THANKS- FIBBING
Jay exaggerates clan’s track record on ‘Family’
NO one celebrates holidays — and dysfunction — like the Pritchetts of “Modern Family.” Ed O’Neill, who plays patriarch Jay Pritchett, said the family turmoil strikes a chord with viewers because “it’s universal. If people can relate to it, that’s very important,” he told The Post. In this week’s Thanksgiving-themed episode, Jay exaggerates his family’s successes in a dinner toast, causing everyone to cover up their failures. O’Neill, 71, talked about the episode and his own Thanksgiving memories by phone from LA.
How does Jay’s toast complicate Thanksgiving?
He is celebrating the great talent within the family and what everybody accomplished. Look what Claire did — she ran this marathon. And Gloria did 100,000 steps in a week. Mitchell thwarted a burglar, tackled the man and fought him. And none of this occurred.
Why would Jay exaggerate?
He is success-oriented and likes that people succeed at things because he was that way himself. That [mind-set] comes back to bite him in the ass.
What makes the holidays so difficult for the Pritchetts?
It’s the family dynamic. Not everybody gets along all the time. It’s our only hope that we can laugh at things that aren’t particularly funny. It’s a way of dealing with it, right?
Why do the holidays bring out the worst in real-life families?
I have a half-assed theory. When you’re not with your whole family, you think, “If I had my entire family around me, I would feel great.” Of course when that happens and you don’t, then you don’t know quite where to go. What the hell was that great quote Mark Twain says, that sanity and happiness do not get along? [“Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination.”] What is happiness anyway? Doesn’t it come and go every five minutes?
Where will your family spend Thanksgiving?
We have a place in Hawaii [at] the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, and they have a very nice little buffet. We don’t cook and we don’t clean up. The problem is there’s no leftovers. When I was 10 years old in Youngstown, Ohio, you really counted on those turkey sandwiches the next day, with the stuffing on the side and maybe a piece of pumpkin pie. You get used to it.
AnyThanksgiving memory that stands out?
Well, my mother, Ruth, was the worst cook in the tri-state area. There was a Thanksgiving where she was cooking and got my uncle to carve the turkey. He cut into it and pulled out the plastic bag with the giblets. She didn’t know it was in there. [The bird] wasn’t even cooked; it was red inside. We had to throw it away and order pizza ’cause that was the only thing open. Wasn’t bad, by the way.