''Modern Family'' is an American
family sitcom
A family-friendly product or service is one that is considered to be suitable for all members of an average family. Family-friendly restaurants are ones that provide service to families that have young children. Frequently, family-friendly produc ...
television series created by
Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and on television since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in the ''Back to the Future'' tril ...
and
Steven Levitan
Steven E. Levitan (born April 6, 1962) is an American television producer, director, and screenwriter. He has created such television series as ''Just Shoot Me!'', ''Stark Raving Mad (TV series), Stark Raving Mad'', ''Stacked'', ''Back to You ( ...
for the
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Cali ...
(ABC). It ran for 11 seasons, from September 23, 2009, to April 8, 2020. It follows the lives of three diverse family set-ups in suburban
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, linked by patriarch
Jay Pritchett
''Modern Family'' is an American TV comedy series revolving around three families interrelated through Jay Pritchett, his son Mitchell Pritchett, and his daughter Claire Dunphy. The families meet for family functions (usually around their three ...
.
Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan conceived the series while sharing stories of their own "modern families." ''Modern Family'' employs an
ensemble cast
In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17
Structure
In contrast to ...
and is presented in a mockumentary style, with the characters frequently
speaking directly to the camera in confessional interview segments.
The series was renewed for
an eleventh and final season on February 5, 2019, which premiered on September 25, 2019.
The series finale
"The Series Finale" is the ninth episode and series finale of the American television miniseries ''WandaVision'', based on Marvel Comics featuring the characters Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch and Vision. It follows Wanda as she tries to p ...
aired on April 8, 2020.
''Modern Family'' was highly acclaimed by critics throughout its first few seasons. Its critical reception became more mixed as it progressed, but it maintained a loyal fan base throughout its 11 seasons and was continuously popular. The final season received positive reviews, and the
finale episode had 7.37 million first-run viewers. The retrospective documentary that aired before the final episode had 6.72 million first-run viewers.
The show was awarded the
Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in each of its first five years and the
Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series four times, twice each for
Eric Stonestreet
Eric Allen Stonestreet (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for portraying Cameron Tucker in the ABC mockumentary sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he received two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting ...
and
Ty Burrell
Tyler Gerald Burrell (born August 22, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. Burrell is best known for his role as Phil Dunphy on the ABC sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in ...
, as well as the
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series twice for
Julie Bowen
Julie Bowen Luetkemeyer (born March 3, 1970) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Claire Dunphy in the ABC sitcom ''Modern Family'' (2009–2020), for which she received critical acclaim and six nominations for the Primetim ...
. It won a total of 22 Emmy awards from 75 nominations. It also won the
in 2011.
The
broadcast syndication
Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...
rights to the series were sold to
NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States.
NBCUniversal is primari ...
's
USA Network
USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...
, the stations of
Fox Television Stations
Fox Television Stations, LLC (FTS; alternately Fox Television Stations Group, LLC), is a group of television stations located within the United States, which are owned-and-operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of the Fox Corp ...
, and various other local stations in other markets for a fall 2013 premiere. The success of the series led to it being the 10th-highest revenue-generating show for 2012, earning $2.13 million an episode.
Premise
''Modern Family'' revolves around three different types of families (
nuclear
Nuclear may refer to:
Physics
Relating to the nucleus of the atom:
* Nuclear engineering
*Nuclear physics
*Nuclear power
*Nuclear reactor
*Nuclear weapon
*Nuclear medicine
*Radiation therapy
*Nuclear warfare
Mathematics
*Nuclear space
*Nuclear ...
,
blended, and
same-sex) living in the Los Angeles area, who are interrelated through wealthy business owner Jay Pritchett and his children, daughter Claire and son Mitchell.
Patriarch Jay remarried a much younger woman, Gloria Delgado Pritchett (née Ramirez), a passionate Colombian immigrant with whom he has a young son, Fulgencio Joseph "Joe" Pritchett (born in the
middle of the fourth season), and a son from Gloria's previous marriage,
Manuel "Manny" Delgado. Jay's ex-wife DeDe and Gloria's ex-husband Javier both make occasional appearances in the show.
Jay's daughter Claire was a homemaker, who returned to the business world (at the
start of the fifth season), eventually becoming the chief executive of her father's business, Pritchett's Closets and Blinds (in the
middle of the seventh season). She is married to Phil Dunphy, a realtor and a self-professed "cool dad", who is also an amateur magician and real-estate lecturer at community college. They have three children: Haley, a stereotypically ditzy teenaged girl;
Alex, an intelligent and nerdy middle child;
and Luke, the offbeat only son.
