Modern times

If you watched the premiere of ABC's Modern Family on Wednesday night, then you saw my childhood best friend in his first TV appearance.

I met Reid when I started kindergarten at St. Elizabeth's, where we went to school together through the eighth grade. From the beginning, he could always make me laugh with his irreverent sense of humor. And it usually only went one way: I took pride in the rare moments when I could get him to laugh. Through elementary school, we spent a lot of time together, from the playground to each other's houses.

One Friday after school, Reid and I were with a bunch of friends, and, using our imaginations the way kids do, we improvised a Star Wars/sci-fi parody. The next day, we all went to Reid's house and reprised our roles in "Dumb Wars" for his video camera. Other videos soon followed, mainly starring Reid, me, my sister, and a couple of our other friends (shout-out to Casey, a WoS reader). We would meet at Reid's house, come up with a plot, and then shoot it, using the house for scenery and anything we could find for props.

By the time we were in junior high, Reid was starring in children's theater productions. Our class would take field trips to see him in plays like Sleepy Hollow and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In the latter, he shared the stage with Dan Marino's son. Everyone thought that was cool. I was spending most of my time with other friends by then, but we were still friends.

After eighth grade, I didn't see him very much. He went to an arts high school up in West Palm Beach. I would get invitations to his plays with the children's theater, and I went to them when I could. I also made it to one of his school productions. Although I caught up with him at least once, contact was sparse.

Thanks to Facebook, I've been able to find out what Reid's been up to since high school. Recently, he moved to California. Last year, I got word that he had starred in a (live-action) pilot for Toon Disney (now Disney XD, apparently). And a few weeks ago, I heard he'd be in a pilot that was actually going to air on network TV: a show called Modern Family. He was even in the show's trailer, which I watched online.

I was thrilled to see the pilot episode on Wednesday night. The show is a mockumentary (my favorite genre) that follows the antics of an extended family. Reid plays Dylan, a high-school senior who comes to visit the teenage daughter, and hilarity ensues. He doesn't have a lot of lines, and he's only in a couple of scenes, but he's got some good moments. I liked the show.

Reid told me he's in a few more episodes for the season, so be on the lookout. In the meantime, you can check out his IMDb page, where somebody's even started a discussion thread. The pilot episode is available (for now) on Hulu; you can watch it here. Or maybe you just want to watch his scenes (with context): 1, 2.

I'm really happy for Reid. He's doing what he's always wanted to do, and I'm sure that's not the last you'll see of him.

And now, the links:

Wikipedia has a list of tri-state areas. I thought it was kind of interesting.

passiveaggressivenotes.com features photos of funny notes posted for people to read.