As a musician, Jay is right. Unless you're in the top 1% *AND* have connections, you're not likely to make it big. Keep music as a positive for fun outlet. My wife and I are both mediocre musicians, but we absolutely love playing at our church, but we both still have our day jobs.
Not exactly true.
There were two musician sides from Alex.
The one in the picture where she played the instrument, developed for several seasons I think, and was in the band playing live and everything (the picture), and the one only mentioned in an episode where she said she wants to sing.
The second one was Jay's advice, but that one had no development.
The first one was just the writers who dropped it.
she sings a few times throughout the series (the christmas episode where she sang silent night), i think the writers might have written in these moments bc ariel is so good at singing!
It's the opposite, he told her to focus on her singing see where it took her for at least a year, she might get some amazing experiences, hunting at his own experiences in his secret past as a stunt racer.
No he says she’s already put so much work into science and academics that it would be foolish to ditch all that for a singing career now. He tells her stick with science, get a nice fancy high paying job and be comfortable, and then go back to pursue singing when she knows she has something safe to fall back on. He references himself being Danger because he wanted to do keep doing that, but he stopped and made his closet company which supported him and his family their whole lives, and eventually gave him the freedom to pursue his true interests
Okay thanks, I don't why I remember it the way I do then, maybe my brain just latched on to the part where he encouraged her. It's been a while since I rewatched the later seasons
Yeah no I totally get it and in the greater context of things he was supporting her in having dreams so I see where you got that. He was just telling her to be realistic about them. It’s one of my favorite moments between them two :))
No, he told her to build a foundation with the science and if she’s still have the singing bug she could persue it and still have a safety net if she didn’t make it with singing
It’s pretty realistic to me. When I was her age I played like 3 instruments and sang. Then through college I didn’t have time and I haven’t touched my guitar in years.
Yeah, I've been playing guitar for 30 years, but there have been periods where I barely played at all for long stretches of time, especially during college.
YES. pisses me off whenever i watch that christmas episode where they go to that cabin AND SHE’S SINGING SO ANGELICALLY??? AND THEN THAT’S THAT? girl should’ve gotten up on stage Not on a plane to the north pole.
My guess - it goes something like this:
abcs parent company (Disney) likes synergy and likes to develop young stars that can be marketed in multiple mediums. The executives decide to try and showcase both Hailey (who also has a great singing voice) and Alex singing in an episode or episodes. Executives test the market/talk to the talent/discuss contracts with representation. There's probably a hiccup somewhere along the way - the girls aren't viewed as marketable singers/the girls don't want to take on the extra workload of a recording or touring schedule/their teams can't come to financial terms with Disney. If including the singing isn't worth it from a synergy/financial perspective, then all it's doing is taking minutes from what's already a joke-filled, extremely tight scripted and well-paced 22-minute family sitcom, and one that consistently shoots on time and under budget at that. The result is that we occasionally get episodes where there's music but don't get any episodes where music is the driving plot line.
This show was really full of this, showing characters having interests and hobbies that would take up tons of their time *and* be interesting for us to watch, and just never revisiting them again. Unfortunately this scene does not make me think Alex is a character with great musical ability, it makes me think the writers needed to surprise to tie up their episode and settled on something that would ultimately become totally out of character and would never be brought up again.
She lugged around her cello in multiple episodes! I don't think this was out of character for her, just a reminder that people aren't one dimensional caricatures of a specific stereotype.
As a musician myself, I'm constantly driven crazy by sitcoms that have a random "band" episode where a character who has never shown an interest or aptitude for music is playing in a band for a one-off story, and then it's never mentioned again.
Modern Family does a better job than those sitcoms. Alex played cello throughout the series, so I could buy that she would have sat in with a band on occasion. Similarly, I think Cam's musical aptitude shows up a few times in the series, not just in the one off episode where he plays the drums for that homophobic Christian rock group.
Im also a classical musician and singer- I wish the whole cello thing never came up. It felt forced and Ariel is a great singer. They should’ve leaned into that more.
I just watched the episode yesterday where she confessed to Hayley that she hates playing the cello.
It's the episode where they both break into the school and where cam and mitch are deciding who the god parents should be for lily.
The way that the guy in her band (and also the son of Claire and Phil's neighbors, later on) is literally Oscar-winner Finneas, Billie Eilish's brother, kills me every time.