Haley's off again, on again boyfriend Dylan is a permanent fixture in the show, with the two eventually marrying at the
end of the tenth season.
Jay's lawyer son Mitchell and his husband Cameron Tucker have one adopted daughter, Lily Tucker-Pritchett, of Vietnamese origin. At the series finale, they adopt another child, a baby boy named Rexford.
As the name suggests, this family represents a modern-day family, and episodes are comically based on situations that many families encounter in real life.
Cast and characters
Main characters
*
Ed O'Neill
Edward Leonard O'Neill (born April 12, 1946) is an American actor and comedian. His roles include Al Bundy on the Fox Network sitcom '' Married... with Children'', for which he was nominated for two Golden Globes, and Jay Pritchett on the awar ...
as Jay Pritchett: Gloria's husband; Claire, Mitchell and Joe's father; Manny's stepfather; Haley, Alex, Luke and Lily's grandfather; Phil and Cameron's father-in-law.
*
Sofía Vergara
Sofía Margarita Vergara Vergara (; born July 10, 1972) is a Colombian and American actress and model. She was the highest paid actress in American television from 2013 to 2020. as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett: Jay's second wife; Manny and Joe's mother; Claire and Mitchell's stepmother.
*
Julie Bowen
Julie Bowen Luetkemeyer (born March 3, 1970) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Claire Dunphy in the ABC sitcom ''Modern Family'' (2009–2020), for which she received critical acclaim and six nominations for the Primetim ...
as Claire Dunphy: Jay's daughter; Mitchell's sister; Phil's wife; Haley, Alex, and Luke's mother.
*
Ty Burrell
Tyler Gerald Burrell (born August 22, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. Burrell is best known for his role as Phil Dunphy on the ABC sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in ...
as Phil Dunphy: Claire's husband; Haley, Alex, and Luke's father.
*
Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Jesse Tyler Ferguson (born October 22, 1975) is an American actor. From 2009 to 2020, he portrayed Mitchell Pritchett on the sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he earned five consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding ...
as Mitchell Pritchett: Jay's son; Claire's brother; Cameron's husband; Lily and Rexford's adoptive father.
*
Eric Stonestreet
Eric Allen Stonestreet (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for portraying Cameron Tucker in the ABC mockumentary sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he received two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting ...
as Cameron Tucker: Mitchell's husband; Lily and Rexford's adoptive father.
*
Sarah Hyland
Sarah Jane Hyland (born November 24, 1990) is an American actress and singer. Born in Manhattan, she attended the Professional Performing Arts School before having small roles in the films '' Private Parts'' (1997), '' Annie'' (1999) and ''Blin ...
as Haley Dunphy: Claire and Phil's oldest daughter; Alex and Luke's sister; Dylan's wife; Poppy and George's mother.
*
Ariel Winter
Ariel Winter Workman (born January 28, 1998) is an American actress. She starred as Alex Dunphy in the ABC comedy series ''Modern Family'', for which she and her co-stars won four consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Ensemble ...
as Alex Dunphy: Claire and Phil's youngest daughter; Haley and Luke's sister.
*
Nolan Gould
Nolan Gould (born October 28, 1998) is an American actor known for his role as Luke Dunphy on the ABC sitcom ''Modern Family''.
Early life and education
Gould was born in New York City, the son of Angela and Edwin Gould. Shortly after his bir ...
as Luke Dunphy: Claire and Phil's son; Haley and Alex's brother.
*
Rico Rodriguez as Manny Delgado: Gloria and Javier's son; Jay's stepson.
*
Aubrey Anderson-Emmons
Aubrey Frances Anderson-Emmons (born 6 June 2007) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Lily Tucker-Pritchett on ABC's ''Modern Family''.
Personal life
Anderson-Emmons is the daughter of Korean American Amy Anderson and Kent Emm ...
as Lily Tucker-Pritchett: Mitchell and Cameron's adopted daughter who was born in
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
. (seasons 3–11)
** Portrayed by twins Jaden Hiller and Ella Hiller in seasons 1 and 2.
*
Jeremy Maguire
Jeremy Maguire (born August 10, 2011) is an American child actor. He is most known for playing Joe Pritchett on the sitcom ''Modern Family'' from 2015 to 2020. In 2017, Maguire made his film debut in the drama film ''I'm Not Here''.
