The sitcom dad has undergone a metamorphosis in the last 50 years. In series such as “Father Knows Best” and “Leave It to Beaver,” he was the wise head of the household. Archie Bunker destroyed that image nearly 20 years later with his cantankerous bluster on “All In The Family.” By contrast, the dads on “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy” are animated avatars of human folly.
Actor Ty Burrell is sure that Phil, the clueless pop he plays on “Modern Family” — father on the outside, kid on the inside — is something new.
“That’s what I was drawn to from the writing,” said the 42-year-old Oregon native about his breakthrough character. “There’s just nothing better than to play a guy who can’t see the mess he’s making, but is really positive. The punches he takes are with a smile on his face, yet he’s able to jump right back up and get into the fray.”
In many ways, Phil’s dilemma — he’s a reluctant authority figure as well as a comrade to his three children — best expresses the special mixture of bite and heart that is “Modern Family,” a genuine success that has been renewed for a second season. But Phil is also a role the square-jawed actor admits he relates to.
“Part of my baggage is being a half-glass-full, Pollyanna type. My wife and friends wonder why I’m missing all the adversity we’re all going through,” says Burrell, chuckling. He reveals that Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd, the show’s creators, with whom he worked on “Back to You,” their most recent series, wrote Phil with Burrell in mind.
“In all honesty, it’s not very flattering, but they know this character is a part of me. It’s why they like me,” he says.
Julie Bowen, who plays Claire, Phil’s eyerolling wife, sizes up her talented co-star in a kinder way. “He’s lovely, but he’s also the scariest person I’ve ever worked with because he’s so good,” Bowen says. “We’re on a show where they let you improvise, and Ty is so smart that he’s able to think like the simpleton his character is. I’m frequently left speechless.”
Burrell has been a ham since childhood, when he and his brother Duncan entertained their social worker dad.
“He came home really starved for laughter, and we were very happy to oblige him,” Burrell says.
After getting his master’s degree in theater from Penn State, Burrell didn’t try to become a professional actor till he was 31, when he moved to New York City. Why jump in so late?
“Fear,” he says. “I was terrified. And New York is an acquired taste. Like a cigarette, or beer, where at first it tastes like crap, and then a week later you’re chain smoking and you have a stack of beers. Then I fell in love with it.”
Though he went through the typical rite of passage for a New York actor —appearing on “Law & Order” — his optimism cracks a little at the memory. “[Doing both] would give me bragging rights except that I did the original twice, which means I was so unmemorable the first time that I came back as a different character,” says Burrell.
Though all signs indicate he’s on an upward trajectory, Burrell says he is riddled by doubts. “Every job ends eventually, but I’m also thrilled by that, because the stakes are so high,” he says.
It’s not as if he has a fallback career, though. “I am very lucky, because I am not burdened with another skill set,” he says, laughing. “That’s good, you know?”
* MODERN FAMILY
Wednesday, 9 p.m., ABC