Starry Night (Modern Family)

"Starry Night"
Modern Family episode
Mitch (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), Jay (Ed O'Neill) and Manny (Rico Rodriguez) during the star gazing.
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 18
Directed by	Jason Winer
Written by	Danny Zuker
Production code	1ARG15
Original air date	March 24, 2010
Guest appearance(s)
Lombardo Boyar (Jose)
Season 1 episodes
2009–2010 "Pilot" "The Bicycle Thief" "Come Fly With Me" "The Incident" "Coal Digger" "Run for Your Wife" "En Garde" "Great Expecations" "Fizbo" "Undeck the Halls" "Up All Night" "Not in My House" "Fifteen Percent" "Moon Landing" "My Funky Valentine" "Fears" "Truth Be Told" "Starry Night" "Game Changer" "Benched" "Travels with Scout" "Airport 2010" "Hawaii" "Family Portrait"   Season 2 →
Episode chronology
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"Starry Night" is the eighteenth episode of the first season of Modern Family and the eighteenth episode of the series overall. It originally aired on ABC on March 24, 2010. The episode was written by Danny Zuker and directed by Jason Winer.

In the episode, Claire and Phil take rival approaches to keeping Haley and Luke focused on projects that are due the next day. Manny's ribbing of Mitchell during a trip with Jay causes tension between the three. Cameron tries to make amends with Gloria for past awkward encounters with a night out in her old neighborhood.

The episode received positive reviews and was viewed by 9.05 million viewers with an 18-49 Nielsen Rating of 3.6.

In the Dunphy household, Luke (Nolan Gould) and Haley (Sarah Hyland) both have projects due and Claire (Julie Bowen) and Phil (Ty Burrell) are responsible for ensuring their children get their work done on time. Claire gives Phil the task of making sure Luke completes a project covering Van Gogh while she keeps track of Haley as she has to cook cupcakes for a fund-raiser. While Phil demonstrates his ADHD (narrated in voice-over as Alex (Ariel Winter) tries to convince her mother Luke suffers from the condition), Luke surpasses his mother's low expectations and completes the project.

Meanwhile, Haley manipulates her mother into making the cupcakes for her - only to have Claire throw away all the cupcakes after she is shocked with Luke's success. Luke recites his planned presentation speech to Alex, who is impressed until Luke begins talking about how Van Gogh was warning us of aliens about to attack and Alex calls for her mom.

Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) hangs out with Jay (Ed O'Neill) and Manny (Rico Rodriguez) while Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) hangs out with Gloria (Sofía Vergara). Mitchell and Jay have a tradition of watching meteor showers together and Jay brings along Manny to get him out of the house. Cameron attempts to make up for slight offenses over the past couple of weeks with Gloria by inviting her to a fancy restaurant.