SPOILERS ahead for Modern Family Season 11.
Modern Family is currently airing Season 11, the final season, so there will be many goodbyes. Hopefully most of the goodbyes won't come from funerals, but "Legacy" did have some lovely final scenes and a funeral for Frank Dunphy (Fred Willard). Phil Dunphy's (Ty Burrell) beloved father -- the original fun dad! -- died in the January 15 episode. But first, Phil got to spend one last wonderful day with his father.
Phil had been worrying that his dad had dementia, since Frank was seen wandering around the old grocery store he used to own. That wasn't the case, though, since Frank was just upset because the store was in disarray and he missed working there. Phil followed up by asking his dad if he ever wanted another child -- meaning an additional one -- to follow in the family business so Frank wouldn't have had to sell his store. Thankfully, the answer was no. Phil did take over the family business, Frank argued, since he keeps life light and fun for everyone. It was a beautiful little moment.
From there, Phil had a delightful and memorable day with his dad, he just didn't know it would be their last day together. Check out ABC's clip from Modern Family Season 11, Episode 11, "Legacy":
Frank Dunphy died of old age and Modern Family Season 11 lost another longtime character. Actor Fred Willard, currently age 80, had been in 13 episodes since Modern Family started and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. He was such a joy to have on the show and it was great to see Ty Burrell and Fred Willard have one last day of dad jokes and fun together.
Phil's dad's death follows the loss of DeDe (Shelley Long) in Modern Family Season 10. Modern Family previewed that death by playing up that someone would die, and the 2018 episode revealed it was Claire and Mitchell's mother, who was also Jay's ex-wife.
Modern Family Season 11 is the final season and, so far, there are no spinoffs ready to follow. It seems hard to believe the end is nigh, but CBS just did this with The Big Bang Theory. All good things must come to an end eventually (except maybe for Grey's Anatomy, there's no killing that show).
ABC has already revealed that Modern Family's final episode, the series finale, will air Wednesday, April 8. Season 11 continues Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC. Keep up with everything premiering in early 2020 with our handy TV schedule.
