On Modern Family, it was usual to see Gloria and Jay together, or Haley and Alex. But the unlikely character pairings truly made the sitcom stand out.
For 11 seasons, the Delgado-Pritchetts, Tucker-Pritchetts, and Dunphys spent a lot of time together on Modern Family. The adults were usually side by side talking about each other, while the kids were on their own finding a way to make the gathering more exciting. Nevertheless, there were common character pairings, like Gloria and Jay or Mitchell and Claire.
However, there were character combos who made such magic onscreen but weren't in many scenes together. At the start, Gloria always wanted to be with Lily but as Lily aged, that bond disappeared. Alex and Jay also had a sweet relationship but they didn't get nearly as much camera time as Jay did with Manny. It's times like these where fans wish that they saw more of different characters together to really round out the group.
Sal and Lily weren't in too many scenes together but they should have been. As one of Mitch and Cam's oldest friends, Sal jealous when they adopted Lily. Sal didn't get to see her friends as much as she wanted or get a chance to go clubbing with them. They were now fathers with responsibilities. Because of this, Sal loathed Lily. Funny enough, Lily gave the sass right back to Sal. She insulted Sal whenever she got the chance. Because of their mutual snark, it would have been fun to see more of them together.
Pepper and Jay met for the first time by coincidence. Pepper was having drinks with Mitchell, Cam, and some friends when Jay waltzed in. After one too many cocktails, Jay and Pepper hit it off and hung out the following day.
Seeing how different Pepper and Jay were, it would have been hilarious to see more of them together. Pepper was close enough with the Tucker-Pritchetts to run into Jay more than once. They deserved to build on their friendship.
It's always fascinating to see Jay spend time with others who are completely different than him. Jay is oftentimes stuck in his own way and doesn't like trying new things. Because of this, seeing him with characters like Cam and Pepper is a good experience for the Pritchett patriarch. He learns new things and ends up having a better time than he envisioned. Another sweet bonding between Cam and Jay is their mutual love of sports. Watching football or bowling together gave them a relationship that Jay never had with Phil.
When Mitchell and Cam first brought Lily home, Gloria was thrilled to have a little girl in the family. Gloria never had girls of her own, so she was happy to spoil baby Lily and do things that mothers and daughters did.
But once Lily became a teenager, the two ladies stopped spending one-on-one time together. They didn't even have the same bond they used to when Lily was younger. They both deserved better as a duo on the show.
In a lot of ways, Mitch and Alex were two people who were most alike. They both never felt like they fit in, they're two of the smartest people in the family, and they often feel like the black sheep. It's shocking that these two didn't share more screentime. If there was one adult who would understand where Alex was coming from in her youth, it was Mitchell.
Another person Alex could have bonded more with was Lily. Sure, the two women had different interests when Lily was younger but when she got older, she had more in common with Alex. Lily was the only girl in her house and wanted the input of another woman. She also became smart enough to move up a grade. It would have been fun to see Lily and Alex team up against Luke, Haley, Manny, and Joe. Instead, both women stood alone.
There was something incredibly playful about the relationship between Joe and Phil. Phil was a grown man who acted like a kid, which is why he had so much fun when he was with Joe. With Joe being Phil's half-brother-in-law, he wasn't too interested in playing around with Phil. Beautifully, Joe had a better relationship with his father than Claire and Mitch did but it still would have been fun to have more scenes with Joe and Phil.
Although it was originally Gloria who brought Stella into their home, she liked the dog least compared to Jay and Manny. Gloria thought Stella was creepy and weird, and it didn't help that Jay was obsessed with her. It got to a point where Jay cared more about Stella than about Gloria. However, their moments together were some of the best because of how disturbed Gloria was by Stella. Seeing them spend more one-on-one time together could have rounded Gloria out.
With Claire and Manny being step-siblings so far apart in age, they didn't have too many heartwarming moments together but they did in the beginning.
Manny wasn't your typical kid. Although he and Luke were around the same age, that was the only thing the two had in common when they first met. Manny preferred hanging out with Claire and drinking coffee with her than jumping on the trampoline with Luke. As Manny grew up, it would have been nice to see him and Claire rely on each other more and be each other's sounding board.
Jay was the patriarch of the family. He was the eldest, the wealthiest, and held most of the family gatherings at his house. When Jay passes on, it's assumed that Alex would be the next in line as the head of the family. She too will be the wealthiest and the most level-headed in the family. Jay even gave her a pep talk before she went to college on that very topic. In the 11th season, there were a few more scenes of Jay and Alex together but this duo deserved more. They had a special bond that only they could understand.
