"Modern Family" - Phil Dunphy

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Phil Dunphy in ABC Family’s “Modern Family” is aptly portrayed and developed by Ty Burrell with his short but witty comments, quirky behavior, and overall relationship with his family who share many of these same traits.

                Ty Burrell’s delivery of Phil’s responses to anyone he speaks with are completely impeccable.  Phil retorts at the times where it would be as humorous as possible and never fails to do so.  In the episode "Lifetime Supply", Phil is concerned that his doctor is going to diagnose him with a life-threatening disease.  To make him feel better, his wife Claire says "I assure you, you are fine." and Phil's simple yet to the point response is "That's very reassuring coming from a marketing major at a party school." while completely freaking out.   It is things like this that make Phil so incredibly hilarious.  His humor is in full force at the most unexpected points in each episode.  Another example is in the episode  "Send Out the Clowns", Phil is scammed by another realtor who steals his property.  This other realtor, Mitzi, is speaking to his son and says something to the effect of wanting to keep him.  Phil's immediate response is to scoop Luke up running off and muttering "He's mine!".  These tiny things that he says and the details he inputs are key to making "Modern Family" so insanely funny.

                 Burrell also strategically puts in quirky behaviors to Phil's characterization.  In the Thanksgiving episode for example, he is accidentally tazed.  At strategic points in the episode, usually when the people watching have almost forgotten it occurred, he would twitch and stutter as if the tazer was still having affect.  In addition to this, he is frequently becoming a 'mushy father'.  His affection for his children is often overwhelming as seen in the episode "Virgin Territory".  He is incredibly upset that his girls are both growing up and wants to keep them young as long as possible.  This is clearly shown when he wants desperately to buy a doll for his middle daughter, Alex.  In a more recent episode, his actions put his wife Claire and oldest daughter Hayley in quite an awkward position.  He shrink wraps their family onto the family minivan leaving Hayley and Claire on each side.  They appear to be saying very suggestive things and offering the family phone number.

                 Phil's relationship with his family is one of the most humorous things on the show.  In one episode, Hayley is ready to look at colleges and Phil takes her to see his alma mater.  They are the bulldogs but everyone seems to forget this quite frequently.  Phil thinks that he is still the number one man on campus and makes this  clear much to the embarrassment of Hayley.   When she is invited to a party,he automatically assumes that he is to and is distressed to learn that this is not the case.  Hayley is excited to go to college and use her independence but Phil wants her to stay as his little girl.  Phil is also very upset to learn that she is no longer a virgin in "Virgin Territory" and when Claire tells him that she has known this for a while, he tells her how grateful he is for that.  Phil is dedicated to his family and takes every opportunity possible to make sure they know this.

                 Phil Dunfey is a loving father and husband who thinks dearly of his family and always adds humor to everything that happens on "Modern Family".