Career
Ma ...
as Joe Pritchett: Gloria and Jay's son and Claire, Mitchell, and Manny's half brother (seasons 7–11)
** Portrayed by Rebecca and Sierra Mark in season 4 and Pierce Wallace in seasons 5 and 6.
*
Reid Ewing
Reid Ewing (born November 7, 1988) is an American actor and musician known for his role as Dylan in the ABC comedy ''Modern Family'' and as Charlie Plunk in the TV series ''Zeke and Luther'' (2009–2011).
Life and career
Ewing appeared in the ...
as Dylan Marshall: Haley's on and off boyfriend, later husband; Poppy and George's father. (season 11; recurring seasons 1–5, 7 and 10; guest seasons 6 and 8-9)
Family tree
The characters in green have regular roles on the show. Dotted lines indicate a parental relationship through adoption or marriage, and dashed lines indicate a divorce between characters. † Indicates a deceased character.
The series has also had many recurring characters.
Fred Willard
Frederic Charles Willard (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor, comedian, and writer. He was best known for his roles in the Rob Reiner mockumentary film ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984); the Christopher Guest mockumentaries ''Wai ...
has guest starred as Phil's father Frank; he was nominated for
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series at the
62nd Primetime Emmy Awards
The 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards, presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, were held on Sunday, August 29, 2010, at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California beginning at 5:00 p.m. PDT (00:00 UTC; August 30). Come ...
, but lost to
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor, singer, writer, producer, and television host. Primarily known for his comedic television roles and dramatic and musical stage roles, he has received multiple accolades throughout ...
's performance on ''
Glee
Glee means delight, a form of happiness.
Glee may also refer to:
* Glee (music), a type of English choral music
* ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy
* ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...
''. Willard also received a posthumous nomination in the same category at the
72nd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards in 2020.
Shelley Long
Shelley Lee Long (born August 23, 1949) is an American actress, singer, and comedian. Long portrayed Diane Chambers on the hit sitcom ''Cheers'' and received five Emmy nominations, winning in 1983 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Serie ...
too guest starred occasionally as DeDe Pritchett, Jay's ex-wife and Claire and Mitchell's mother.
Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane (born Joseph Lane; February 3, 1956) is an American actor. In a career spanning over 40 years he has been seen on stage and screen in roles both comedic and dramatic. Lane has received numerous awards including three Tony Awards, ...
appears as Cameron and Mitchell's flamboyant friend Pepper Saltzman; he has been nominated three times for the
.
Adam DeVine
Adam Patrick Devine (born November 7, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, singer, screenwriter, and producer. He is one of the stars and co-creators of the Comedy Central comedy television series ''Workaholics'' and '' Adam Devine's House Par ...
appeared as Andy Bailey, Jay and Gloria's "manny" (male
nanny
A nanny is a person who provides child care. Typically, this care is given within the children's family setting. Throughout history, nannies were usually servants in large households and reported directly to the lady of the house. Today, modern ...
), Phil's assistant and Haley's ex-boyfriend.
Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Banks (born Elizabeth Irene Mitchell; February 10, 1974) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is known for playing Effie Trinket in ''The Hunger Games'' film series (2012–2015) and Gail Abernathy-McKadden in the ''Pitch Perfe ...
appeared as Mitch and Cam's fun-loving friend Sal; she was nominated for
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series at the
67th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards in 2015. Nathan Fillion
Nathan Fillion (; born March 27, 1971) is a Canadian-American actor. He played the leading roles of Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds on '' Firefly'' and its film continuation '' Serenity'', and Richard Castle on '' Castle''. , he was starring as J ...
also makes an appearance as Rainer Shine, a weather forcaster, and later Haley's boyfriend.
Development and production
Initial development
As creators Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan retold stories about their families, they realized that the stories could be the basis for a show. They started working on the idea of a family being observed in a mockumentary-style show. They later decided that it could be a show about three families and their experiences. It was originally called ''My American Family'',
and the camera crew was originally supposed to have been run by a fictitious Dutch filmmaker named Geert Floortje, who had lived as a teenaged exchange student with the Pritchetts and had developed a crush on Claire (while Mitchell had developed a crush on him). The producers later felt that this component was unnecessary, and it was scrapped. Lloyd now prefers to look at the show as "a family show done documentary-style".
