Modern Family premiered a decade ago. Since then, it has become a great TV hit. In the series, the Pritchett family’s life, love, and everyday living are followed. During this decade, viewers have seen the characters develop.
The kids have developed into young adults. The patriarch is now retired, and the stay-at-home moms are trying to start careers. Although all the characters have experienced growth over the 10 seasons, some characters have shown more growth than others – just as in the real world.
11. Luke Dunphy
In the series, we met Luke Dunphy as Claire and Phil's rambunctious and mischievous son, who was often doing his own thing.
Luke’s development during the series has not always been good. He has gone from a mischievous young boy to a promiscuous young man. He has already been seen having a relationship with a divorced older woman and stealing Manny’s ex-girlfriend.
Over the years, it also has become clear that he is not as unintelligent and lost as everybody has thought. This is illustrated by the business plan he has up his sleeve. On the one hand, he has developed into someone who could develop an amazing business idea, but on the other hand, on a more moral level, he has become more and more promiscuous.
10. Gloria Pritchett
Gloria started as Jay’s second wife and was a very loving wife and mother, but the family saw her as a gold digger.
Gloria has maintained her love and tenderness for her family and has proved that she has not been a gold-digger. Gloria’s evolution has not been so direct in the story-line, but it was revealed that she had come from a prostitution environment, and through the years, she has tried to live a better life.
She also has become an American citizen.
9. Claire Dunphy
We met Claire at the beginning of the series as the daughter of Jay Pritchett and Phil Dunphy's wife. She was a very uptight housewife, and with her parenting of three young children, she was a serious helicopter mom.
During the ten seasons, her children have grown into adults, and she has become a grandmother of two babies. With the children out of the house, she has since ventured into the business world and has become a successful businesswoman.
She has taken over the management of her father’s business and loves the power of success and money. But she still misses her family and the time she has had at home. She has changed from an uptight homemaker to an uptight businesswoman but is still a loving mother.
8. Manny Delgado
Manny Delgado is Gloria’s son from her first marriage, and we met him as an outgoing but rather self-conscious youngster. He was the adult in a child’s body - mature well beyond his years, intelligent, and a big dreamer. But his insecurity showed in his relation with his mother, who kept him under her thumb.
Since he has become a college student, he has moved out of his mother’s home and lives alone. Manny has, over the years, become more confident and independent.
He has changed from an insecure young man under his mother’s thumb to a confident and independent individual ready to conquer the world. He, however, has remained the big dreamer.
7. Mitchell Pritchett
We met Mitchell Pritchett as Jay's son and Claire's younger brother. In the beginning, he had a very strained relationship with his father because of his homosexuality. In the beginning, he was low-keyed and mild-mannered, but with many sensitive qualities.
Over the years, he has mellowed from an uptight and anxious person to a confident man. He has developed a more relaxed relationship with his father despite his sexual orientation and has also become more comfortable accepting his homosexuality.
Over the years, he has changed from an insecure and anxious man to a strong person who is comfortable with himself and ready to be married to his partner. He has become a good parent for his teenage daughter.
6. Jay Pritchett
We met Jay as the patriarch of the Pritchett family. He is the owner of a closet business, very successful, and the family's wealthiest member. He was very grumpy and known to have a dry and sarcastic sense of humor in the beginning years. As he has grown older over the years, he developed into an older but much more mature man. His compassionate, softer side has become visible more often, as illustrated by his affection for his dog Stella, who he treats as a child.
The marriage to his second wife and his new school-aged son's parenting has also contributed to his compassion. He has also come to terms with growing older, and as a result, decided to hand over the management of his company to his daughter. However, he is still an entrepreneur and has developed a new business venture.
Over time he has changed from a grumpy patriarch and hard businessman to a more compassionate father and husband. He also has accepted that he is becoming older and has to stand away from his business. He has passed his business's management to his daughter – something that would not have even been considered a decade ago.
5. Gil Thorpe
We met Gil as Southern California's most successful real estate agent. He was the arch-rival of Phil Dunphy in the realtor business.
The most important development in Gil’s life is that he has realized and accepted that he is gay. He has divorced his wife and is now preparing for another lifestyle for the rest of his life. This acceptance of his sexuality softened him up a little bit.
He has changed from being a “cold-hearted” realtor who couldn’t accept that he is gay to a softer person who has accepted his sexuality and can now figure out the rest of his life. He is also not so hell-bent anymore to outsmart Phil in business.
4. Dylan Marshall
Dylan Marshall was introduced as a senior in high school and Haley’s bad-boy high school boyfriend. He played the guitar, sang in a band, and had no plans for college, and was a master when it came to school-skipping. He also didn’t appear to be too smart.
Over the years, he has developed personally and is trying to make something of his life. He is studying at a nursing school hoping to heal people and has also developed as a family man by marrying Haley.
Dylan has changed from a “bad-boy” high school attendant to being a great dad and husband.
3. Haley Dunphy
We met Haley Dunphy as the naive daughter of Claire and Phil. She was a high school sophomore at that stage and was the stereotypical teenager. Haley was the flirt focusing more on social status than studies, and as a rebellious teenager hanging out with the bad company and skipping school.
Over time she has struggled to figure out what to do with her life. Since the time she has not been living in her parent’s basement anymore and found a job she liked, her life has turned for the better. She has become married and now has two newborns.
She has made a great change over time by developing from a rebellious teenager to a responsible wife and mother.
2. Sal
Sal started as the wild party girl, always partying with her friends Mitch and Cameron. She became very jealous of the attention Lily had been getting and threatened to kill her. She drank heavily, partied hard, and didn’t hold back on her opinions.
Over time she has become married, pregnant, and then divorced. She has since been the single mother of her child and is now far more mature and responsible than in the beginning, due to her baby's birth.
She has changed from a wild party girl to a responsible mom caring for her only child.
1. Lily Tucker-Pritchett
Our first choice, Lily Tucker-Pritchett, was introduced as the adopted daughter of Cameron and Mitchell. At that stage, she was an infant.
Perhaps you are surprised by our choice, but she has started as an infant and has developed in 5 or 6 years into a typical teenager in the “series-time in real-time.”
With this remarkable total transformation from an infant to a typical teenager, her character can be described as the most developed!
Bonus for You to Enjoy - Funnies
Whether you agree with our choice regarding the characters’ level of evolution or not, we believe that you are enjoying the series.
As a regular viewer, you also know that there are many funny moments in this series. For in case you’ve missed some of them, we include a short YouTube video for your convenience with the best funny moments.
Conclusion
We’ve arranged eleven characters from Modern Family in order of how we see their evolution over the years. While we’ve been doing it, we’ve realized how realistic the series is. Just as in normal life, none of the characters has stayed the same since their first appearance in the series until now.
Some developed positively, while others developed more bad habits. And there have been many funny moments in the series!
