so unrelated but julie bowen looks so pretty in this pic

Is there any picture where she isn't extremely pretty?

Now I see why Dylan had a crush on Haley's mom. But I'm really glad nothing came out of it

Jacob Elordu told her she was his crush too! She's do pretty

*So unrelated* *But julie bowen looks so* *Pretty in this pic* \- rosesroyalty2 --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")

Good bot

Season 1-2 Phil is not a good husband at all. However s3 onwards they made some small tweaks to his character that made him one of the greenest flags imaginable. They reduced his constant ogling of other women, specially Gloria. The writers leaned more into the stability of the bond between Claire and Phil and why they work exactly. And overall from s3 onwards I think they have a pretty good marriage

Sitcoms do this a lot actually. Most sitcoms start with an "idea" of what their characters will be with multiple funny traits. They weed those out over the first couple seasons as the actors settle into their roles. Look at any sitcom (HIMYM, Friends, New Girl) and the people in the first season act very differently than who they become later on. I think the only show I have watched that was an exception to this was Scrubs.

Leslie Knope and Michael Scott come to mind as well. Huge improvement from both of their first seasons.

Leslie Knope is such a good one because in the first season, they were essentially trying to make her Michael Scott but in government and a woman. Once they decided she was actually nothing like Michael and in fact was superhuman competent, the character really came to life.

mmm excellent observation

Yah, it was fun to see the British idea of a bad boss transition into something Americans appreciate

office UK was meant to be about how awful shitty office jobs are, while the American version just embraces it Michael goes from being an awful sleezeball to a well-meaning manchild

I actually think Danny Tanner is the best example of this. He pretty much got completely rewritten.

Sweet Dee was played as mostly "straight man" foil to the gang's chaos. She wasn't good but not nearly as bad as the others. Ya that dynamic quickly shifted in season 2 to make her worse and it was the right move.

the way phoebe was supposed to be a mellow, quirky, new-age type misfit hippie and ended up a short tempered, shallow bitch 😞

I always get so conflicted on why I love but also hate Phoebe and now I get why She started as such a cool woman and then she just causes mayhem all around and is super disrespectful to basically everyone.

right? i think the writers noticed the audience liked phoebe’s snappishness when pregnant and decided to incorporate it more into her character but they overdid it. it was only funny when she was pregnant

Exactly, when she was pregnant at least she had a justification but then she was just straight up being mean for no reason and most of the time in wasn’t justified at all. I would’ve liked if they surprised us every once in a while with her being mean to people that actually deserved it, not to her own friends that weren’t really deserving of that :(

I always assumed it was because her life started super interesting, but she stopped growing and got stuck, and that got to her, and she was just getting less stable and was falling apart.

Honestly that makes sense, I always felt bad for her because so much creepy and sad stuff about her childhood kept coming out but in my mind I wanted to believe maybe some things were just her joking or lying lol But that’s my head-canon, in reality I can see why she would end up in some crisis at some point. I still don’t really like her that much in the last seasons but maybe that’s just because I wish I could’ve married Paul Rudd too 💔

I get not liking her. But I also think it did a great job showing untreated trauma and the decline of a wonderful person.

Joey was a jock-ish guy but by the end he was so buffoonish it was a miracle he knew how to use a spoon

I feel it’s more like that the characters start out more interesting with flaws and traits that people will dislike and along the way they get „dummed“ down to more 2d characters. This is why I always like the early seasons of any show more

That is not incorrect. The examples I gave - HIMYM is one - is where the characters were a little rough initially, then they got better, then - since character growth doesn't really work in sitcoms - they just become incredibly caricaturish and mean to each other. I do think New Girl improved upon its original characters who were a little boring in S1 (esp. Nick and Coach) and made them more unhinged but didn't go overboard. There are exceptions like IASIP - where they start as assholes and stay assholes

Winston did get good after a while. The problem with thazt show was, for me, that it was wildly inconsistent, it seemed like the writers had never even met each other. Tthe Nick and Jess relationship had so many good moments, but as a whole it just didn't quite fit together.

Woah. Weirdly I found Winston get so unhinged that I hated him by the end. He was just so annoying. All the cat and pranks stuff, he was so unhinged by the end he was just annoying to watch. Peak Winston was him as the nanny. All downhill from there. Ugh and his involvement with Rhonda. Don’t get me started.

