Where Do You Fit Into This Modern Family?
- by Lucas Wesley
- – on
- in Movies and TV
Just about everyone on this world has a silly grandma, an ornery grandpa, or a goofy dad. If not, you probably at least know a pretentious cousin, a dimwitted sibling, or an obnoxiously loud uncle who constantly demands the whole family’s attention. Those of us who haven’t been cursed/blessed with such a diverse, motley crew of relatives will simply have to settle for watching a fictional version of one on Modern Family.
Don’t let the string of familial clichés outlined above fool you, though—Modern Family is often one of the most inventively hilarious sitcoms airing today. Sure, by season nine, there’s been a bit of creative sag evident in practically every show ever made. However, the early seasons of Modern Family will likely forever stand the test of time. Even to this day, characters like Phil Dunphy, Cameron Tucker, and Jay Pritchett make us laugh hysterically with their wildly differing and unique worldviews.
The whole point of Modern Family is that the Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker clan has grown so large that just about every archetype is included somewhere on their family tree. This means viewers around the world should be able to recognize a little bit of themselves in at least one of the characters. On the off chance you haven’t been able to do that yourself yet, take our quiz and find out which breakout character from Modern Family you are.
Which family would you rather belong to?
Technically, Modern Family is about one big giant family, but there are many subdivisions and smaller groups within the Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker clan. Each hyphen denotes a separate entity, each name a family history all its own. In the end, they may all be the same, yet on the smaller scale, which one would you join?
Are you liberal or conservative?
From the very beginning, one of the driving forces of Modern Family has been patriarch Jay Pritchett’s tense relationship with his gay son, Mitch. Though he’s hardly homophobic, Jay’s more conservative views make it hard for him to understand the rest of his family. Are you the same way?
Which of these career paths are you most likely to pursue?
Diverse though the Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker family may be, one thing they all have in common is that they live in pretty high end LA neighborhoods. This costs money, and to get that money, they need to have successful careers. Which one would you try out?
Do you have any pets?
For as crotchety and rude as Jay Pritchett is to his own family, the one creature he always treats with love and respect is his pet dog, Stella. Unfortunately, this is highly at odds with his wife, Gloria, who holds a low key feud with the poor pooch most of the series.
How’s your love life?
It should go without saying that the Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker family got all their hyphens through marriage. Phil married Claire, Jay married Gloria, and once it was legal, Mitch married Cam. This doesn’t mean all the relationships are happy, though, and the kids aren’t married yet, so there’s plenty of options on how to relate.
Which of the following magazines are you most likely to subscribe to?
Print magazines have largely been dying in the modern era, but if anyone would still bother buying them, it would be the characters of Modern Family. It’s far too easy to picture Haley leafing through every single fashion rag around, and she’s probably not the only one.
Where would you prefer to go on vacation?
From the very beginning, one of the Modern Family’s trademarks has been having the entire Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker clan go on elaborate vacations for heavily promoted destination episodes. Sometimes they feel a little too gimmicky, focusing on the unique location over the plot, but they also made us want a vacation of our own.
Do you like sports?
For all their differences, the one thing that Jay and Cam can agree on is their shared love of football. Try though he might, Phil can’t quite join in on this type of male bonding, nor can any of the other Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker family members. Could you?
How do you feel about clowns?
The only thing better than when Modern Family dives headfirst into The Cam Show is when said side program stars his clown character, Fizbo. Whether we’re specifically talking about Fizbo’s expert comedic stylings or clowning in general, how do you feel about a white face and a big red nose?
Which of the following superheroes is your favorite?
Perhaps the cleverest moment in any of Modern Family’s multiple Halloween episodes began with the old trope of Mitch being the only one in his workplace to dress up. The catch was he happened to be wearing a Spider-Man costume, making his unseen escape a physical comedy tour de fours.
What’s your favorite holiday?
Despite the titular claim that the Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker clan are a *modern* family, they sure are traditional about celebrating every single major American holiday on the calendar. Maybe you aren’t quite the same, but you probably appreciate the plus sides of at least one of them.
Are you good with modern technology?
No matter how modern a family happens to be, diversity and relative acceptance of current social trends doesn’t necessarily pave the road to Silicon Valley. Only about half of the Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker crew knows their way around a computer, and unsurprisingly, it’s mostly the younger half. Are you part of it?
How often do you drink alcohol?
Theoretically, one might think that Modern Family doesn’t feature all that much drinking, what with half the cast being underage. In fact, everyone on the show who didn’t first appear as a baby has already started to imbibe, at least once in a while. Would you be drinking with them?
What style clothing do you wear?
Throughout most of her life, Haley Dunphy seemed like an outlier in her family due to her lackluster intelligence level. Despite her family’s fears, however, she inevitably built her way from the bottom up to a respectable career in the fashion industry. Would she approve of what you wear?
What’s your favorite type of music?
One thing just about every family, modern or otherwise, seems to have in common is that mom and dad listen to different music than the kids. In fact, the kids might not even agree on what tunes are best—nor necessarily do mom and dad. What do you listen to?
Do you like playing video games?