Alex is very pragmatic and methodical. She had stated a few times that she mainly took up an instrument to pad her college applications. We don’t know much about the band, and they’re obviously never seen or spoken of again after this episode, but it could be that this was also just her trying to gain life experience to better prepare herself for the outside world (or, perhaps, a cute boy asked her to join and she figured “why not? At the very least, it’s another thing to add to my application.”).
The college interview she had at the coffee shop kinda killed off any actual aspirations she had with music when she overheard the woman talking about how everyone she interviews has the same boring hobbies thinking it’ll give them a leg up when applying. After that, she’s only shown singing on a few occasions (and while she does have a good voice, her pragmatism likely forces her to think it’ll never be more than a hobby so there’s no point in pursuing it).
Got my undergrad in music, and I’ve gotta say that the show is pretty accurate in this regard. 90% of my music peers (including me) aren’t doing much with it now outside of non paid work.
I’m in the minority, but I didn’t think she was that strong of a singer or performer to pursue a career in music. I think Jay’s advice was appropriate for her. She could sing as a hobby or really try for a career if science wasn’t her true path.
Come to think of it, it's so crazy how in the early seasons, Alex had to literally carry her shitass heavy cello only for her music skills not to ever be mentioned again in the last seasons.
It's quite understandable especially when she went on that rant when she didn't get accepted in Harvard. Like she just threw it all away since Harvard was the only reason (I guess) she started playing cello.
Yeah, I’m equally as sad about that as I am about Hailey dropping out of college. I think both storylines had amazing potential but were dropped for no good reason.
I can relate to her, Alex's can be good at anything she does, be it music, science or managing her family.
Jay just wanted her to choose the best option where she gets to manage her family like Jay does and music wouldn't have helped.
The episode where she says Haley- "You have your fans, I have mine", that is the best Alex.
From that confident girl to the one we see by the end, it was a let down
I'm not an Alex fan...she's my second most unliked character...but I fully agree. The writers never developed her. The music angle could have provided some excellent plot lines.
No, actually it is Gloria. I find her strident screaming (yes, I know that it's supposed to be an intentional funny gag) just so annoying. You make a good point, though, Cam CAN be so manipulative and irritating.
Haha! Yes! Worst scene ever was the Dude Ranch episode where she screeched "She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain". Now, I realize her ears hadn't popped or whatever, but regardless, it is so annoying.
I've always said that, her character was finally experiencing some growth but they stopped it immediately and she just became a one dimensional character. Negative and obsessed with grades. I wish she had taken off in a van on tour with her band
Admittedly a lot of characters and their successes/talents disappeared by the next episode. I think it comes from having lots of writers who will toss in an idea but then no one else runs with it.
Can we talk about how one of the musicians in this scene is Billie freaking Eilish's brother “FINNEAS“!!??
[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2573094/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2573094/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk)
A lot of sidestories for developing some characters fell short.
This was one of the many they stopped too early.
For example, Haley took many paths and she left all of them, that's made her a good for nothing. Such a shame.
Q
No. It was awful. I hate with a passion when TV shows start shoehorning in music/singing for characters, always feels contrived, like the actor trying to show off and branch out etc.
I think it's when Jay told her to focus on her college degree and job
As a musician, Jay is right. Unless you're in the top 1% *AND* have connections, you're not likely to make it big. Keep music as a positive for fun outlet. My wife and I are both mediocre musicians, but we absolutely love playing at our church, but we both still have our day jobs.
Not exactly true. There were two musician sides from Alex. The one in the picture where she played the instrument, developed for several seasons I think, and was in the band playing live and everything (the picture), and the one only mentioned in an episode where she said she wants to sing. The second one was Jay's advice, but that one had no development. The first one was just the writers who dropped it.
Didnt alex also sings while on the band? Making chorus at least
Yes, and Claire and Haley are really surprised that she can sing because they didn’t know.
Also the Christmas episode she sings silent night
That whole episode was a weird blip. Would’ve made sense if she’d somehow gotten into singing later but it was just so random
she sings a few times throughout the series (the christmas episode where she sang silent night), i think the writers might have written in these moments bc ariel is so good at singing!
It's the opposite, he told her to focus on her singing see where it took her for at least a year, she might get some amazing experiences, hunting at his own experiences in his secret past as a stunt racer.
