Since 2009, we've had the pleasure of getting to know one family's family tree on Modern Family. From the Pritchetts to the Dunphys to the Tucker-Pritchetts, we've fallen in love with every speedbump and every milestone. And while Jay and Gloria are refreshingly honest and Phil and Claire are the parents who never stop trying, we've all come to love Mitchell and Cameron.
As the fathers of Lily, these two are the perfect match. While they're both wildly different from one another, they both bring out the best in each other, and viewers adore it. However, just like Phil and Claire or Jay and Gloria, these two have their mean-spurts. They've both gotten themselves into a thick web of lies that's impossible to get out of. And although it's funny to watch, you can't deny that these 10 things aren't mean-spirited.
CAM ALLOWED SQUATTERS TO LIVE IN THE APARTMENT UPSTAIRS
Once Mitch and Cam's neighbor upstairs passed away, the couple decided to take the opportunity, by the upstairs apartment, and rent it out for income. We've seen a few different groups of people rent the upstairs (like the Christian rock group and the family of three that collect figurines) but they all had one thing in common: Cameron being too nosey.
As a snoop, Cam seemed to bombard and overwhelm the houseguests. And after a group of Russians paid Cameron cash to stay an extra day, they took advantage of him and never left. Mitchell asked Cameron repeatedly to get them out, which resulted in an entire web of lies with Gloria's help.
MITCHELL GAVE CAM'S INHERITANCE TO HIS DAD
In another episode of Modern Family, we find out that a long lost uncle of Cameron's passed away and left him a hefty sum. Considering Cam didn't even know this supposed uncle, he was thrown off but the two of them decided to take the money and buy the apartment upstairs. Mitchell praised Cam for telling him about the money he came into because there was a time in their lives where Cam would have kept that secret.
Oddly enough, after he praised Cam and came up with a gameplan for the money, Mitch decided to offer to pay his dad back for the downpayment he lent them years ago! He didn't even talk it over with Cam, he just offered it as soon as Claire pressured him.
CAM BROUGHT IN A STUDENT TO LIVE WITH THEM WITHOUT TALKING IT OVER FIRST
Now that Cameron is working full time at the high school as a gym teacher and a football coach, he's finally found a good balance in life. He's doing everything he loves. On the flip side, Mitchell doesn't really care too much about sports.
In the middle of a great football season, Cam learns that his top player is moving to Florida. In an effort to get him to stay for the rest of the season, Cam offers to host him while his parents move. While it was very noble of Cam to offer their house to a kid in need, he never talked it over with Mitchell or his impressionable daughter.
MITCHELL MADE LILY'S LEGAL LAST NAME PRITCHETT INSTEAD OF TUCKER-PRITCHETT
This has to be one of the most serious arguments these two had gotten into, and somehow Cameron handled it with grace!
Cam was going through Lily's adoption paperwork when he found a blunder regarding her name. Instead of being Lily Tucker-Pritchett, her legal name was Lily Tucker Pritchett. This means that Cameron's last name was not his daughter's last name, it was her middle name... As it turns out, Mitchell did this on purpose. At that point in their relationship, Mitch wasn't sure if Cam was going to grow tired or bored of their new family and so Mitchell changed her name legally to protect them.
CAM STEALS MITCHELL'S NEWS STORY
In the episode "Queer Eyes, Full Hearts," we see Cameron and Mitchell meeting a local news reporter (Anne Gibbs) at a party. Mitchell was gung-ho on speaking to her about a local issue revolving around the homeless.
However, as soon as Mitchell started talking, Anne Gibbs seemed more interested in the fact that Cameron was an openly gay football coach with a winning record. She decided to run with Cam's news story instead of Mitchell's, and in a classic Cam way, it went to his head. He treated Mitchell poorly during their football pancake breakfast and made him do all the work.
MITCHELL WENT TO THE LADY GAGA CONCERT WITHOUT CAM
Mitch and Cam have name-dropped Lady Gaga a few times in Modern Family and in "Good Cop Bad Dog," they finally had a chance to see her in concert. But after a nasty cold has Cameron bed-ridden, he begs Mitchell to stay with him and keep him company. Torn, Mitch decides to stay with Cameron until he falls asleep and the ditch him for the concert.
By the time Cam woke up, Mitchell was back at home acting like he never went to the concert. The only problem is he forgot to take off his glow-in-the-dark necklace...
CAM PUTS LILY IN A COMMERCIAL WITHOUT MITCH'S CONSENT
When Lily was a baby, Cameron was the stay-at-home dad while Mitchell went to work. As a lover of drama and theatrics, Cam started photographing Lily at a young age and decided she was ready for the next best thing: acting.
After landing a gig in a commercial, Mitchell forbade Cameron and Lily from going to the shoot and said the commercial was racist and off-putting. So what did Cameron do? He took her anyway.
MITCHELL BUTCHERED CAM'S 40TH BIRTHDAY
In the third season, we finally made it to Cameron's 40th birthday. However, with his birthday being a Leap Day, Cam would rather celebrate his 10th birthday than his 40th. Nevertheless, Mitchell decided to throw an incredible Wizard of Oz-themed party at their home for his big day.
Sadly for Mitchell, his theme came back to bite him in the butt because a tornado just hit his hometown where he still has family. Now that the Wizard of Oz party is called off, Mitchell had no other ideas besides renting a boat to have dinner on. And that didn't even happen because they had too many people that the captain was unaware of.
CAM ATTACKS MITCHELL FOR HAVING A *COOL* EX-BOYFRIEND
In the episode "My Hero," Cameron finally meets Mitchell's ex-boyfriend Teddy. Unbeknownst to Cameron, Teddy is an incredible guy who is very close to the Pritchett-Dunphy clan. As if Teddy couldn't get even cooler, he invited them all to a fundraiser he was hosting and was even more charming than Cam could have imagined.
Due to feeling inferior and self-conscious, Cam was mean to everyone that day, including Mitchell for dating someone so charismatic.
MITCHELL FORGOT TO SEND OUT CAM'S FUNDRAISER INVITES
In the second season, Cameron is hosting a music fundraiser at his home and was super nervous about it because his arch-nemesis was going to be in attendance. As the two are getting everything ready, Mitchell realizes he never sent out Cameron's invites for the fundraiser...
And since no one called Cam to say they weren't coming, he thought they were having a full house! Mitch was obviously upset with himself for not listening and tried to patch it up, but it didn't really turn out as planned.