Season 3 for Modern Family began airing on September 21, 2011 and ended on May 23, 2012. This is the first season to feature Aubrey Anderson-Emmons as Lily, who was formerly played by Ella & Jaden Hiller in Seasons 1 and 2.
Cast and Characters
Main
- Ed O'Neill as Jay Pritchett (24/24)
- Sofía Vergara as Gloria Pritchett (24/24)
- Julie Bowen as Claire Dunphy (24/24)
- Ty Burrell as Phil Dunphy (24/24)
- Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Mitchell Pritchett (24/24)
- Eric Stonestreet as Cameron Tucker (24/24)
- Sarah Hyland as Haley Dunphy (24/24)
- Ariel Winter as Alex Dunphy (22/24)
- Nolan Gould as Luke Dunphy (24/24)
- Rico Rodriguez II as Manny Delgado (24/24)
- Aubrey Anderson-Emmons as Lily Tucker-Pritchett (21/24)
Recurring
- Reid Ewing as Dylan (3/24)
- David Cross as Duane Bailey (3/24)
- Jennifer Tilly as Darlene (1/24)
- Chazz Palminteri as Shorty/Vincent (1/24)
Guest
- Leslie Mann as Katie (1/24)
- Josh Gad as Kenneth Ploufe (1/24)
- Greg Kinnear as Tad (1/24)
Episodes
| Image | Title | Writers | Directors | Airdate | No. in Season |
No. in Series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
"Dude Ranch" | Paul Corrigan & Brad Walsh & Dan O'Shannon | Jason Winer | September 21, 2011 | 01 | 49 |
| The three families take a vacation to a Dude ranch in Wyoming; Mitchell tries to be more masculine, Phil tries to impress Jay with his 'ranch' skills and Gloria tries desperately to pop her ears. | ||||||
|
"When Good Kids Go Bad" | Jeffrey Richman | Michael Spiller | September 21, 2011 | 02 | 50 |
| Lily begins acting out against the idea of having another baby in the house and frightens Mitchell and Cameron, who were planning on telling the family their good news. Meanwhile, both Claire and Jay find themselves desperate to prove they're right. | ||||||
|
"Phil on Wire" | Bianca Douglas & Danny Zuker | Jason Winer | September 28, 2011 | 03 | 51 |
| Gloria becomes upset by Jay and Stella's close connection and tries to bond with the dog herself. Phil and Luke try to learn how to tightrope, while Claire teaches Haley and Alex a valuable life lesson. Meanwhile, Cameron goes on a juice fast, much to the dismay of Mitchell and Lily. | ||||||
|
"Door to Door" | Bill Wrubel | Chris Koch | October 5, 2011 | 04 | 52 |
| Claire recruits her family to help gather signatures for a petition to get a stop sign, Gloria loses the family dog, Jay helps Manny try to sell wrapping paper for school, and Cameron leaves a mess in the kitchen for Mitchell. | ||||||
|
"Hit and Run" | Elaine Ko | Jason Winer | October 12, 2011 | 05 | 53 |
| Claire leaves Phil at home to watch the kids while she applies to run for public office, Mitchell and Cameron are victimized by a hit-and-run driver, and an annoying client asks Jay to "wow" him. | ||||||
6
|
"Go Bullfrogs!" | Abraham Higginbotham | Scott Ellis | October 19, 2011 | 06 | 54 |
| While Phil takes Haley on a tour of his Alma mater, Claire goes out on the town with a man she mistakenly assumes is Mitchell and Cameron's gay friend. Meanwhile, Gloria is alarmed and curious about Manny's mail-order package. | ||||||
7
|
55 | "Treehouse" | Steven Levitan | Jason Winer | 55November 2, 2011 | |
| Phil tries to build a tree house, Haley struggles with writing a college admissions essay, Cameron hits on a single woman to win a bet with Mitchell, and Jay doesn't want to go out salsa dancing with Gloria and another couple. | ||||||
8
|
56 | "After the Fire" | Danny Zuker | Fred Savage | November 16, 2011 | |
| As the family collects goods for a family whose house burned down, Jay makes an embarrassing remark to Phil during a massage, Claire is jealous of Mitchell's friendship with Gloria, and Cameron struggles with a moving van in a parking lot. | ||||||
9
|
57 | "Punkin Chunkin" | Ben Karlin | Michael Spiller | November 23, 2011 | |
| Phil is upset that Claire is stifling his creativity, Mitchell doesn't believe Cameron's "punkin chunkin" story, Gloria won't let Jay tell Manny that his Thanksgiving centerpiece is horrible, and Claire and Alex get in an accident. | ||||||
10
|
58 | "Express Christmas" | Cindy Chupack | Michael Spiller | December 7, 2011 | |
| Phil proposes that the entire family celebrate "Express Christmas" together on December 16, when they discover that they won't be spending Christmas Day together. | ||||||
11
|
59 | "Lifetime Supply" | Jeffrey Richman & Bill Wrubel | Chris Koch | January 4, 2012 | |
| After having a doctor's visit but then missing the call with the test results, Phil automatically jumps to conclusions and starts saying his goodbyes. Meanwhile Javier pops up unannounced again and takes Manny to the horse races for a belated birthday celebration, and a subtle competition ensues when Mitchell brings home an environmental law award and it becomes a game of who has the bigger trophy. | ||||||