With video games become more popularly accepted in the mainstream, the generation gap of adults not understanding them is fading away. It’s very easy to picture Phil Dunphy taking his son Luke to the arcade and having a better time than the boy, but Jay might be too old for it.
Are you athletic?
In many respects, the Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker’s are a picture perfect family, where everyone inevitably gets whatever it is they want as though it was a birthright. Only a few of them have taken this drive to the world of athletics, though, leaving them with a surprisingly small trophy case.
Did you perform well in school?
Any thoughts about intelligence potentially being related to genetics flies out the window when discussing the Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker family. While some members in the crew are straight-up geniuses who achieved straight A’s, others are the lowest common denominator defined, both academically and socially. Did you do well in school?
What’s your biggest flaw?
None of the characters on Modern Family could be described as anything near perfect—and thank goodness for that. There’s nothing funny about shiny happy people living perfect little lives, and as such, much of the show’s hilarity relates to the Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker’s various foibles and flaws. What’s one of yours?
What do you do for fun?
Rare as it may be, most of the Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker clan would probably agree there’s nothing more fun than a day with family. Most people would probably disagree, and that’s whether we happen to love our families or not. With or without a relative, which of the following sounds most fun?
Are you wealthy?
A quiet reality of Modern Family is that the characters on the show need to be pretty darn wealthy to afford their homes at times and extravagant lifestyles. Of course, there are varying levels of “wealthy,” most readily displayed simple by the size of Jay’s house versus the domiciles of his kids.
What would you buy during a spending spree?
Hopefully, you answered that last question at least a little bit positively. If not, you’ll have to dip into your imagination a bit to answer this next one. Not everyone can be as blessed financially as the Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker family, but if you had their money, what would you spend it on?
What’s the most important thing in your life?
According to Arrested Development, the most important thing in life is family, but this isn’t a quiz about that particular iconic comedy series. Despite having family in its name, Modern Family was never so straightforward about the idea of putting family first. Do you follow such a credo, or is something else more important?
Are you an avid reader?
Magazines notwithstanding, it’s hard to picture 75% of the Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker family ever picking up a book. Sure, Alex, Manny, and Mitch can probably quote their favorite poets for days, but the rest of the family would probably just make fun for them for it. What about you?
Which group did you belong to in high school?
While the majority of what happens on Modern Family occurs in one of the three households in which the characters live, half of those characters being kids, the show occasionally takes viewers to school. The adults also love reminiscing about their youth, giving a glimpse of their social standing back then.
Do you have any siblings?
In a wild, semi-dysfunctional family like that of the Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker’s, younger individuals can at times feel like they have no escape, nor true allies. This is where having a sibling can come in handy—they’re the only other people who understand how weird your parents are. Can you relate?
Are you a clean or messy person?
The three houses owned by the Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker’s are all pretty huge, making it easy for them to get a little dirty now and again. Although every hyphen includes an individual obsessed with neatness, they’re also all odd couples with an Oscar to constantly infuriate Felix. Which are you?
Which Modern Family character is your least favorite?
Let’s face it—Modern Family might be a great show 90% of the time, but now and then, the more annoying character traits the characters have override any comedy to be found because of them. Luckily, they aren’t part of our family, so we can just press mute whenever they appear.
What’s your relationship with your family like?
For all their faults, mishaps, and the general chaos they cause, the underlying trend of all the Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker’s various adventures is a strong feeling of familial love between them. Even the ones who have almost nothing in common occasionally find ways to relate…when they aren’t yelling at each other, anyway.
Have you ever given to charity?
Able to live in big LA houses, it’s obvious the Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker’s are all reasonably well off. Perhaps surprisingly, they’re also at least somewhat aware of their blessed financial state, giving to charity when they can…they also take from charity once due to a misunderstanding, but win some lose some.
What’s your best quality?
Okay, so the Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker’s aren’t exactly perfect, but millions of Americans wouldn’t be tuning in every week to watch truly horrific people on television. Then again, there was Seinfeld…anyway, point is, the characters of Modern Family are generally nicer than average for a sitcom. Can you match their positive qualities?
Do you have any children?
First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a dozen or more baby carriages. Well, if there are enough loves and marriages, anyway. Point is, every couple on Modern Family to walk down the aisle produced a handful of children either before or after doing so. Have you done the same?
Have you ever broken the law?
Being in a sitcom, the members of the Pritchett-Delgado-Dunphy-Tucker family have gotten up to some pretty questionable antics in their day. Believe it or not, it’s actually Gloria who seems to be up to no good the most, but she rarely gets caught for her darker schemes. Do you?
What’s your sense of humor?
A side effect of Modern Family’s attempts to include every type of person in one extended clan was that a whole bunch of divergent personalities would also arise from the situation. Every person in the family has their own unique sense of humor, and your favorite character’s probably matches yours.
Which of these TV shows is your favorite?
Modern Family might be one of the funniest and most critically acclaimed TV shows on the air today, but it’s hardly the only program worth our time. There are plenty of other great sitcoms, dramas, and various other types of entertainment for us to enjoy. Which of these do you like most?
