In praise of Modern Family - and in particular the glory of Gloria

Having recently fractured my ankle by being unable to use a footpath like a normal human, I've spent quite a few days on the couch devouring episodes of Modern Family. Over the weekend, Sky were kindly showing one episode after another for most of the day which kept me happily entertained, although I have begun plotting the murder of the Top Cashback MC Hammer man in the appallingly bad ads that sponsor the show.

  Even though I had seen all of the episodes before, I still laughed just as much as the first time, because Modern Family is a show that really stands up on repeat viewings. Also, one of Phil's lines in the Halloween episode of the new series is genuinely one of the best quotes of all time (when you're a Harry Potter nerd like me). "A Gryffindor letting his mom hold his Quidditch broom, how Hufflepuff is that?"

However, for the purposes of this post, we're going to talk about the fabulous Gloria Pritchett. Played by Sofia Vergara, possessor of hair like a mermaid and curves so ridiculous she looks like a Colombian Jessica Rabbit, she's actually the highest paid TV actress in the US. It's really hard to pick a favourite character from the show, so I haven't, I've just decided that mine is a three way tie between Phil, Cameron and Gloria.

What's great about Gloria is that while she's devastatingly sexy and it's almost impossible not to get hypnotised by her boobs when she's stirring something in the kitchen, she's also really, really funny. In a welcome departure from the usual "average guy with inexplicably hot wife" sitcom trope, she's much more than a foil for Jay, she's hilarious in her own right.

Gloria is smart and funny, and gets some of the biggest laughs in the show due to her heavy Colombian accent. But it's never really a laugh at her expense, as we're always on her side.

She's also a total badass when she needs to be, she can outshoot Claire at the gun range "with preetty nails", is fiercely protective of her son Manny and utterly loyal to her family.

In short, we love Gloria!

So, are you a Modern Family fan? And who's your favourite?