Very seldom do fans come across a male character on TV who is smart, caring, affectionate and just a good guy at heart with no ill will towards anyone. Phil Dunphy on Modern Family really broke the mold when it came to being a good husband, father and friend. A family man through and through, Phil always came through when his people needed him and undoubtedly, was an ideal husband to Claire Dunphy.
From being a tumbling and magic enthusiast to being a successful realtor, he turned his life around for the sake of his family and provided for them in the toughest of times. While the show is as progressive as it gets, there were a few characters who made life a little too difficult for our beloved character.
When Jay Hit Him With The Model Airplane
Jay (Ed O'Neil) has been known to hold a grudge against Phil ever since the show began. He believed Phil was never good enough for his baby girl Claire and regretted her marrying him. Despite having a cordial relationship on the surface, Jay never truly accepted Phil as one of his own. The model airplane incident bears witness to this fact.
While Phil is over the moon as he tags along with Jay to try out a fabulous model plane, Jay returns the favor by flying the plane right into Phil’s face. On top of that, he strives to make sure his plane is alright without batting an eye on Phil and his pain.
When Claire Hides His Index Cards For The Realtor’s Banquet
Claire (Julie Bowen) has never really appreciated everything Phil stands for, whether it’s his love for magic and cheerleading or his humor that sets him apart. But as usual, she does not have the heart to say that to his face and instead chooses deceitful means to let Phil steer clear of embarrassment.
Claire enlists Mitch’s (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) help to not let Phil make his speech full of jokes that according to her, won’t work for the crowd. When that doesn’t work, Claire ends up stealing his index cards which clearly implies how little she thinks of Phil and his abilities. In the end, Phil improvises the speech and gets awarded in laughter and applause by everyone in the audience.
When Manny Accidentally Tasers Him
When the family realizes that they won’t be able to be together on Christmas this year, they gear up to celebrate Express Christmas on December 16. Everyone divides errands and goes off in groups to get the task done. Manny accompanies Phil in getting a mint condition baseball card, a thoughtful gift for his father-in-law Jay.
Even though they don’t see eye to eye, Phil wanted to do something special for Jay and get him something meaningful. The situation goes haywire when Manny freaks out and accidentally zaps Phil. The spasms make Phil crush the card, leaving it disfigured.
When Gloria And Haley Bail On Him
Phil is super excited to host a seminar that can help first-time house buyers in making the right decisions. He asks Gloria and Haley to help as Claire is busy with Luke’s egg project. After a trial run, Gloria and Haley go for mani-pedis before the seminar begins, but their car gets towed.
At the venue, disaster ensues as Phil has to introduce himself and go through the cards in a hurry and nobody is there to ask a question that gets him to his main point. Understandably, he gets mad at Gloria and Haley as they let him down.
When Claire Goes To Her College Reunion Without Him
Claire decided to go to her college reunion without her main man by her side. She saw this as the perfect opportunity to get back in touch with some of her old lovers and relive her adventurous life. Fans saw Phil heading to heartbreak avenue as he realizes his wife is embarrassed by him and does not want her college friends to know who she married.
In the end, Claire sees how her old flame has turned out and how distraught his wife is. She realizes her errors and feels better about choosing Phil as her life partner.
All The Times His Kids Were Embarrassed By Him
Phil is the coolest dad on the block. Since the first episode, he has tried his best to be hip and in trend for the sake of his kids. It is heartbreaking to see his kids be embarrassed by him despite him being way cooler than most dads (including Jay).
He accompanied Haley to college, surprised Alex on campus, and sent Luke off to high school. But Phil's kids seem to be unappreciative of everything he does and how much he cares for them.
When Gil Ruins His Career Day Speech
For Luke’s career day, parents were invited to give a speech and talk about their respective careers. Phil sets up a very hip presentation in which he plays the role of a young aspiring realtor. His nemesis, Gil Thorpe interrupts him and throws him off his timing. The presentation ends up being a bust and Phil is unable to get his point across.
Phil was very excited to be a part of this day as Haley and Alex never invited him. Phil wanted to put his best foot forward and shine brighter for his son.
When The Ducks Imprinted On Claire Instead Of Him
As an apology for leaving him to be with his friends, Luke brings the ducks’ eggs from the unsellable house and gives them to Phil. He graciously accepts the gift and goes on to take care of them like a Mother Duck.
After weeks of hard work and intense nursing, the eggs hatch and ducklings are born. But as Phil says, “through some sick fluke” Claire was the only one there when the ducks were born, and they imprinted on her. Phil definitely deserves better here and even tried further to get them transferred on him.
When Claire Ruins His AwesomeLand
Claire being a hard-core Halloween fan is one of the running gags on Modern Family. She always goes above and beyond to make the festival increasingly spooky. When she is caught up with work one Halloween, Phil is entrusted with the responsibility to make the festival special.
He decides to make his dream come true and create an AwesomeLand where everything is happy and dreamy. Claire comes back only to crush his spirits and stomp on his lifelong dream by ruining AwesomeLand and making it a haunted house, yet again.
All The Times Jay Was Mean To Him
Jay Prichett has been the OG mean girl in Phil’s life. Everything he does is either to demean Phil or make him feel inferior when all Phil does is prove his worth to him. There have been innumerable incidents on the show where Jay has degraded Phil or made fun of him carelessly. He called him Phil Dumphy, insulted him in front of his friends and always made him feel not good enough.
Even Claire has noticed these errors and complains how her father never made an effort to welcome her husband into the family. Jay could have done it all in fun and games, but his words must have cut through Phil like daggers and left him grief-stricken.