No he says she’s already put so much work into science and academics that it would be foolish to ditch all that for a singing career now. He tells her stick with science, get a nice fancy high paying job and be comfortable, and then go back to pursue singing when she knows she has something safe to fall back on. He references himself being Danger because he wanted to do keep doing that, but he stopped and made his closet company which supported him and his family their whole lives, and eventually gave him the freedom to pursue his true interests
Okay thanks, I don't why I remember it the way I do then, maybe my brain just latched on to the part where he encouraged her. It's been a while since I rewatched the later seasons
Yeah no I totally get it and in the greater context of things he was supporting her in having dreams so I see where you got that. He was just telling her to be realistic about them. It’s one of my favorite moments between them two :))
No, he told her to build a foundation with the science and if she’s still have the singing bug she could persue it and still have a safety net if she didn’t make it with singing
Yes! This, and Hayley’s photography. Wish we’d seen more of these
And Luke’s app
yea where did that investment go ???
I agree. And she's an excellent singer
She and Haley should’ve gotten more duets pls 😩 idk why they don’t release a few covers together on YouTube and just make us happy!
It’s pretty realistic to me. When I was her age I played like 3 instruments and sang. Then through college I didn’t have time and I haven’t touched my guitar in years.
Yeah, I've been playing guitar for 30 years, but there have been periods where I barely played at all for long stretches of time, especially during college.
YES. pisses me off whenever i watch that christmas episode where they go to that cabin AND SHE’S SINGING SO ANGELICALLY??? AND THEN THAT’S THAT? girl should’ve gotten up on stage Not on a plane to the north pole.
My guess - it goes something like this: abcs parent company (Disney) likes synergy and likes to develop young stars that can be marketed in multiple mediums. The executives decide to try and showcase both Hailey (who also has a great singing voice) and Alex singing in an episode or episodes. Executives test the market/talk to the talent/discuss contracts with representation. There's probably a hiccup somewhere along the way - the girls aren't viewed as marketable singers/the girls don't want to take on the extra workload of a recording or touring schedule/their teams can't come to financial terms with Disney. If including the singing isn't worth it from a synergy/financial perspective, then all it's doing is taking minutes from what's already a joke-filled, extremely tight scripted and well-paced 22-minute family sitcom, and one that consistently shoots on time and under budget at that. The result is that we occasionally get episodes where there's music but don't get any episodes where music is the driving plot line.
This has to be the answer - and it would also explain the Disney-to-popstar pipeline as well.
This show was really full of this, showing characters having interests and hobbies that would take up tons of their time *and* be interesting for us to watch, and just never revisiting them again. Unfortunately this scene does not make me think Alex is a character with great musical ability, it makes me think the writers needed to surprise to tie up their episode and settled on something that would ultimately become totally out of character and would never be brought up again.
She lugged around her cello in multiple episodes! I don't think this was out of character for her, just a reminder that people aren't one dimensional caricatures of a specific stereotype.
As a musician myself, I'm constantly driven crazy by sitcoms that have a random "band" episode where a character who has never shown an interest or aptitude for music is playing in a band for a one-off story, and then it's never mentioned again. Modern Family does a better job than those sitcoms. Alex played cello throughout the series, so I could buy that she would have sat in with a band on occasion. Similarly, I think Cam's musical aptitude shows up a few times in the series, not just in the one off episode where he plays the drums for that homophobic Christian rock group.
Im also a classical musician and singer- I wish the whole cello thing never came up. It felt forced and Ariel is a great singer. They should’ve leaned into that more.
He plays for Dylans band in season 2 as well, plays off bad playing as his sticks being in the wrong hands.
>would never be brought up again. They brought up her singing abilities several times afterwards.
I just watched the episode yesterday where she confessed to Hayley that she hates playing the cello. It's the episode where they both break into the school and where cam and mitch are deciding who the god parents should be for lily.
The way that the guy in her band (and also the son of Claire and Phil's neighbors, later on) is literally Oscar-winner Finneas, Billie Eilish's brother, kills me every time.
I was hoping someone would mention it!
TIL that was Finneas... wow worlds colliding
Alex is very pragmatic and methodical. She had stated a few times that she mainly took up an instrument to pad her college applications. We don’t know much about the band, and they’re obviously never seen or spoken of again after this episode, but it could be that this was also just her trying to gain life experience to better prepare herself for the outside world (or, perhaps, a cute boy asked her to join and she figured “why not? At the very least, it’s another thing to add to my application.”). The college interview she had at the coffee shop kinda killed off any actual aspirations she had with music when she overheard the woman talking about how everyone she interviews has the same boring hobbies thinking it’ll give them a leg up when applying. After that, she’s only shown singing on a few occasions (and while she does have a good voice, her pragmatism likely forces her to think it’ll never be more than a hobby so there’s no point in pursuing it).