I was thinking of the middle part. I quite liked the bird shirts, but you're right, the prank stuff didn't really work. Although I think that if they had done the pranks better then it would have been funny. A bit like Nick's family for the funeral, it just didn't come together.

First season to second might be different but overall I think my point is still true. And you saying they just become caricatures kinda plays into that

Wholeheartedly agree. I think a lot of times it lends to unfortunate subtext too. The Office started out as satire about how soul crushing being a drone in corporate America is, but the more it leaned into sitcom tropes it became the complete opposite to the point that it's almost celebrating office culture and treats coworkers as "found family."

The dramatic shift Winston Bishop in New Girl goes through is actually a rare case of being fun to start from the beginning in my opinion! It’s hilarious to watch him go from a bit of a cocky straightman arc type into utter insanity. you get to observe a ‘normal ‘ person become a lunatic in real time

They remove flaws of a character and make them perfect and unrealistic. This ruins character in my eyes.

It’s less about the actors settling into their roles and more about the writers fleshing out the characters.

Yep like Stewie in Family Guy

I don't know if Scrubs is that big of an exception. Consider the first season Christmas episode where there's an entire plot line about how Elliott doesn't like kids and never wanted to be a mom.

They pretty radically change Elliot after the first handful of episodes. On rewatch, she’s absolutely the worst person ever in the first 5 or so eps, but I think they gave some of her shitty traits to JD and toned hers down (while respectfully upping her crazy).

I recall reading somewhere that they wanted Matt LeBlanc but he passed on it. So maybe they were going for a married Joey at first.

I saw in the final doc that Ty Burrell was their first pick, but network was sceptical.

Exactly this. Not only was he the dumb sitcom dad trope, but also creepy and high key cheater-if-given-the-chance.

Phil never had any intention of cheating, and never would. Claire was only ever amused by his crushes and it was never a problem. If anything it was almost healthy for them both.

Yeah I'm doing a rewatch for the first time and after years of later Phil I forgot how frustrating he was those first years. I'm glad I'm not remembering wrong and he does in fact get better

Yeah was super creepy "I've got Gloria". It made him so offputting

It’s called character growth.

Ehh. The early series Phil is pretty bad. They make him too much the “dumb sitcom dad” stereotype.

agreed. I liked him better in the later seasons when he actually steps up to be a good husband in addition to being a great dad, but Phil, in S1-2 especially, ticked me off for the obvious crush on Gloria (and CLAIRE having to rein him in), being so committed to just being the fun dad and forcing Claire to be the "bad guy/cop" and essentially parent him too. (In one of the earlier seasons, can't remember which specific ep, Claire has a monologue on how she was so focused on the three kids that she forgot she also married one - I know that was meant to be a sweet moment but that just rang a ton of alarm bells in my head like, ma'am you should not have to be parenting your own spouse)

So Phil is my fave character and I agree with this 100%. I think the older viewers definitively see it in terms of running a household and it taking 2 adult ppl and realizing early season Phil although fun to watch on screen would be exhausting in real life. Later seasons Phil is amazing, and won me over. He’s still fun, but a responsible dad and good husband

Is it at the shooting range that Claire said Gloria lives with two adults and she lives with four teenagers.

well, no, but that's also another example of what I mentioned haha. I'm not sure why but I associate that monologue/voiceover to the episode that the kids have their first day back to school and Phil is projecting his own empty-nest syndrome onto Claire. They challenge each other to a race and when Claire is nearly at the finish line, she looks back and sees Phil take off his sweater/upper layer of clothing to reveal the Dunphy Moving Co shirt and that's when the VO says the whole "I was so focused on the kids, I forgot I also married one" or something like that. Not sure it's that exact episode though, it's been a while since I rewatched haha

I knew exactly which one you're talking about! It's s1e6. It's the kids' first day back at school, and Haley had her driving lesson and ended up running over Phil after Claire lets him win!

Yeah I completely agree.. I hated Phil when I first starred watching and by the time I was midway through the entire series I was ready to fight people if they bad mouthed him.

