Modern Family: 10 Times Phil Gave People The Wrong Impression

Anyone who has seen enough of Modern Family knows that Phil Dunphy can be pretty oblivious at times. Combine that with his quirky, good-natured attitude, and it’s no wonder that Phil gets into some pretty awkward situations.

Although Phil is always well-meaning, his naivety causes him to often misunderstand people and miss out on certain social cues. This makes his behavior come off wrong at times. Read on to find out ten times Phil accidentally gave people the wrong impression.

10 When He Gave A Press Statement

On election day Claire runs into a local reporter, who doesn’t realize that she is a candidate for city council. Obviously this doesn’t make her feel confident, but Phil assures the reporter that, “Her spirits are high. The whole family is high. There’s your headline”. This is just one of many examples of Phil not realizing what is coming out of his mouth. Hopefully that reporter didn’t take Phil’s advice on the headline.

9 When He Made A New Friend At The Gym

In the episode “Mistery Date”, Phil meets a fellow Bulldog named Dave at Cam’s gym and the two hit it off. While Phil is ecstatic to have a new friend, he doesn’t pick up on the fact that Dave is gay. An evening ensues with these two really not on the same page. Phil asks his new friend if he wants to watch a game at his place with him and assures him that his wife and kids won’t be home. Phil is just so generous and sweet that he doesn’t understand that Dave thinks it’s a date, until he kisses him.

8 When He Invited His Ex-Girlfriend Over

Poor Phil can be so naive. In the episode “Truth Be Told”, he thinks he is harmlessly re-connecting with an old ex-girlfriend named Denise, who was hoping to reconnect in a different way. Apparently Denise misinterpreted Phil’s friendly Facebook messages and thought that he was looking to cheat on his wife. It’s a good thing Phil is a stand-up guy, because his obliviousness gets him into a really weird situation this time. Denise throws herself at Phil while he uncomfortably tries to avoid her advances and tell Claire what is going on.

7 When He Embarrassed Claire In Front Of Her Friend

This one is partially the kids’ fault, but Phil doesn’t make things any better. When Claire leaves Phil alone with the kids he ends up stuck taking a business call in a port-a-potty outside the house. In the meantime Haley and Dylan have a very loud fight, Alex and Luke bring in a bunch of old booze bottles to recycle, and a rat sneaks into the house.

Claire and her friend Valerie get home in time to witness all of this chaos before finally finding Phil in the port-a-potty, where he assures them he was, “just concluding a little business”. He is also wearing a fake mustache for some reason. Valerie is less than impressed and leaves in a hurry.

6 When He Dumped Garbage In A Doctor’s Car

In the episode “The Verdict” a man approaches Phil and asks him for cab money because his car was towed. The man seems to know Phil, but Phil cannot remember where he knows him from. Luke later convinces Phil that the man scammed him for his money, and the two dump garbage in his car. The man catches them and tells Phil that he is the obstetrician who delivered Luke. That doctor definitely didn’t end up with  a great opinion of Phil.

5 When He Made Questionable T-Shirts

In the episode “Manny Get Your Gun”, Phil is excited to return to Family Camp and defend his title in the “Color Wars”. Last year Phil’s team color was white and he came up with the unfortunate slogan, “If you ain’t white, you ain’t right”. He even made t-shirts, and couldn’t figure out why people were upset when he was wearing them. A year late Phil still did not understand.

4 When He Accidentally Set Rainer Up With Haley

Accidentally setting your daughter up with a man twice her age has got to be a dad’s worst nightmare. Phil is ecstatic to meet his weatherman icon Rainer Shine. When Phil and Rainer hit if off over beers, Phil gives Rainer Haley’s phone number, thinking that he wants to contact her about a makeup job. Due to a mix-up  in the conversation, Rainer thought Phil was giving him the okay to date his daughter.

3 When He Stole A Kid’s Bicycle

Sometimes Phil gets carried away trying to be a good dad. In the episode “The Bicycle Thief” Phil gets Luke a new bike, hoping to prove that he will be responsible enough to take care of it. When Phil finds the bike abandoned on the sidewalk, he takes it to teach Luke a lesson.

Unfortunately it was not actually Luke’s bike, and when Phil tries to return it a couple of kids chase the “bike thief” down the street.

2 When He Dropped Haley Off At Her Dorm

Phil and Claire do their fair share of smothering Haley when they drop her off at college. Although all she wants is for them to leave, the two insist on helping Haley set up her dorm room. Then Phil makes things as awkward as they could possibly get by mistakenly thinking that Haley’s new roommate is Claire, and grabbing her butt. Needless to say the new roommate and her family are not a fan of Phil.

1 The Family Van

When Phil has the family van wrapped in order to advertise for his real estate business, it sends the wrong message about what exactly he is selling. Phil hopes the van will let people know that he is a family man. However, due to the way the van was wrapped, one side shows a picture of Claire under the phrase, “I can’t be satisfied” and the other side with Haley’s photo reads, “Let me make your dreams come true”. Phil is eventually disappointed and horrified to learn the real reason he has been receiving so many calls about his ad.

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