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1* AccidentalAesop: A B-plot "Snow Ball” gives us an indirect Aesop where anyone can be a [[TheBully bully]] (including members of marginalized groups), ''anyone'' can be a victim of bullying, and sometimes bullies [[ForTheEvulz don't need a reason]] for what they do other than it [[EvilFeelsGood feels good.]]
2* ActorShipping:
3** Sarah and Adam are shipped quite a bit in real life. Due to their chemistry together, some people are shocked to discover that they aren't actually dating.
4** The actors that play each married couple are shipped together.
5* {{Adorkable}}:
6** Phil, between his attempts at being a 'cool dad', his love of being a realtor, and knowing ''all'' of the songs from ''Film/HighSchoolMusical''.
7** Andy is a super sweet guy who is easily excitable and excessively bonds with Phil over their love of anything and everything.
8** Any time someone shows genuine interest in Alex she turns into a MotorMouth [[ThatCameOutWrong talking before she realizes what she's saying]].
9* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
10** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzKtgPXS7PE In the Moonlight]]".
11** Cameron singing ''Ave Maria'' whilst Mitchell simultaneously attempts to kick a pigeon's ass in slow motion.
12** In the Season 5 episode "The Late Show", we see two scenes where they sing ''Midnight Train to Georgia'' by Gladys Knight and the Pips, one with the kids and the other with the adults at the end.
13** The season 2 episode "Bixby's Back" which ends with Dylan and Haley reuniting after he serenades her with a rock ballad outside her house on Valentine's Day, and a nice little montage of the other couples to close out the episode.
14---> "Imagine me NAKEEEEEED! I imagine you NUUUUUUUUUDE!"
15* CargoShip: Played with hilariously InUniverse with Jay and Barkley, the dog butler.
16* CrossesTheLineTwice: "Man Shouldn't Lie" features a Christian Rock Band performing an anti-gay anthem. That's offensively outdated. However, Cameron (a gay man) helping said band perform their song being oblivious to it's content until the lyrics reach "man shouldn't lie with another man" and his awkward reaction afterwards. That’s offensively hilarious!
17* EnsembleDarkhorse:
18** Stella, Jay's adorable pet dog.
19** Mitch and Cam's friends, especially Pepper and Sal.
20** Andy.
21** Phil's Dad, Frank
22** Ben and Margaret, Claire's co-workers.
23* FandomSpecificPlot:
24** Due to actress' Julie Bowen being 8 months pregnant with twins and her HideYourPregnancy in the pilot, many fans have written the pregnancy into their fanfics.
25** What life would've turned out as Mitch and Cam raise their newborn son Rex with Lily together after the finale?
26** After Sarah Hyland revealed she played her character Haley as bisexual in the series, many of the fandom have written LGBT+ fanfics about Haley's exploring bisexuality and coming out stories.
27* FanPreferredCouple: Andy/Haley. Andy is by far the most beloved boyfriend of Haley, so much so that even Sarah Hyland has expressed how much she wanted Haley and Andy to end up together. [[spoiler:Because of this, Haley's pregnancy with Dylan's twins in Season 10 and their subsequent marriage was met with a cool reception from fans, to say the least.]]
28* FriendlyFandoms: With ''Series/{{The Office|US}}'' and ''Series/ParksAndRecreation''. All are mockumentaries and very heart-warming and realistic in their comedy styles.
29** Also with Series/HowIMetYourMother, as both are outstanding in subverting sitcom norms. Both are produced by 20th Century Fox and share a number of producers.
30* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff:
31** In Britain and Australia, the show is extremely popular, and a total media storm happened when they went to Australia.
32** Remarkably for a sitcom that has gay main characters, the show does spectacularly well in more conservative countries, which many attribute to its universally and family-friendly comedy.
33* HarsherInHindsight:
34** In-universe. Phil and his father Frank's jokes to explain [[TheGhost Phil's mother's]] absence from web-cam chats and family visits ("She's sinking fast... in the tub, of course!") take on a much darker tone [[spoiler: once she dies prior to the Season 4 finale, with Claire describing her death as "sudden, but not entirely unexpected". The knowledge that she's been ill for a long time can make it hard to re-watch some of those jocular conversations, knowing it's actually their way of dealing with the declining health of their wife and mother rather than just their usual brand of silly humour.]]
35** Claire's comment to Alex about needing a new training bra (whilst in front of the girl's peers) seems more acute after the news came out about Ariel Winter's mother verbally and physically abusing her, it was said [[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/07/ariel-winter-abuse-allegations-modern-family-star-removed-home-parental-abuse_n_2089144.html she berated her daughter for her appearance and weight]].