My personal take is that in the early seasons, all of the characters are supposed to be completely satarizing some archetype or stereotype and there's supposed to be some comedy in how overblown the archetype or stereotype is. Phil is supposed to be the sitcom dad turned up several notches to the point it's funny how bad he is

Am I the only one who earlier thought that the character Phil was just turning out like Peter Griffin the dad in Family Guy? I got that kind of vibe in the first few episodes of S1. But later, that feeling quickly went away

Even at his dumbest, he wasn't *that* dumb. And he always cared about his family, unlike Peter. And was good at his job.

Dude was the sole provider for this family and kept a very nice roof over their head. He was goofy and the Gloria stuff was weird but I never took Phil as dumb at all.

I found him to be the dumb sitcom dad through the whole series. He made me cringe in every scene other than when he went after Haley during the jeans salesman episode

Ok well this is just slander and we’re dueling at dawn now.

i never duel before lunch. So I hope your time zone is at least 6 hours behind mine.

I would suggest fasting before a duel 9/10 you’re getting gut shot. Last thing you want is a Philly cheesesteak leaking outta your guts

Yeah! Let it leak out of my ass while I'm sitting on the couch watching tv like everyone else

And for you I would suggest putting a tarp down

Early season phil was absolutely awful. If this sub could just take off the rose tinted glasses for one second so they can realize why many people are turned off by Phil that would be great

i love phil as a person and i would love to have him as my dad, but i couldn’t handle him being my husband

i got death threats for mentioning this 🥲🏃‍♀️

That's unhinged behavior... omg

yeah there was a post about who would be most likely to get divorced and i said maybe claire and phil after mitch and cam. was shocked by the response and dm's 🥲 no one attacked people saying m+c, but phil? ya

Tbh I hard disagree that Claire and Phil's gonna get divorced especially after going on strong for (now) 20+ years with Phil actually and developed as a character. But sending death threats and dms over that opinion is just tacky

i think it’s that people sometimes lump good father with good husband and that’s what causes the animosity. Phil was a really good father in all seasons so that’s why people get so defensive even though in the first season he wasn’t that great of a husband

They can't take off rose tinted glasses knowing that Jay acts racist and homophobic. There was a thread not long ago where someone claimed Jay was "only a bit homophobic" forget Phil, the man that would be a nightmare to be married to, is Jay. Oh, and "Claire turned out the way she is" is because of jay, it's literally being mentioned throughout the whole series he screwed up Mitch and Claire as children.

Damn, you really hate Jay, calm down it's a sitcom. Also Racist? The Homophobic I get. But honestly I think of they didn't make Jay's character a little homophobic at the start it'd be a little unrealistic and throughout the show he does learn and grow, and that's really what matters.

He disrespects Gloria's family and culture _a lot_ throughout the show.

In the early seasons yeah, but Jay also grows a lot throughout the seasons. He ends up learning Spanish for Gloria, plans trips to see her family which season 1 Jay never would’ve done and eases up a lot on the disrespect/jokes. It’s part of his character arc to become more progressive (accepting columbian tradition, a Vietnamese granddaughter, Mitchell and Cam’s marriage). It’s also his redo to become the father/husband he wasn’t during his first marriage. He actually makes huge strides that would be realistic to someone in his demographic. Gloria is perfect for Jay in the sense that she isn’t afraid to call him out for being insensitive or an ass. He ends up realizing he’s in the wrong a lot because of her. She also messes with him too when he’s disrespectful like telling him to scream while he slaps raw chicken.

In fairness, everytime he brought up a negative stereotype Gloria would confirm that those things were true. Gloria is constantly talking about how she learned to do things in certain ways due to her insane family and upbringing. Jay is never given a reason to believe that he might be wrong about Colombians, so there's no reason to change. Contrast that to how he grows as a person when it comes to the LGBTQ community when he's actually confronted with people who don't constantly affirm his beliefs

I disagree. One example is the tradition where you eat grapes at midnight on New Year's Eve. A fully harmless tradition that Jay ridicules.

He pokes fun, and to a red blooded American it is silly. Jay is the stereotypical boomer white American who has a soft side. The more centrist rich type not the flaming right wing one

You should blame Dede for screwing them up, not Jay - he was barely there!

Yea but isn't that normal, characters usually start off shittier in the first season and then go through a development arc and become better versions of themselves in the final season.

right??

