Here's to you, Phil Dunphy

Of all the reasons to love ABC's new Wednesday night comedy "Modern Family" -- and there are many, like Ed O'Neill's return to the sitcom, young Rico Rodriguez's impressive performance as O'Neill's stepson, and the instant warmth and chemistry of the entire cast -- none can even come close to the perfection of Ty Burrell in the role of Phil Dunphy, the hopelessly square dad who thinks he's cool.

Burrell has been a reliable character actor in film and television for the past decade; I first took notice of him in 2004's "Dawn of the Dead" remake, in which he played a acid-tongued playboy who is sometimes more hateful than the zombies chasing him. He was a regular cast member on two failed series ("Out of Practice" and "Back to You"), failed in his bid to romance Diane Kruger in the "National Treasure" sequel, and briefly appeared in last year's "Incredible Hulk" reboot. His biggest screen role came in the Nicole Kidman bomb "Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus," playing the photographer's husband.

But Burrell has hit the jackpot with the de facto lead role on "Modern Family," a show that continues to surprise me every week.

There's a subtlety to his performance that just kills me. Consider the scene in last night's episode where the family is talking in the prinicpal's office. The camera zooms in on Phil as he tries to stifle laughter when the principal sends the kids back to "Mrs. Passwater's room." An obviously lame play on words turns into a laugh-out-loud moment thanks to Phil's juvenility; Burrell plays it with an innocence that makes it even funnier.

And Phil's attempts to bond with his children are getting funnier by the week. The Shelley Long episode ("The Incident") gave us this classic line: "Wow, things with Mom got pretty intense down there ... East Coast-West Coast, ya feel me?"

Even Phil's wandering eye, a sitcom cliche that was played to the hilt on O'Neill's "Married With Children" (and just about every other sitcom), gets laughs because Phil doesn't even seem to realize that he's doing it. He's like a little kid easily distracted by flashing lights ... or large breasts. (Probably both, in Phil's case.)

If "Modern Family" can keep us laughing and watching -- it beat all its Wednesday night competition except "SVU" in the 18-49 demo last week -- Burrell and his castmates can expect Emmy to come calling. I'm ready to give the statue to Burrell right now.