Lloyd and Levitan pitched the series to
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
,
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
, and ABC (they did not pitch it to
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
because of issues they had with the network over a previous comedy series, ''
Back to You'', that Lloyd and Levitan also created and produced). CBS, which was not ready to make a big commitment to the single-camera style of filming, rejected the series. NBC, already broadcasting ''
The Office
''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries.
The original series of ...
'' and ''
Parks and Recreation
''Parks and Recreation'' (also known as ''Parks and Rec'') is an American political satire mockumentary sitcom television series created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. The series aired on NBC from April 9, 2009, to February 24, 2015, for 125 ...
'' at the time, decided against taking on a third mockumentary-style show. ABC accepted the pitch.
The
pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
episode tested positively with
focus group
A focus group is a group interview involving a small number of demographically similar people or participants who have other common traits/experiences. Their reactions to specific researcher/evaluator-posed questions are studied. Focus groups are ...
s, resulting in the network ordering 13 episodes and adding it to the
2009–10 fall lineup days ahead of ABC's official schedule announcement.
The series was given a full-season pickup in October 2009.
Filming
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
took place in Los Angeles.
[ Many of the exteriors used are on the city's Westside. The Dunphys' house is in the ]Cheviot Hills
The Cheviot Hills (), or sometimes The Cheviots, are a range of uplands straddling the Anglo-Scottish border between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. The English section is within the Northumberland National Park. The range includes T ...
neighborhood. , Palisades Charter High School
Palisades Charter High School (usually colloquially known as Pali or Pali High and abbreviated as PCHS) is an independent charter secondary school in Los Angeles, United States. The high school serves the neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades, ...
is used for the exteriors of Luke and Manny's school.
Lloyd and Levitan, whose credits both include ''Frasier
''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons. It premiered on September 16, 1993, and ended on May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey (screenwriter), Peter Case ...
'', ''Wings
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...
'', and ''Just Shoot Me
''Just Shoot Me!'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from March 4, 1997, to November 26, 2003, with a total of 145 half-hour episodes spanning seven seasons. The show was created by Steven Levitan, the show's executive p ...
'', are executive producers of the series, serving as showrunner
A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...
and head writer
A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits. In fictional comedy o ...
under their Lloyd-Levitan Productions label in affiliation with 20th Century Fox Television
20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Compa ...
. The other original producers on the writing team were Paul Corrigan, Sameer Gardezi, Joe Lawson, Dan O'Shannon
Dan O'Shannon (born March 10, 1962) is an American television writer and producer who has worked on shows such as ''Newhart'', ''Cheers'', and ''Frasier''. He was an executive producer of the ABC show ''Modern Family'', but left the show at the ...
, Brad Walsh, Caroline Williams, Bill Wrubel, Danny Zuker, and Jeff Morton.[
Starting with the second season, Levitan and Lloyd ran the show, not as a team, but separately, with each showrunner supervising half the episodes. "Chris and I are both strong, opinionated people, and we very, very quickly realized it doesn't make sense to sit here and debate each other and waste time," Levitan told '']The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' in 2012. "We often come at it from different points of view, so we said, 'Let's just switch off who has final say.'"
Litigation
In the first season, the adult cast was paid a range of roughly $30,000 to $90,000 per episode. As a result of the show's success, the cast attempted to renegotiate their contracts in the summer of 2012 to obtain higher per-episode fees, but talks broke down to the point that the fourth season's first table read
The read-through, table-read, or table work is a stage of film, television, radio, and theatre production when an organized reading around a table of the screenplay or script by the actors with speaking parts is conducted.
In addition to the ca ...
had to be postponed. Five of the cast members (Ty Burrell
Tyler Gerald Burrell (born August 22, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. Burrell is best known for his role as Phil Dunphy on the ABC sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in ...
, Julie Bowen
Julie Bowen Luetkemeyer (born March 3, 1970) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Claire Dunphy in the ABC sitcom ''Modern Family'' (2009–2020), for which she received critical acclaim and six nominations for the Primetim ...
, Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Jesse Tyler Ferguson (born October 22, 1975) is an American actor. From 2009 to 2020, he portrayed Mitchell Pritchett on the sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he earned five consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding ...
