A Fair to Remember

"A Fair to Remember"
Season	5
Episode	7
Total Episode Count	103
Written By	Emily Spivey
Directed By	Beth McCarthy-Miller
Production Code	5ARG09
Air Date	November 13, 2013
Episode Guide
← Previous	"The Help"
Next →	"ClosetCon '13"

"A Fair to Remember" is the seventh episode from Season 5 of Modern Family, it aired on November 13, 2013.

Plot Summary

The whole family, except for Haley and Joe, whom the former has an awkward first encounter with Andy who is babysitting the latter, heads to the school fair where everyone gets something to do: Phil and Claire celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary, Gloria signs Jay up to be a fair cop, Manny participates in the cake-baking competition, Alex and Luke fight for the same girl, and Cameron worries about his work as a football coach.

Episode Description

Phil and Claire celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary and they both want to surprise each other with their gifts. Claire, who has a tradition of making the worst gifts, this time has prepared a surprise for Phil at home and she tries to make him go back home. Phil, however, does not want to leave the fair, as he arranged with the band who plays at the fair to sing a song for her. Phil manages to keep Claire at the fair till the time that he would get on stage and sing for her, but his surprise is ruined when their pharmacist, Harold Grossman, gets on stage right before Phil is supposed to get and sings amazingly. Phil feels frustrated to learn that Claire has loved Harold's singing and does not want to sing anymore, so he goes back home with Claire who surprises him with Chinese acrobats. Phil loves Claire's gift, and Claire manages for the first time to give him a gift which is actually good.

Manny participates in the cake-baking competition, something that Jay does not like since the only participants are old ladies and he believes that Manny does not fit there. Gloria, to get rid of Jay, signs him up to be a fair cop. Gloria, realizing later that Jay was right about Manny not fitting to the competition, decides to destroy Manny's cake so he will not be able to participate. When Manny sees the destroyed cake, he believes that one of the other contestants did it to exclude him from the competition.

Meanwhile, Cam worries about his new job as a football coach since his team has not won a game till now. When one of his students' fathers threatens that he will pull his kid from the team if they do not start winning, Cam freaks out and he tries to intimidate his students to be better players. He finally finds what his team needs to win in Manny.

Jay, as a fair cop, has to be partnered with some other guy named Derrick. The problem is that Derrick is the guy who he fought with few minutes earlier about a parking space. The two of them seem to get along though and they enjoy their duties as fair cops.

Luke has a crush on a girl, Sienna, and he asks for Alex's help on how to approach her without telling her who the girl is. Alex agrees to help him but Sienna is also the girl who Alex wants to make her best friend. When Claire tells her that Sienna is the girl Luke has crush on, Alex tries to keep him away from her. Their fight in front of Sienna just scares her away.

In the meantime, Haley stayed back home to enjoy Jay and Gloria's pool thinking that no one is home, but Andy is at home, baby-sitting Joe. They run into each other and Andy tells her that she can not use the pool since Jay and Gloria are not there. Haley, of course, does not care of what Andy says, and when she is lying next to the pool, Andy tries to collect proof that she was there.

Main Cast

(The characters striked out do not appear in this episode)

• Jay Pritchett
• Gloria Pritchett
• Manny Delgado
• Joe Pritchett
• Claire Dunphy
• Phil Dunphy
• Haley Dunphy
• Alex Dunphy
• Luke Dunphy
• Mitchell Pritchett
• Cameron Tucker
• Lily Tucker-Pritchett

Guest Starring

• Adam DeVine as Andy Bailey
• Jordan Peele as Derrick
• Madison McLaughlin as Sienna
• Dylan R. Snyder as Neal
• Rick Cowling as Harold Grossman
• Darin Toonder as Dad Beats Guitarist
• Ethan Webb as Kid
• Sean Carrigan as John
• Khamani Griffin as Davis
• Bon Ogle as Booth Worker
• Kylie Burkholder as Fair Girl (uncredited)
• Alyssa Casa as Girl at Fair (uncredited)
• Ryan Casa as Cotton Candy Kid (uncredited)
• Madison Dae Clarion as Fair Goer (uncredited)
• Jack Estes as Kid at Carnival (uncredited)
• Ashlie Garrett as Cake Contestant (uncredited)
• Cole Daniel Hills as Fair Goer (uncredited)
• Jessica Knight as Derrick's Wife (uncredited)
• Jason Nguyen as Chinese Acrobat (uncredited)
• Rick Silver as Fair Vendor (uncredited)
• Nicholas Small as Football Player (uncredited)
• Alec VanOwen as Tough Boy (uncredited)
• Ema Vo as Janice the Cake Girl (uncredited)

Continuity

• Third episode to revolve around Phil and Claire's wedding anniversary ("Great Expectations", "Caught in the Act").
• Claire mentions giving Phil bad anniversary gifts ("Great Expectations").
• The opening bit references the episode "Caught in the Act".
• Cam is worried about his work as a football coach (the job he took in "First Days").

Trivia

• Haley and Joe are the only members of the family who don't attend the school fair.
• Phil and Claire celebrate their 20th anniversary.
• Luke reveals he has never kissed a girl.
• This is Luke's 100th episode.
• Joe doesn't appear physically in this episode; he's only heard.
• The first interaction between Haley and Andy. Andy's second appearance as well.

Cultural References

• The episode title references the film An Affair to Remember.
• Cam says casting Russel Crowe in Les Misérables was a bad decision.
• Jay tells Manny that all bakers are girls, giving the examples of Betty Crocker, Mrs. Fields and Little Debbie.
• Claire gave Phil for their anniversary a plate of Planet of the Apes.
• Harold Grossman sings Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is".
• R2-D2 is mentioned by Phil.
• The Derrick and Jay cop story-line is a reference to cop movies, especially Lethal Weapon
  • Partners of different races.
  • When Jay consoles Derrick after the icee was thrown on his shirt/blouse, a “Dad-beat” begins playing a saxophone, which in the Lethal Weapon movies a saxophone constantly plays in the background.

Gallery

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