ABC’s ‘Modern Family’ was nice enough to invite us to the wedding of the season. Brandy Pettigrew was thrilled to finally see it happen.
On the night that the news broke that my home state of Pennsylvania would be the next state to legalize gay marriage rights, I sat down to celebrate. My celebration was small and quiet compared to others in the state. I was ringing in the news by watching the season finale of one of my favorite shows, Modern Family.
Mitch (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Cam (Eric Stonestreet) are one of the three households portrayed in this ABC sitcom. Together they raise their adopted Vietnamese daughter, Lily. Their relationship has been one of the most controversial on TV. Since the show’s beginning in 2009 the show’s creators have received criticism for their portrayal of the gay couple. The LGBT community rallied to have the couple portrayed as more affectionate toward each other. This inspired a Facebook page demanding that the show allow Mitch and Cam to kiss. The writers responded to their critics with an episode focusing on Mitchell being uncomfortable with public displays of affection. The writers then pleased their fans by allowing Mitch and Cam to finally kiss. Next came a petition to have them kiss more. Then, the final petition was to have them make it legal, after California (where the show is set) legalized it.
At the beginning of the season, Prop 8 was overturned by the Supreme Court. Cam and Mitch spent an entire day trying to find the perfect way to propose to one another. Finally after their numerous failed attempts they both got down on one knee, next to a flat tire, and said just one word to each other “Yes.” It was the moment we had all been waiting for.
10.2 million people tuned in with me to watch my favorite characters, Mitchell and Cameron, celebrate their wedding during the season finale. The two-part episode was both funny and heartwarming. Mitch and Cam have their own pre-wedding jitters. Jay (Mitch’s father played by Ed O’Neill) tells Mitch that he’s not comfortable with their upcoming wedding. Wildfires create havoc, venue changes, and have Cam thinking of signs of the apocalypse. All of this led Mitch and Cam to almost call their marriage off. But with Jay’s change of heart, his help to find them the perfect place for the ceremony, and their whole family pulling together they finally say “I do.”
I loved my little celebration of this momentous day in television history. I was there to watch this sweet, funny, controversial, television couple tie the knot. I shed a tear with a smile as I borrow the words of Mitchell’s sister, Claire, “I am pleased to introduce for the first time ever, great husbands, Mitch and Cam.”