12
|
60 | "Egg Drop" | Paul Corrigan & Brad Walsh | Jason Winer | January 11, 2012 | |
| While Jay and Claire become hyper-competitive while working on their boys' science project, Gloria tries to help Phil with his real estate seminar. Meanwhile, Cameron and Mitchell interview a potential birth mother. | ||||||
13
|
61 | "Little Bo Bleep" | Cindy Chupack | Chris Koch | January 18, 2012 | |
| The family helps Claire prepare for her upcoming televised debate with Duane Bailey for the town council seat, but will they do more harm than good? Lily is going to be a precious flower girl for the first time, but the problem is she’s just discovered her first expletive and Mitch and Cam don’t know how best to deal with this new parenting test. And Jay is very concerned with Stella’s recent strange behavior and puts the blame on Gloria. | ||||||
14
|
62 | "Me? Jealous?" | Ben Karlin | Michael Spiller | February 8, 2012 | |
| Phil is so preoccupied with impressing his new business partner, Tad (Greg Kinnear), that he doesn't notice what Claire believes is Tad being overtly inappropriate with her. Meanwhile, Jay and Gloria let Mitchell and Cameron stay over while their house is fumigated, and it turns out four is a crowd. | ||||||
15
|
63 | "Aunt Mommy" | Abraham Higginbotham & Dan O'Shannon | Michael Spiller | February 15, 2012 | |
| After selling a house to Mitch and Cameron's friends, Claire and Phil plan a celebratory dinner; overindulging in drinks leads to over sharing. | ||||||
16
|
64 | "Virgin Territory" | Elaine Ko | Jason Winer | February 22, 2012 | |
| It's a day of disturbing realizations when Mitchell manages to ruin one of Jay's proudest golf moments, Phil overhears something that may forever change how he sees his little girl, and Gloria stumbles upon Claire's dangerous little secret. Luke and Manny try to get Lily into trouble because she is too cute . | ||||||
17
|
65 | "Leap Day" | Danny Zuker | Gail Mancuso | February 29, 2012 | |
| Mitchell feels pressured to make Cameron's birthday extra special; people start to question Jay's manliness; the girls interfere with Phil's leap day plans. | ||||||
18
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66 | "Send Out the Clowns" | Steven Levitan & Jeffrey Richman & Bill Wrubel | Steven Levitan | March 14, 2012 | |
| Cameron's former clown partner comes to town. Meanwhile, another real estate agent obtains a listing Phil was trying to land. Elsewhere, a new friend of Manny's has Gloria and Jay suspicious. | ||||||
19
|
67 | "Election Day" | Ben Karlin | Bryan Cranston | April 11, 2012 | |
| On Election Day, the family does some last-minute campaigning for Claire; Claire experiences technical difficulties during interviews. | ||||||
20
|
68 | "The Last Walt" | Dan O'Shannon & Paul Corrigan & Brad Walsh | Michael Spiller | April 18, 2012 | |
| Claire tries to help Luke cope with the death of their neighbor, Walt; Phil and Alex spend some time together; Haley throws a pool party without permission at Jay and Gloria's house; Cameron's father visits. | ||||||
21
|
69 | "Planes, Trains and Cars" | Paul Corrigan & Brad Walsh | Michael Spiller | May 2, 2012 | |
| Phil buys a car without consulting Claire; Jay is on a mission to get to his high-school reunion with Gloria and Manny; Lily loses her favorite toy on a train. | ||||||
22
|
70 | "Disneyland" | Cindy Chupack | James Bagdonas | May 9, 2012 | |
| When the family travels to Disneyland, Phil struggles to keep up with Luke; Claire is stunned when they run into Dylan; Cam and Mitch must curb Lily's new penchant for running. | ||||||
23
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71 | "Tableau Vivant" | Elaine Ko & Jeffrey Richman & Bill Wrubel | Gail Mancuso | May 16, 2012 | |
| Gloria and Jay bicker while trying to order lunch at a diner; Claire and Cam have different theories on how to discipline kids; Luke accepts an award under false pretenses; Phil has a hard time firing Mitchell from his temporary job at the real estate agency; the entire family participates in Alex's living art display of Norman Rockwell's Thanksgiving painting, entitled "Freedom from want". | ||||||
24
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72 | "Baby on Board" | Abraham Higginbotham | Steven Levitan | May 23, 2012 | |
| While Gloria helps Cam and Mitch pursue an adoption opportunity, Jay and Manny baby-sit Lily; Alex attends her first prom; Haley makes a shocking announcement about her plans for the future. | ||||||