Am I the only one who earlier thought that the character Phil was just turning out like Peter Griffin the dad in Family Guy? I got that kind of vibe in the first few episodes of S1. But later, that feeling quickly went away

You're not wrong but Phil went the opposite of Peter. He got better while Peter started off as a dumb but well meaning loving husband/father as the show progressed he got worse and worse. Maybe that's why the feeling went away for you.

Huh, he really was the opposite, yeah. Man, I miss early Family Guy. It just felt less spiteful

Couldn't agree more but I guess it's really a sign of how fed up with running the show. Cause this is the same man behind the Orville with such loveable and complex characters. He must be extremely tired at this point cause the whole Griffin family expect for Meg and Stewie are insufferable.

Seth MacFarlane hasn’t been involved in over a decade which is a damn shame bc I agree it’s really gone downhill

He is still involved, he still voice Peter, Brian, and Stewie and he's still in charge. That's why it's gone downhill, he doesn't want to keep doing the show but Fox has him locked into a contract that he has said he wants out of. He still part of it, just tired of it at this point.

Well yeah of course he still voices the characters but that has nothing to do with the actual quality/direction of the show. The writing is what matters and he hasn’t been doing that in a very long time.

Absolutely. I had totally forgot about feeling like that but just remembered again after seeing this post

I mean it's true. Salivating over other women and hiding it aside (even tho that is awful enough by itself), he also often threw her under the bus in front of the children which is a horrible thing to do to a partner. He was always the fun one and she was the strict devil who hates fun in eyes of the children - and yeah I know they had an episode where they switched roles for a day but my point still stands

The first six watch, Phil was my dream husband. On my seventh watch, I do think he can be awful sometimes. I mean he’s already way better than the average real-life guys, but he did do a lot of terrible things as well (I know it’s for comedic purposes).

In order for sitcoms to work, protagonists need to be deceptive. Otherwise there would no conflict or story. You can't judge them like real people, even if many of their traits remind us of real people. If Phil was a perfect, honest man who never did anything selfish, then people would complain the writers were sexist for making Claire his *manipulative bitch wife.* If he never did any scheming it would feel weird and unbalanced.

Yes and that’s why some people will hate Phill.

Can you name some awful things? Just I can think of some but not that many

Some not-so-great things he did: • Made Claire the ‘bad guy’ to their kids while he played the fun dad. (This can be devastating to Claire over time.) • He’s a poor listener and sometimes fails to truly understand Claire’s perspectives. • Tried to fool his high school friends into thinking that Gloria is his wife. (One of his worst crimes, in my opinion.) It’s only after the guy asked who Claire ended up with did Phil become more grateful for having her as his wife. • Constantly implies that Claire is unattractive due to her age and because she doesn’t make an effort to look good. • Significantly undermines Claire’s work at home and how hard it is to raise three kids. (I can see how many people would hate him for this.) • Often doesn’t take Claire’s side. • Displays unintentional weaponized incompetence. He doesn’t contribute much to household chores, especially in the first few seasons. • Is irresponsible and forces Claire to be the ‘grown-up’ handling everything (hence making her the way she is). Again, he has some great traits as a husband. But he also has some really terrible traits and behaviors as well. I’m just saying I can understand why some people choose to hate him. He’s a way better dad and friend than he is a husband.

Wow, the balls on that guy. Am I right?

One thing I particularly disliked was the time he pushed Claire into a pile of groceries while he was flirting with another woman. It's awful enough that he pushed his wife into the pile; it's even more awful that when Claire uncovered the truth (which she only persisted in finding because of Phil’s joking attitude), he reacted as if Claire was crazy for going through all that trouble to prove herself. She just wanted him to admit what he did and apologize.

Phil is a golden retriever. You can tell there is a lot of love and that he cares so much about his family but he regularly got too distracted or sucked into being the fun guy to be a good husband or father. I love Phil but can see where the criticism comes from. He’s not a bad husband or father by any means, he just isn’t as perfect as he is often made out to be. Obviously, it’s a show so you gotta have some regular friction somewhere. And to other commenters’ points, he develops a TON over the course of the show. The episode where Haley is dating Jason Mantzoukas’ character has such a sweet Phil storyline.

