Season 9 is appallingly bad!

As the title says. I must have watched the show front to back at least fifteen times, and on every rewatch I’m taken aback by just how excruciatingly bad season 9 is. And I am not just talking about your standard exaggeration of character traits or plots becoming stale after years of great comedy, I truly mean that the show does not feel the same at all, not even compared to season 10/11. From the first episode of the season to the last, each and every character behaves nonsensically, to very scarse comedic effects at that. Alex and Haley’s romantic flings, Manny’s experience at college, Jay and Gloria’s marriage, Cam and Mitchell’s parenting approach, everything feels unnecessarily mean and convoluted in complete disregard to the characters’ previous experiences. Now, I say this from a position of love since Modern Family has always been my favorite show, but it really is hard to justify season 9 as even decent comedy. I know there have been creative differences between producers and writers during the later seasons, but really I am always flabbergasted when in my rewatches season 9 comes around, and my “come on it cannot really be that bad” inevitably turns to “gosh it really is a bad season”. Does anyone else feel that way?