Modern Family is light fare, total fluff, comedy without teeth—but the thing is, the show doesn’t have to be lightweight. Given the conflicts and dynamics they’ve set up, they could get into some serious shit about gay marriage, blended families, the changing role of the patriarch, etc. They’ve just never been interested in that business—until now, it seems.

Last week, the father got into it with his son about his upcoming gay marriage. He raised some tough questions (“Why do you get to be you, but I don’t get to be me?”) and said some ugly things. It wasn’t funny, but it wasn’t supposed to be. Earlier in the season, one of the daughters said some things to a therapist that sounded like a real insight into the pressures felt by high-achieving teenagers.

Modern Family has always had the potential to be the All in the Family of this generation. For the first time, though, it seems like they’re thinking about exploring that potential.