Episode 'Modern Family' Season 2, Episode 19 - 'The Musical Man' Recap

When you hear that the episode "The Musical Man" will feature a storyline with Cam directing Manny and Luke's school play, you would assume that the majority of the episode's laughs would come from there. You'd be wrong, though: it was actually Phil's latest antics that stole the show last night.

But first, Cameron's story. He takes his general fussiness to the middle school stage as he takes over a musical production by the kids about cultures around the world. Any normal director would paint a few backdrops, have the kids sing a few songs, and call it a night. Cam has pulleys and wire work and moving set pieces.

It's predictably disastrous...the whole thing ends up like a night at "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" (zing). But despite Eric Stonestreet's brilliance ("Years from now these kids will remember how I Sondheimized them") and some great lines from Manny ("Reuben hasn't had a bowel movement in a week...don't laugh, that's how Elvis died"), the storyline is one we've seen in sitcoms before.

Meanwhile, Jay's brother (Jonathan Banks) shows up, and "Breaking Bad" fans will recognize him and possibly cower in fear. Their storyline is touching, as Jay finds out through communicating (something the two don't often do) that his brother has prostate cancer, and they work things out in the end.

All of this, though, pales in comparison to the Phil/Claire storyline. Phil, in a desperate attempt for advertising, covers the minivan in pictures of him and the family, along with the words "I can't be satisfied until you're satisfied." The problem is, only the first half of that quote is on one side of the car, and that's the side with the picture of Claire. What's worse, the other side is a picture of Haley with a phone number that says "Call me!"

It's a complicated setup, but it's all paid off when Phil receives phone calls from creeps thinking that they're talking about houses (and not his wife and daughter) and launches into conversations that are just one big double entendre ("I think the carpet matches the drapes, I haven't checked in a while").

His physical bits attempting to block Claire from seeing the car were nothing short of magical. Seriously, if Ty Burrell doesn't start winning awards over Alec Baldwin soon, there will be some kind of uprising. Bet on it.