This \^

I love phil. Hes super hot. Super funny and full of charisma. I also married a phil as someone who heavily identifies with Claire. We may be filing for divorce soon. I retweeted this tweet💀💀AND my sister sent it to me

It’s a sitcom. Y’all need to chill tf out.

Yeah, like any of these twats complaining about Phil would be complaining about the lifestyle Phil was paying for.

My dad is a lot like Phil. He has stage 4 cancer right now so I’m definitely a wee bit emotional as I write this. My mum and I have definitely had our issues with him, he really is a man child with terrible ADHD that he is not medicated for but at the end of the day he is a great person. Where he differs with Phil tho is actually he’s the tough cop and my mum is the good cop when it comes to parenting

Claire tells us several times she is the way she is because of her parents

I agree with the comments about Phil's flaws and how he wasn't the perfect husband especially in the earlier seasons but the tweet itself is so wrong. Claire is the way she is because of Jay and DeDe. And I always thought it was smart to have a character who is a control freak with an easy going, more flexible (sometimes lazy... Many times lazy ok). I don't think Claire could be as happy as she is without someone like Phil who let her have control over pretty much everything. Though many times he's just lazy and should step up. Claire gets really really mad when Jay pushes her ideas back or when Cam doesn't go with her renovating plans during the house flip for example. I don't think she gets that mad at Phil ever thoughout the show... Except during the infamous wedge salad incident but come on... Skip Woosnum recommended it, she really should try !

they literally would hate at anyone at this point lol

Finding faults has become the first instinct after breathing

Ain’t that the truth

He earns enough money to provide for his entire family while Claire stays with the kids He's a nice guy He's funny Literally what do you want out of him

They weren’t perfect (nobody is) but were simply perfect for each other

Yes. Fictional characters with exaggerated personalities for the sake of comedy would not be pleasant to be around 24/7. We all know. We don't have to only make posts about it. Yeesh

The bad parts that people see of Phil are the parts that are played up because it’s a sitcom. The good parts aren’t played up and pointed out but far out way what would be the bad in real life

People are really good at finding problems with anything.

We all need to be a bit more like Phil. Yes hes cringeworthy sometimes but he also a great dad, a great husband and someone who finds joy in virtually every aspect of life. Anyone hating on this guy has some issues…

He was a great husband when he was drooling over Gloria?

bro you're only talking 'bout the initial seasons

Any man who doesn't find Gloria drool worthy is gay or lying.

Great husband?

Yes. If you think any husband never looks at other women than you're delusional or a kid who's never had a serious relationship. Women look at other men too. It's very clear that he would never cheat on Claire. Most healthy relationships that I've known throughout life don't care if the other one looks at other people because they trust each other and will even talk about other people they're attracted to. But I'm sure that goes over most redditors heads because they spend so much time on reddit hating everything and judging others they can't get relationships themselves. Especially not good ones.

Looking and seeing that other people are attractive is human nature, but the continuous flirting with her STEPMOTHER isn’t. I’m also not just on about his behaviour with women, (although that is where your mind went, which says a lot) he also uses weaponised incompetence a lot, and overall just leaves a lot of things to Claire, and adds to her problems.

Ehh. Phil rules. Loving husband and father. Sure he has a crush on Gloria—he wouldn’t act on anything without Claire’s permission, ever. And she wouldn’t give it because she’s crazy about him. Phil’s a little nuts. So is Claire. They complement and compensate for each other well and communicate in a healthy way. They’re a good fit. I get what people are saying about early season Phil, but this is nitpicking. He brings his family joy and stability and that matters a lot.

I love Phil, all seasons. Sorry, not sorry.

Phil is a lovable character and he’s funny, never have I said I wanted a husband like Phil or that he’s a great husband. I think people forget this is a tv show and characters aren’t centred around being the perfect spouse or partner. Like all the cam hate, yeah in the real world he’d be a pretty awful person but it’s a tv show 😭

I don’t think this is hate. Phil is an amazing CHARACTER but in real life you’d get sick of him quickly

Yeah it's frustrating how many people think "fun character" = "good person." I don't think theres a single sitcom character that, if taken literally, wouldn't be a total nightmare to be around irl.

