ABC’s Modern Family is a rare sitcom where there’s no dead weight in the cast. There’s something to love about every character, and they each have their fair share of brilliant storylines. But as with any show, some characters are funnier than others. Mitchell’s “hugsband,” Cameron Tucker, is high in that ranking.
Played hilariously over-the-top by Eric Stonestreet, Cam might even be the show’s M.V.P.. Cam always takes things too far, he’s riddled with insecurities, and he loves to create drama. An episode focusing on Cam is always a joy for Modern Family fans. Here are Cam’s 10 Wildest Escapades, Ranked.
Promposal (Season 7, episode 20)
Cam never got to go to his prom, so when it’s time for Luke and Manny’s prom, he becomes a little obsessed with helping them ask out the girls they want to take. He’s so desperate to assist with a “promposal” that he approaches a random kid and says, “Don’t suppose you’re planning on asking anyone to prom,” to which the kid (who gets the wrong end of the stick) awkwardly replies, “I don’t think we’re allowed to go with teachers.”
In the end, Mitchell asks Cam to prom. The dance needs staff members to supervise as chaperones, and Mitch previously said they couldn’t do it because they had tickets to see a play that night, but he ultimately realized that prom meant a lot more to Cam and he deserved to go.
See You Next Fall (Season 2, episode 23)
In the Season 2 episode “See You Next Fall,” Cam accidentally trips and falls into Lily’s little inflatable paddling pool and Mitchell can’t help laughing at him. Later, Cam walks into the clear glass door at Jay’s house, and then walks through the screen door in a double-whammy of inadvertent slapstick.
Mitch laughs again, and this time, Jay and Claire join him. It becomes clear to the family that other people’s misfortune is funnier to Pritchetts than it is to anyone else. Understandably, Cam spends the rest of the episode being salty towards Mitch, scorning him for his callous mockery.
Fizbo (Season 1, episode 9)
The joke of Cam being a clown has been run into the ground after all these years, but it was funny when it was introduced in the first season of the show. In “Fizbo,” Cam’s history as a clown is revealed as he dresses up for Luke’s birthday party. This is also how we learn about Phil’s fear of clowns.
On the way to the party, Mitch gets into a confrontation with a guy at a gas station, and Cam — in his full Fizbo garb — steps in to heroically save him. By standing up to the guy in clown makeup, Cam manages to scare him off.
Punkin Chunkin (Season 3, episode 9)
When Cam tells his family that he and his friends once used a giant slingshot to fire a pumpkin across a football field and through the goalposts, they don’t believe him. Mitchell wants him to do it again on the kids’ school’s football field to prove the authenticity of his story, because he doesn’t believe that half the stories Cam tells him are true.
So, Cam attempts it and barely gets the pumpkin to take flight. He still insists that the story is true, so the family all gather around and pitch in to give the pumpkin a greater height and trajectory. Together, they manage to do it.
Spring-A-Ding Fling (Season 5, episode 16)
When another flamboyant teacher (played brilliantly by guest star Will Sasso) returns from a long sabbatical, Cam finds himself getting pushed out of the community at work. The other teacher, Señor Kaplan, has always been in charge of organizing the “Spring Fling” dance, but since he was away, Cam was given the job.
He added a “Ding” to the name to call it the “Spring-A-Ding Fling” and feared that Señor Kaplan would steal the show from him. The rivalry came down to a dance-off, which Cam managed to win by involving Claire (in his words, “a lonely mom”) and wowing the crowd.
Starry Night (Season 1, episode 18)
After a faux pas involving the phrase “your people,” Cam is desperate to make amends with Gloria and get along with her. In Season 1’s “Starry Night,” he makes reservations for the two to dine at a fancy, high-end restaurant, but Gloria is sick of restaurants like that and wants to return to kind of place she used to eat at before she met Jay.
So, Cam asks her to recommend a Colombian restaurant. In his desperation to appeal to Gloria, he asks for the same dish she has, which his palette isn’t ready for. He chugs water to deal with the spice, but that only makes it worse.
Knock ‘Em Down (Season 6, episode 20)
In Season 6’s “Knock ‘Em Down,” Cam invites Jay onto his bowling team. Jay’s a really skilled bowler, so he has the goods to take down Cam’s rival (one of many), Martin. The only catch is that it’s an all-gay league, so Jay has to pretend to be gay.
At first, he’s really uncomfortable with it, but he gets the hang of it. The game goes really well, but Martin begins to suspect that Jay isn’t really gay, so Cam tells him he has a crush on him to put off his suspicions. Of course, it all blows up in Cam’s face soon enough.
Halloween (Season 2, episode 6)
Season 2’s “Halloween” was the episode that introduced us to Claire’s unhealthy obsession with the eponymous holiday. All throughout the episode, Cam complains that Halloween is a tough holiday for him, based on a traumatic experience from his childhood. But he doesn’t actually explain what happened to him until Claire opens her haunted house for business and trick-‘r-treaters start trailing through.
Every time the silver platter is opened up to reveal Cam dressed up as a severed head, he tells a little more of the story that ends with Cam fleeing from some taunting children and ultimately wetting his pants.
Man Shouldn’t Lie (Season 7, episode 19)
Mitch and Cam rent out the upstairs apartment to a Christian rock band in the Season 7 episode “Man Shouldn’t Lie.” At first, Mitch is apprehensive, worrying that their religious beliefs might lead to homophobia, but Cam assures him that he’s met plenty of open-minded churchgoers.
They inadvertently encourage the band’s drummer to quit when they think he’s gay and try to help him process his feelings, leaving the band in need of a drummer ahead of an important gig. Cam agrees to fill in for them — as he had previously done for Dylan’s band — and is shocked to discover that their headlining track is an indictment of homosexuality.
First Days (Season 5, episode 2)
In Season 2’s “First Days,” Cam gets a job as a substitute history teacher. The only problem is that he doesn’t know anything about history, and he finds himself bored by the dry material he’s given to read. So, he tries to make history work for him by adding a little of his signature dramatic flair and dressing up as George Washington.
However, the students aren’t as taken with this unconventional teaching style as he thought they would be, and he gets a lot of the facts wrong anyway, so Alex ends up teaching the class. Cam takes her seat and he’s enthralled by her lesson.