36*** The training bra joke gets even harsher after Ariel Winter had a breast reduction after dealing with being objectified, fat-shamed, and for a size that fits her petite frame.
37** An episode with Phil and Claire trying to get to a Music/SteelyDan concert, complete with Claire noting how much older "they" are getting, aired a whole month after Walter Becker's death.
38** The episode with Jay dealing the possibility of Stella dying in surgery becomes a lot harsher knowing that Beatrice (The real life Stella) died shortly after the series wrapped.
39** The episode of [[spoiler: Phil's father suddenly dying became this when actor Fred Willard passed away just five months after it aired.]]
40** The fourth-season episode "Arrested" has a brief scene almost near the end when Haley returns to her room after being expelled from college six weeks into her freshman year. Alex sweetly tells her how happy she is that Haley's home again, a SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}} that doesn't last as they almost immediately start feuding again. Within a week of that episode airing, it was disclosed that Ariel Winter, who plays Alex, had been removed from her mother's custody due to emotional and physical abuse and was now living with... her own older sister.
41** The very next episode, "Mistery Date," had a scene where Alex, after washing out of a Brain Bowl-type event unusually early, accuses her mother of trying to live through her. Again, a little hard to watch given what was really going on in the actress's life.
42** Sarah's (then) real life boyfriend Matt Prokip played a guy trying to compete with Dylan to become Haley's new boyfriend (at the insistence of Claire) in the Disneyland episode. In September 2014 it was later revealed that Sarah and Matt broke up and that Sarah had filed a restraining order against Matt due to an extremely abusive relationship. Sarah had also asked Creator/JulieBowen to intervene and provide protection and shelter to her due to the abusive circumstances of the relationship.
43** The jokes about Gloria's accent and inability to find the right words in English get less funny after her [[EloquentInMyNativeTongue "do you even know how smart I am in Spanish?"]] speech.
44** The series ends with the family looking toward a bright future with different paths. When said finale aired, the COVID pandemic was just beginning…
45* HeartwarmingInHindsight: Alex breaking down in Claire's arms in "Under Pressure" is this due to Julie Bowen being a support system for Ariel Winter following Ariel's legal battle and eventual emancipation from her mother. According to reports, Julie thinks of Ariel as her daughter and is a real mother-figure in her life.
46** Lily’s recasting was due to the original twins Ella and Jaden Hiller’s parents pulling them from the role, even while “Modern Family” was growing in popularity, when they saw the twins were noticeably miserable on set. (Though they’ve all remained out of the public eye since, the last news heard about them had the mom saying there were no regrets and girls were noticeably happier.) Given what happened years later with Ariel, who referred to her mother’s StageMom tendencies that led to her emancipation, it’s even more nice knowing the twins’ parents chose to put their children’s well-being ahead of money and fame.
47* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Eric Stonestreet gets universal praise for playing Cam, despite being straight. Many people are so shocked that he isn't gay in real life.
48* HilariousInHindsight:
49** The aforementioned training bra joke is also kind of funny due to the fact that, post-puberty, Ariel Winter has the second-largest chest in the cast.
50** In one episode, Phil and Claire try to enjoy their GuiltyPleasure of cheesy monster movies by seeing a film entitled "Croctopus". [[Film/{{Sharktopus}} A few years later...]]
51** Sarah Hyland (Haley) and Laura Ashley Samuels (Beth) are best friends and have been for several years.
52** Sarah's boyfriends at the time- Matt Prokop and Dominic Sherwood- have guest-stared on the show, both playing Alex's love interests.
53** In one episode, the show mentions the movie "Finding Nemo." In 2016, the sequel "Finding Dory" features both Ed O'Neill (Jay) and Ty Burrell (Phil).
54** Dylan and Andy not only share a love for Haley, but their actors share a birthday: November 7.
55** Haley mentions that Andy looks like a LEGO. Adam would then later voice a LEGO in WesternAnimation/TheLEGOBatmanMovie.
56** One episode has Jay meeting Terry Bradshaw at jury duty, weeks after Barack Obama appeared at jury duty.
57** In the first episode, Alex jokes about Haley getting pregnant when she starts dating Dylan. Ten years later, she does get pregnant out of wedlock with Dylan.
58** A few years after it was mentioned, a legendary prankster in Ireland actually went through with Phil's father's plan to play a recording of him begging to get out of his coffin during his funeral.
59** "Las Vegas" features a SycophanticServant by the name of Leslie Higgins, years before ''Series/TedLasso'' introduced an incredibly similar character of the same name.
60* HollywoodHomely: [[IAmNotPretty Alex refers to herself as less pretty than Haley]], and is invariably treated as the uglier one of the two. Even the thick glasses and conservative clothing Alex wears aren't going to fool anyone into thinking she's ugly though. However despite these comments quite a few boys are interested in her, and [[ShesAllGrownUp later in the series]] her looks are (positively) acknowledged more than once.