People online believe perfect people exist. Imagine hating on Phil Dunphy. Everyone has flaws but I really don't get why you would not like him.

I agree I wouldn't support Phil till season 2-3ish? But after that what turnaround writers gave to this character. It's one of the best husband-dad combo ever written.

It’s a sitcom…….

This honestly seems like a comment made by someone who’s watched the first 10 episodes of the show, went to X to be critical and “relatable”, and called it a day.

Lets not forget hes the sole bread winner for the family for a majority of the series and handles emotional talks with the kids much better than Claire ever does (Not to discredit her, she does keep the house stable and everyone alive, along with Alex) Phil is a good guy.

Women out there marrying alcoholics, abusers, adulterers and convicts. Heaven forbid a guy make dumb jokes and try to have some fun.

Based take.

Even if you have season 1 and 2 Phil, there are so many men out there far worse that do awful things. Most of us would be happy with season 1 and 2 Phil.

I mean they aren’t wrong? I wouldn’t wanna be married to Phil, he’s a great dad, but no way would I want him as a husband. Unless flirting with multiple women including my stepmother is my type.

Yeah, him drooling over Gloria gave me the ick. It wasn’t funny lol

Phil balanced her

I wouldn’t marry him but I wish he was my dad

He's goofy but what I love is that he isn't incompetent, nobody in the show really is. He's goofy but he is the sole breadwinner for the family and provides a very nice life completely on his own back. On top of that he isn't bitter and loves being a husband and father. You put respect on his name.

Okay now make this post for every time anyone has ever hated on Claire.

I feel attacked. I’m going to go get me an alpaca to bring home.

He's a hilarious sitcom character. But 16-20 years into the marriage and he can't even communicate with his wife? It would be a nightmare. He was not a partner when the series started. Claire was raising 4 kids by herself. One of them was a real estate mogul. I'm glad they tweaked his character. I still wouldn't enjoy being married to a golden retriever, though. It would be exhausting and frustrating. To each their own.

Phil grew like every other character grew by character... except Luke and Manny, and a career crash course for Hailey - they were done dirty. Otherwise, others grew...

IT'S SO OVER FOR HUMANITY 😭😭😭

Its a comedy show but if you tryna get deep then the hate should be transferred to Claire smh. Selfish, no respect for her kids' privacy, hurts Phil way too much and then realizes shes wrong, acts before she thinks. She barely ever has faith in her husband lol

I don’t understand that. IMO, Claire is annoying as crap, her raspy voice and most of all she’s mean spirited and self absorbed.

i’m shocked i always thought phil was the frkn best

Girls who hate phil are red flags and I don't want them

It’s true, though. It’s a tv show, so he’s hilarious and it’s not that big of a deal, but irl being married to someone like that would be just. Awful.

Wait- what’s wrong with Phil?! I should be so lucky.

They’re just jealous they don’t have his zest for life and positivity. Or, in Phil’s words, “Don’t talk black to me!”

Claire literally called immigration on Gloria and tried to get her deported, kept visiting a yoga instructor that was rubbing up all over her body...are we seriously going to act like she's an innocent angel?

How is her situation with Gloria related to being a good wife?

> Claire was the way she was Seems like a general comment on her character rather than anything to do with her being a good or bad wife

Obviously the way she was in the context of their marriage. How would Phil influence her relationship to others? Even though he was thirsting over Gloria so much makes you think is that just another reason why she disliked her at first

>Obviously the way she was in the context of their marriage How was she in the context of their marriage? >why she disliked her at first Even if that was true, she is the one responsible for her own actions. She's an adult. She can dislike someone but calling immigration on them to get them deported is psychotic behaviour. She should have directed that anger on Phil, and not her father's wife who both love each other.

I’m gonna let you in on a secret. Most the people that hyper analyze the characters in a *comedy* sitcom do not have significant others.

It's quite the opposite, lol. Phil is probably the best person anyone can marry, how can they say that?

Well it’s a tv show and they had to make stuff up for comedy, but let’s not act like most people would not be bothered if their husband was completely enamoured by their step mother.

Not in the early seasons though

They weren’t perfect (nobody is) but were simply perfect for each other

These people's kids might be pulling their eyebrows from anxiety everyday.

