In the Dunphy household, Luke and Hayley both have projects due and Claire and Phil are responsible for ensuring their children get their work done on time. In the second plotline, Mitchell and Cameron hang out with Jay (and Manny) and Gloria, respectively. 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.

Claire gives Phil the task of making sure Luke completes a project covering Van Gogh while she keeps track of Hayley as she has to cook cupcakes for a fund-raiser. While Phil demonstrates his ADHD (narrated in voice-over as Alex tries to convince her mother Luke suffers from the condition), Luke surpasses his mother’s low expectations and completes the project. Meanwhile, Hayley manipulates her mother into making the cupcakes for her – only to have Claire throw away all the cupcakes after she’s shocked with Luke’s success.

Jay and Manny tease Mitchell during the star gazing; Jay is trying to get Manny to overcome a severe disappointment earlier in the week and encourages him to treat Mitchell as a brother would – teasing, joking, camaraderie. Jay asks Mitchell to encourage Manny to not focus on other children calling him “weird” and the two bond. At the same time, Cameron takes Gloria to one of her favourite little eateries, where he tries to bond by eating very spicy food, to which he has a bad reaction. The two end up finding their similarities lie in fashion, shopping and things of that nature.

At the close, the family tries cupcakes that Hayley has managed to cook while they celebrated Luke’s success. Once Hayley is sent to school, they immediately start scrambling to get the horrible taste out of their mouths, as Claire wonders what the phone number for Poison Control is.

“Starry Night” is the 18th episode of the first season of Modern Family. It premiered on American Broadcasting Company on March 24, 2010.

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