, Eric Stonestreet
Eric Allen Stonestreet (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for portraying Cameron Tucker in the ABC mockumentary sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he received two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting ...
, and Sofía Vergara
Sofía Margarita Vergara Vergara (; born July 10, 1972) is a Colombian and American actress and model. She was the highest paid actress in American television from 2013 to 2020. ) retained the Quinn Emanuel law firm and sued 20th Century Fox Television in Los Angeles County Superior Court
The Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, is the California superior court with jurisdiction over Los Angeles County, which includes the city of Los Angeles. It is the largest single unified trial court in the United States.
The ...
on July 24, 2012. While not part of the lawsuit, Ed O'Neill
Edward Leonard O'Neill (born April 12, 1946) is an American actor and comedian. His roles include Al Bundy on the Fox Network sitcom '' Married... with Children'', for which he was nominated for two Golden Globes, and Jay Pritchett on the awar ...
joined his fellow castmates in seeking raises for each to about $200,000 per episode; O'Neill had already been earning more money per episode than the other five. The lawsuit invoked the "seven-year rule" in California Labor Code Section 2855 (the De Havilland Law
The De Havilland Law is the common name of ''De Haviland v. Warner Bros. Pictures'', a published judicial opinion interpreting California Labor Code Section 2855, a California law which prevents a court from enforcing specific performance of an ex ...
) and requested a declaration
Declaration may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Declaration'' (book), a self-published electronic pamphlet by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri
* ''The Declaration'' (novel), a 2008 children's novel by Gemma Malley
Music ...
that their contracts were void because they were in violation of that rule. As of July 28, 2012, the conflict had been resolved. The five adult cast members' salaries were increased from $55,000–$65,000 per episode to $150,000–$175,000, with increases every season, plus a percentage of residual profits. O'Neill had already been earning $200,000 an episode, so his salary was lowered to parity with his co-stars, but with a larger percentage of the back-end profits. By that August, four of the five child stars negotiated increases from $15,000–$25,000 to $70,000 per episode, with an additional $10,000 per season raise.
Episodes
Themes
In ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', Bruce Feiler
Bruce Feiler (born October 25, 1964) is an American writer and television personality. He is the author of 15 books, including '' The Council of Dads'', a book that describes how he responded to a diagnosis of a rare cancer by asking a group of ...
called attention to how the show depicts the increasing way communications technology shapes the way people perceive others, even family members. " tis surely the first family comedy that incorporates its own hashtag
A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...
of simultaneous self-analysis directly into the storyline," he writes. "Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born ) is an American business magnate, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is known for co-founding the social media website Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.), o ...
may be a greater influence on ''Modern Family'' than Norman Lear
Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is an American producer and screenwriter, who has produced, written, created, or developed over 100 shows. Lear is known for many popular 1970s sitcoms, including the multi-award winning ''All in the Famil ...
."
The show's writers and actors agree. "We used to talk about how cellphones killed the sitcom because no one ever goes to anyone's house anymore" for routine information, Abraham Higginbotham
Abraham Higginbotham is a writer, producer, and occasional actor for popular comedy series such as ''Arrested Development'', ''Will & Grace'', '' Back to You'' and '' Do Not Disturb''.
Career
Higginbotham began his career in television by submitt ...
told Feiler. "We embrace technology so it's part of the story." Ty Burrell draws on Fran Lebowitz
Frances Ann Lebowitz (; born October 27, 1950) is an American author, public speaker, and occasional actor. She is known for her sardonic social commentary on American life as filtered through her New York City sensibilities and her association ...
's observation that there is no institution other than media. "I had this little flash of Phil—and me—that we are parsing our personality together externally from how people perceive us."
James Parker of ''The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' commented, "How does one 'parent'? Who does what, which 'role'? Is Dad sufficiently dad-like and Mom enough of a mom?"
In a 2014 article in ''Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
'', the site's podcast executive producer, Andy Bowers, a resident of Los Angeles' Westside, where the show films most of its exteriors, praised the series for its realistic depiction of life in that part of the city.
Reception
Ratings
Since its premiere, the series has remained popular. In its first season, the show became the sixth-highest rated scripted show in America and the third-highest rated new show. Aided by winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, the show's second season became the highest rated show on Wednesday on premiere week and also rose 34% from the previous season among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. The show frequently ranked as television's top scripted series in adults 18–49 as well.