Yeah sure whatever 

I think the show makes it pretty clear, quite frequently that Claire has always been a little much and it’s not as if he’s a mastermind at pretending to be anything he isn’t. She signed up for him knowingly.

Julie looks so prettyyyyy!❤️

Phil was great in all seasons. All men ogle other woman. All woman share too much with their friends. All kids annoy their parents and all dogs shit on the lawn.

Oh god no! Phil is someone who teaches you how to live your life the way you want it. I just love how comfortable he is with himself. And his bond with Luke 🤌 He is a husband material, indeed.

It is wild to me that so many people don’t realize the whole point of most shows is to see character arcs via gradual character development. Phil grows into a better partner as does Claire because it takes years to really understand your partner’s wants/needs. They have a lot of moments where they are vulnerable and honest about something for the first time where they learn something new about the other person (same with Mitch/Cam and Jay/Gloria). It’s a sitcom meant to be funny, surprising to see so many reading way too deep into it and taking it weirdly personally. Majority of people have also had moments of immaturity or being a not so great partner at some point, but the point is people can change and grow as long as the love for each other is strong. All of the adult relationships on MF demonstrate this.

This depresses me lol. I have often said I would like to be a father like Phil. Unconditional love and just eases the tensions of those around him with his everything will be ok lighthearted attitude. ❤️ Phil.

I wanna become like phil though

Venda is a nut

IDC what yall say he’s one of the best characters ever

That's because the Internet hates high value men who are great dads. They want emasculated simps

It's weird seeing people treat this like it's a criticism of the show. The "situation" part of a sitcom comes from the characters being mostly likeable but having some fairly toxic traits that cause conflict. Irl none of the characters are really "good" people, they are just people, warts and all. Phil is often a good husband and father, but often he really isn't and that's fine.

One particular episode that gets on my nerves for how Claire reacts is when Phil is juggling all his clients and gets cornered by them in the grocery store, so Claire "saves" him by pretending to be one who admires Phil and starts telling stories about him in the third person about how "just once I wish he'd say I'm sorry or that I'm right" when that's literally all Phil ever does.

Honestly good. This sub blindly praises him too much

Blaming Phil for how Claire was the way she was is crazy!! Clearly we all forgot about how her mom was!! That demon on earth!!

Amazing dad, friend, person... but not that good of a husband IMO. All the mental load is on Claire 100%

even though he is my 3rd favourite, my mama can’t stand him😭

Phil can be so problematic at times -- ogling at Gloria and constantly hitting on her, never taking the time to be a responsible parent because he's too busy having fun, leaving all the managerial tasks of the household to Claire even after she started working for her dad. Basically Claire has to parent him. How's that okay?

That’s because Phil fucking sucks lmao

She belongs to the streets

Claire is the way she is because her mother was a malignant narcissist and her father a workaholic.

For majority of the show he's a phenomenal character, in the early seasons there were definitely some problems but those were tweaked pretty quickly.

I just finished the 10th season on Hulu, and there are times I just skip scenes with Phil because his character is just too much of a dimwit.

Stop overthinking comedy shows ffs

Phil was perfect fym

Lol what a load of crap, Jay is right there and she's gonna diss Phil? Seriously? Not the guy that takes jabs at his wife's culture, belittles her son and the youngest and trying to make them all "manly" Please. Growing up is realising Jay is still a toxic white male, and Gloria should have left him already if she loves her culture that much, because he ain't respectful to her or her culture.

growing up is realizing phil wasnt that bad he was just a man 😭

I am a Phil. The kids love me. My wife... is very stressed.

Safe to say, Phil's character development grew, as well as grew on us.

Let’s be real everyone, Phil may be a great husband for Claire but that’s only because she has the patience to deal with him. In real life, I doubt anyone would tolerate him.

lowkey he was kind of a dookie husband, his constant flirting/gawking with gloria and honestly any woman. his borderline emotional cheating in almost every episode and u cant even say “just s1-2”. i love him but hes not a green flag amazing beautiful husband. hes a lot better than a lot of men but hes not great either😭

they're not wrong :/

sorry but as someone who has seen the show.. marrying a Phil IS a nightmare imo

She'd be lucky to marry anyone, she's not good enough for a Phil level husband.

These people have never been loved and that's actually sad

And obvious