this summer – lists of the top “Poor Alex” moments.