61** Claire is often treated as less beautiful than Gloria, but it falls a little flat to, well, anyone who can see what Claire looks like. Someone justified in that it typically only happens with direct comparisons between the two, you can't blame someone for feeling like they don't stand out compared to Gloria. In other contexts men (and [[LesYay at least one woman]]) are obviously are attracted to Claire.
62* InformedWrongness: In "Fight or Flight," Manny is being bullied at his cooking class by a guy who punched him in the groin hard enough to make him drop to the floor in pain. Jay teaches him to throw a punch so he can defend himself. The next time he goes to class, the bully comes up behind him and menacingly says, "Hey Delgado, you want a piece of this?" Manny turns and punches him in the face, after which it is revealed that the guy was offering him a piece of apple crumble as a way of apologizing for his earlier behavior, and that he was acting out because his parents were divorcing. Manny is horrified at what he did, and even Jay tries to eschew responsibility when he finds out what was going on, but it's pretty hard to sympathize with the bully. He says he felt bad about "teasing" Manny, but that's not what happened; he ''assaulted'' Manny in a pretty humiliating fashion. Manny threw a punch without knowing what was happening, but given the circumstances it's hard to blame him, and the other boy was certainly old enough to know that violence has consequences.
63* LesYay: In "The Wow Factor" when Claire and Cam attempt to outwit each other while trying to flip a house, Cam recruits Pam, an actual contractor who also happens to be a lesbian. In order for her to swing Claire's way, Claire "puts on a little show" for her by doing things such as showing off some skin, making her cleavage visible, and even "accidentally" spills water onto her white shirt.
64* MemeticMutation: A [[http://25.media.tumblr.com/ad9df8ec1b34d885d9a4161dd77cb851/tumblr_mnd6qy7oLR1rc2i08o1_500.gif gif]] of Gloria smacking Jay while screaming "I KNEW IIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" is a pretty popular reaction image.
65** Why The Face?
66** When life gives you lemonade, make lemons. Life will be all like WHAT??!!
67** Phil'sophy
68** ''What the hell is that?!?!'' An alpaca! I got the last one!
69** I know all the dances to High School Musical so...
70** Luke, grab that little hoe
71** Today I get to talk about the love of my life... [[BaitAndSwitch Residential real estate]]
72** ....Ooooohh it burns!!
73** "Shake it.... the container Cam."
74** Is Phil sexy?!
75** The entirety of Gloria, Cam, Mitch and Lily being in the Vietnamese restaurant.
76** IT SENDED!!!
77** "TAXI! They don't stop for me because I'm Latina." "Or because that was just a yellow car."
78** [[https://giphy.com/gifs/modern-family-love-funny-mQampxivdZze8 WHOOOOO!!]]
79** Whenever someone mentions something about a movie in 3D, expect [[https://giphy.com/gifs/modern-family-2oy00HJb2ahaw this]] gif to show up.
80** I vaguely remember someone [[https://giphy.com/gifs/modern-family-OiWL46uJXfP4A crying.]]
81--> "I'm playing a game. It's called 'every time I'm depressed, I take a drink."
82--> "That game exists. It's called alcoholism."
83** [[https://media.giphy.com/media/ClcWrARkrq1GM/giphy.gif Phil approves.]]
84** [[https://media.giphy.com/media/12pwEVqUn2n5Ti/giphy.gif That's messed up!]]
85** Not A Real Man
86** [[Theatre/AStreetCarNamedDesire STTTTEEEELLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAA!!!!]]
87** [[https://media.tenor.com/images/f80c26d38c7a896ea4f310c420b8cf5d/tenor.gif OHHHH MYYY GODDDDDDD!!!!!!]]
88** Okay, now one with flash!
89** The Venn Diagram of Sexual Identity
90** Gotta fix that step.
91** ''screams!'' '''''screams higher!'''''
92** [[ClingyJealousGirl "That could be him you guys, it could be him!"]]
93** ...But I am Latin, so I get to feel whatever I want.
94* {{Narm}}: There is ''zero'' difference between Cam's usual drama queen antics and his scenes that are supposed to be genuinely dramatic, which can often make it very hard to tell when we're supposed to stop laughing. This was noted to especially hurt his breakdown over getting older in "Leap Day."
95* OneSceneWonder: Stephen Merchant as the Vegas bellhop, so much so that he was brought back in the final season.
96* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Haley was probably the least popular character in Seasons 1-4. However, the fact that getting expelled from college actually triggered some decent CharacterDevelopment, coupled with her WillTheyOrWontThey dynamic with Andy, has given her a significant increase in popularity since then and she's since emerged as one of the most popular characters on the show.
