Jane Lynch inspires 'Glee' + 'Family' fun

I've written before about my misgivings regarding Fox's "Glee" (9 tonight), how without the music it would be just another high school show. I also can't stand the fake pregnancy storyline involving Spanish teacher Will's wife, although I did get a kick out of her giving the students drugs last week. And she gets one of the better lines tonight: "I guess I could use the vaccination money to buy the organic crib mattress. I mean, what are the chances of the baby getting polio, right?"

But recent episodes have shown some improvements as the show's writers figure out what works best. Clearly the music numbers, especially in the Kristin Chenoweth episode, are the highlights of most episodes. But tonight there's a greater emphasis on evil Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch), the cheerleading coach who views the glee club with disdain.

Lynch was only a guest star in the "Glee" pilot but she was quickly upped to a series regular when producers and the network recognized Sue popped as the most interesting character in the show. She's delightfully offensive on a weekly basis, like in tonight's episode when she calls Spanish a "dying language" that her cheerleaders don't need.

"Should they learn Spanish?" Sue asks rhetorically. "Sure, if they want to be dishwashers and gardeners."

She's both horrible and terrifically funny.

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Speaking of ... Shelley Long guest stars in "Modern Family" (9 tonight on WTAE, opposite "Glee," making it one of the worst time slots for conflicts in prime time) as Dede Pritchett, wayward matriarch of the family featured in the comedy series. She's the ex-wife of Jay (Ed O'Neill) and she returns to apologize for "the incident."

It's too funny to give away how the characters come together but "Family" does bring all three branches of the family under the same roof, a welcome development.

Cool dad Phil (Ty Burrell) introduces the concept of "peerenting" -- "act like a parent, talk like a peer," he advises -- while Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) observes of Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and his mother: "There's a fish in nature that swims around with its babies in its mouth. That fish would look at Mitchell's relationship with his mother and say, 'That's messed up.'"

"Modern Family" is far from "messed up." It remains the fall's most winning new comedy.