Modern Family will sadly be coming to a close after its 11th season, which just began airing on ABC. The sitcom has been a staple of the primetime lineup now for over a decade, and it will be sorely missed.
From the characters to the witty and clever writing, hilarious double entendres, and fun moments, fans of all types and age groups have loved watching this, well, modern family, navigate life.
The show follows three main families: Jay Pritchett, his much younger second wife Gloria, stepson Manny, and new son Joe; Jay’s daughter Claire and her husband Phil and children Haley, Alex, and Luke; and Jay’s son Mitchell and his husband Cameron and adopted daughter Lily.
While every episode brings its own unique flair and elicits its share of tears (from laughter, mostly) some season finales, in particular, were better than others. Here’s a ranking of the 10 season finales to date.
“The One That Got Away” (Season 2)
While the family tries their best to plan a perfect day to celebrate Jay’s birthday, all he really wants to do is go fishing. Everyone attempts to do something special: Claire and Mitch try to recreate a childhood photo, Cameron buys a cake (and gets into trouble while doing so), Phil pretends Gloria is his wife when he runs into an old nemesis at the mall, and the kids try to make a video gift.
In the end, the dinner is a disaster, as expected, with the cake falling on the floor, the presents duds, and Jay unable to go fishing as he wanted – until Manny sets up a fishing area at the pool. It was a sweet episode, but not one of the strongest finales.
“The Graduates” (Season 8)
The second finale covering a graduation, this time, it’s Luke’s and Manny’s. Manny’s biological father (Benjamin Bratt) shows up and takes him out to a strip club the night before the ceremony, leaving Jay to help pick up the pieces the day after.
An emotional episode, it wasn’t one of the best, with silly storylines like Phil trying to drain out all of his tears ahead of time so he didn’t cry during the ceremony, and Luke selfishly trying to ask for a car instead of the watch his parents were offering him as a gift.
“Double Click” (Season 7)
With Claire now a high-powered executive, she was still learning the ropes and having a hard time firing someone. Meanwhile, Alex moved back home for the summer and, hilariously, no one even noticed.
Haley and Andy continued to simultaneously realize and deny their feelings for one another, and Jay tried to reintegrate back into the workforce, now with his daughter there, too. On the hilarity level, it didn’t quite live up to other season finales. But there were some laugh-worthy moments, as always.
“A Year of Birthdays” (Season 10)
The last season finale to air prior to the 11th and final season, which premiered at the end of September 2019, this one focused on Haley as she prepared for the upcoming birth of her twins. In lookback style, we see how each person in the family celebrated their birthday that year.
Phil tried to learn new things, Jay got roasted by his family, Mitch got a surprise party he didn’t want, Gloria tried to ignore the day, Luke attempted to pursue an older woman, Claire was angered at her gifts that were all designed to help you relax, Joe was overshadowed by Phil, Manny proposed to Sherry and she declined, Alex got drunk alone because Haley was pregnant, and Cam’s party was ruined when the family discovered he and Mitch were the first to know that Haley was pregnant. It was a sweet episode and a perfect way to prepare viewers for the new (and final) season to come.
“The Wedding” (Season 5)
This two-part finale covered Mitch and Cam’s wedding, and featured Nathan Lane as their friend and wedding organizer Pepper. Of course the wedding was met with issues at every turn, including Cam getting the wrong tuxedo from the dry cleaners, a wildfire close to the wedding venue, Claire and Luke getting stuck in a boat in the middle of the lake, and Phil temporarily losing his sight after an eye appointment, then trying to shop for a wedding gift in that condition.
It was the most viewed finale of all first five seasons, though compared to the others, it only got mixed reviews.
“Goodnight Gracie” (Season 4)
A sad episode, Phil’s mom passed away, and the family headed to Florida for the funeral. Each person had their own adventures while there, including Jay running into the woman to whom he lost his virginity at 18, Gloria going to court to fight a pending arrest warrant relating to a room she sublet there, and Cam making friends with elderly people in the retirement community.
It ended on a sweet note, as Phil’s mother left gifts for each of her grandkids, including a lighter for Alex. While Alex was initially baffled and upset at the seemingly meaningless gift, she later learned that the lighter was supposedly owned by Paul Newman who left it at a diner. The underlying message to Alex was that sometimes, it’s okay to break the rules.
“American Skyper” (Season 6)
Celebrating yet another milestone, this finale focused on Alex’s graduation. But the funniest part was Phil joining the family via telepresence robot while he was away at a conference in Seattle. As Phil observed the goings-on at home, he realized that Haley and Andy loved one another but, despite his best efforts, he couldn’t get anyone to pay any attention to him so he could tell them.
Meanwhile, Mitch lost his job, and Gloria’s lazy cousin Armando, played by Horatio Sanz, stayed with her, Jay, and the kids for a few days, annoying a grumpy Jay.
“Baby on Board” (Season 3)
This episode ended on a cliffhanger when Gloria revealed that she was pregnant, sadly shortly after Mitch and Cam unsuccessfully attempted to adopt a second baby. Meanwhile, Alex headed to prom with her boyfriend who was clearly gay, and Haley tried to get out of going to college because she wanted to move in with Dylan.
It was a more emotional finale than in other seasons, which is a departure from the typical hilarity. But the episode was praised by critics for the emotional depth of Mitch and Cam’s story, and the well-crafted humor.
“Family Portrait” (Season 1)
This episode centered around Claire trying to gather the entire family to take a family portrait. In typical series style, plenty of events and misadventures put a wrench into plans and each family member almost misses the picture.
In the end, after Jay started a mud fight that ruined everyone’s crisp white clothing, the family portrait was taken anyway. It might not have been the perfect pic that Claire had wanted, but it was perfectly representative of the family, and proved that you don’t have to look perfect, but rather, just be yourselves. As the first season finale ever for the show, it remains one of the best.
“Clash of Swords” (Season 9)
If you’re a fan of comics, superheros, or sci-fi, this is definitely the episode for you. Mitch and Phil snuck out to Hero-Con, a take on Comic-Con, and Phil was in full cosplay of his favorite character from the show Clash of Swords, an obvious parody of Game of Thrones. But then he angered superfans there and they were forced to leave.
Meanwhile, Gloria threw a dinosaur birthday party for Joe only to be outdone by another mom from the school who upstaged her with a bigger and better party next door. You’ll be laughing hysterically all the way through.