97* RetroactiveRecognition:
98** Barden University must be very close to Los Angeles if [[Film/PitchPerfect Bumper, Sal, Dr Mitchell and Beca's boss all appear.]]
99** Shouldn't Ders, Alice and Adam be back on Series/{{Workaholics}}?
100* TheScrappy: The Dunphys' next door neighbors in season 5 were a bunch of obnoxiously loud rednecks whose episodes were among the weakest in the series. The show quietly phased them out once it was clear that they were extremely unpopular with viewers.
101* {{Shipping}}: In real life, the whole cast [[ShipperOnDeck all ship Haley and Andy together]] and they said that whenever Adam came on the show, that they were so excited to find out what would happen to Haley and Andy.
102* UnconvincinglyUnpopularCharacter: Alex is smart, talented, pretty, funny, and TheAce at almost everything she does, but there's much focus on how "unpopular" she is at school compared to her sister Haley.
103* UnintentionallySympathetic: In one episode, Phil and Claire are shopping and Phil turns to talk to an attractive woman. While doing so, he pushes the shopping cart into Claire knocking her over, and doesn't even notice because he's more concerned about the other woman, and when he finally does notice [[NeverMyFault refuses to take any blame.]] Later, when they're arguing about it in front of the kids, they all instantly take Phil's side and spend the rest of the episode mocking her for "always having to be right" (even when she makes clearly factual statements like the Titanic hit an iceberg or how many fingers make five, not even Alex backs her up). Later, after tracking down video footage to prove her point, she's forced to admit she does always have to be right. Problem is, while getting surveillance camera footage was a ridiculously over the top response, the family had spent the entire episode being {{Jerkass}}es, and when Phil was given undeniable proof of what he'd done he instantly changed the subject, [[KarmaHoudini never facing the consequences.]]
104* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic:
105** Alex was meant to come across as the [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Woman]] in her family whose academic achievement isn't appreciated. However, her dismissive treatment of anyone who isn't as intelligent as she is (that many, many times crosses into [[BullyingTheDisabled ableism]] with regards to [[DiagnosedByTheAudience Luke (who may have a learning disability or some other disorder)]] and [[RichBitch elitism]] with her belief that people are only worthy of respect if they have a college degree) makes it very hard to sympathise with her. The fact that she continues to behave in this manner well into her twenties and never faces consequences for it does not help.
106** [=DeDe=] has always been a complicated character. Her rather outlandish behavior is sometimes too overbearing, even on a show that’s known for outsized characters. Her presence often only serves one purpose: to create chaos and push the other family members apart. She creates conflict and anger wherever she goes, and that leads to a lot of predictable storylines. However after 9 seasons of CharacterDevelopment where the characters have not only learned to admit their faults, but that things weren’t always as bad as they said, she is the only one who is still constantly PlayingTheVictimCard. It's telling that, after she was revealed as the much-talked-up death in Season 10, many fans were underwhelmed or completely indifferent.
107*** This came a head in the episode "Mother". The episode's Aesop is supposed to be how hard and thankless it is to be a mother, yet [=DeDe=] comes off as a KarmaHoudini for backpacking legitimate grievances and guilt-tripping Claire, who she involves in a RightBehindMe. Gloria had a legitimate reason to be angry (Manny and Jay accidentally made their movie monster sound like her) and all she did was leave Manny’s script out for Jay to find to try and get them to work together. Claire's is somewhat more complex, but she's understandably bothered by her family seeing her as a monster who can only be reasoned with for a few hours each week. Meanwhile [=DeDe=]'s actions come across as genuine emotional abuse, including the fact that she befriended Cam specifically to manipulate Mitchell's decisions. Not only is the takeaway apparently that [[InformedWrongness getting mad about being emotionally manipulating for decades is wrong if everything worked out okay in the end]], it goes so far as to suggest he should be ''thanking'' her for doing so.
108** Most episodes featuring a conflict between Mitchell and Cam entail the former being portrayed as rigid and stuck-up and the latter as flexible and kind, ending with Mitchell conceding that Cam was right and apologizing. Problem being, Cam often disregards Mitchell's concerns (and even boundaries) while making decisions that put Mitchell in uncomfortable situations. In "Halloween 4: The Revenge of Rod Skyhook", for example, when Mitchell gets fed up with chasing Cam's Halloween nemesis (who's a child), Cam retorts that spouses are supposed to always back each other up, even when they're wrong. Meaning that any of Mitchell's concerns are dismissed by guilt-tripping.
109* UnpopularPopularCharacter: Manny. He's kind, sensitive and intelligent yet is undervalued by his peers and his family, but is loved by the fans for being one of the nicest characters on the show.

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