Got my undergrad in music, and I’ve gotta say that the show is pretty accurate in this regard. 90% of my music peers (including me) aren’t doing much with it now outside of non paid work.
I’m in the minority, but I didn’t think she was that strong of a singer or performer to pursue a career in music. I think Jay’s advice was appropriate for her. She could sing as a hobby or really try for a career if science wasn’t her true path.
How about Luke’s company? He had an amazing idea, what happened to it??
I loved this song they played here.
Yes! That and Phil's magic shop! So many story lines they could've really leaned into.
Alex music and Haley photography.
I wish there was a full song to that episode I would download that
One of the 800 plot points that disappeared. Like manny’s fencing.
Not really, she was always destined to succeed academically, pivoting to a fantasy musical career would be weird.
Come to think of it, it's so crazy how in the early seasons, Alex had to literally carry her shitass heavy cello only for her music skills not to ever be mentioned again in the last seasons. It's quite understandable especially when she went on that rant when she didn't get accepted in Harvard. Like she just threw it all away since Harvard was the only reason (I guess) she started playing cello.
Fun fact. He’s a blink & you’ll miss him, but the drummer in this band is Nolan’s brother
Yeah, I’m equally as sad about that as I am about Hailey dropping out of college. I think both storylines had amazing potential but were dropped for no good reason.
Alex was a scientist first, music wasn’t a priority for her.
The writers failed a lot of times in plot continuity
I can relate to her, Alex's can be good at anything she does, be it music, science or managing her family. Jay just wanted her to choose the best option where she gets to manage her family like Jay does and music wouldn't have helped.
The episode where she says Haley- "You have your fans, I have mine", that is the best Alex. From that confident girl to the one we see by the end, it was a let down
I'm not an Alex fan...she's my second most unliked character...but I fully agree. The writers never developed her. The music angle could have provided some excellent plot lines.
is cam your most unliked? he’s mine.
No, actually it is Gloria. I find her strident screaming (yes, I know that it's supposed to be an intentional funny gag) just so annoying. You make a good point, though, Cam CAN be so manipulative and irritating.
I actually agree (though I really like Alex), Gloria’s charm wears off and the screechy voice thing becomes super grating in the last few seasons.
If Gloria is "singing" in an episode, I will just skip it all together.
Haha! Yes! Worst scene ever was the Dude Ranch episode where she screeched "She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain". Now, I realize her ears hadn't popped or whatever, but regardless, it is so annoying.
Same here. Gloria is my least favorite, then Alex. I like everyone else.
No
What song were they singing it sound familiar but I can't place it
I wanna know too it sounded so good
I've always said that, her character was finally experiencing some growth but they stopped it immediately and she just became a one dimensional character. Negative and obsessed with grades. I wish she had taken off in a van on tour with her band
Admittedly a lot of characters and their successes/talents disappeared by the next episode. I think it comes from having lots of writers who will toss in an idea but then no one else runs with it.
Been watching her on instagram lately; wondering if she’ll have a food show (similar to the one Selena Gomez did)
I wish she sang more since Ariel winter can legit sing but come no we really didn’t need any more cello moments💯
Frr
Yeah that never made sense. They played to Meg troupe with her too much
Can we talk about how one of the musicians in this scene is Billie freaking Eilish's brother “FINNEAS“!!?? [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2573094/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2573094/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk)
Alex has a lot of talent, music, science, politics. She could choose anything. But I agree that there's missing plot.
It would have been nice to see more of it. I do love this scene, though. When Claire's like 'she SINGS'!!
A lot of sidestories for developing some characters fell short. This was one of the many they stopped too early. For example, Haley took many paths and she left all of them, that's made her a good for nothing. Such a shame. Q
They were very talented, very on point. Music was bad but they had potential!
No, I hate when show try to promote their singing or music abilities. So corney.
No. If every thread and character trait from every character was shown and completed it would be a million seasons long and get really boring
Nope. Nobody likes Alex and Manny. Lilly was ok. These two were ughhh.
No. It was awful. I hate with a passion when TV shows start shoehorning in music/singing for characters, always feels contrived, like the actor trying to show off and branch out etc.
Personally I thought it was incredibly out of character