The success of the show has been positively compared to ''The Cosby Show
''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class African- ...
''. During the 2010–2011 season, ''Modern Family'' was the highest rated scripted show in the 18–49 demographic, and the third-highest rated overall sitcom behind CBS's ''The Big Bang Theory
''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom served as executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro, all of whom also served as head writers. It premiered on CBS ...
'' and ''Two and a Half Men
''Two and a Half Men'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS for twelve seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. Originally starring Charlie Sheen in the lead role alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, the ...
''. The season also ranked first among DVR viewers.
The third season premiere became ABC's top-rated season premiere in six years. The series' success in ratings has also led it to being credited for reviving sitcoms.
In 2016, a ''The New York Times'' study of the 50 TV shows with the most Facebook like
The like button on the social networking website Facebook was first enabled on February 9, 2009. The like button enables users to easily interact with status updates, comments, photos and videos, links shared by friends, and advertisements. Onc ...
s found that ''Modern Family''s "audience pattern is the prototypical example of a city show — most popular in liberal, urban clusters in Boston, San Francisco, and Santa Barbara, California, and least popular in the more rural parts of Kentucky, Mississippi, and Arkansas".
:''Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
.''
Critical response
Season 1
The first season was met with critical acclaim. It scored 100%, based on 28 reviews, on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, with an average rating
In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...
of 8.55/10 and the critical consensus: "Thanks to sharp writing and an eccentric but exceedingly likeable cast of characters, ''Modern Family'' signals the triumphant return of the family comedy." The first season also scored 86/100, based on 27 reviews, on review aggregator website Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, indicating "universal acclaim".
''Entertainment Weekly'' gave it an A−, calling it "immediately recognizable as the best new sitcom of the fall." In ''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
''s review, the show was named "the funniest new family comedy of the year." It has also been compared to the 1970s series ''Soap
Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are use ...
'' because of the multiple-family aspect. Some have made comparisons to ''The Office
''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries.
The original series of ...
'' and ''Parks and Recreation
''Parks and Recreation'' (also known as ''Parks and Rec'') is an American political satire mockumentary sitcom television series created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. The series aired on NBC from April 9, 2009, to February 24, 2015, for 125 ...
'' because of their mockumentary formats. BuddyTV
BuddyTV is an entertainment-based website, which generates content about television programs and sporting events. The website publishes information about celebrity and related entertainment news through a series of articles, entertainment profile ...
named the show the second best show in 2009, saying, "Every actor is fantastic, every family is interesting, and unlike many shows, there isn't a weak link." Robert Canning of IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
gave the season an 8.9 calling it "Great" and saying "Simply put, ''Modern Family'' was one of the best new comedies of the season." He also praised the ensemble cast and the characters, calling them lovable. According to Metacritic, the first season was the best reviewed new broadcast television series.
''Modern Family'' drew criticism from the LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is a ...
community for its portrayal of Cameron and Mitchell as not being physically affectionate with each other. The criticism spawned a Facebook campaign to demand that Mitchell and Cameron be allowed to kiss. In response to the controversy, producers released a statement that a season two episode would address Mitchell's discomfort with public displays of affection
Public displays of affection (PDA) are acts of physical intimacy in the view of others. What is an acceptable display of affection varies with respect to culture and context.
Some organizations have rules limiting or prohibiting public display ...
. Executive producer Levitan has said that it was unfortunate that the issue had arisen, since the show's writers had always planned on such a scene "as part of the natural development of the show." The episode " The Kiss" eventually aired with the kiss scene in the background, which drew praise from multiple critics.
Season 2
The show's second season received mostly positive reviews from critics. Season two has a rating of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
based on 16 reviews, with an average score of 8.11/10 and the consensus: "''Modern Family''s sophomore season sings with ingenious sitcom structure and an ensemble in perfect comedic harmony – even if the tunes are a little familiar". Robert Bianco of ''USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' gave the second season four out of four stars, saying "Not since ''Frasier
''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons. It premiered on September 16, 1993, and ended on May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey (screenwriter), Peter Case ...
'' has a sitcom offered such an ideal blend of heart and smarts, or proven itself so effortlessly adept at so many comic variations, from subtle wordplay to big-laugh slapstick to everything in between." In a later review Bianco stated "as good as it was in its first year, is even better in its second", positively comparing the characters to the characters from ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show
''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. Moor ...
'', ''The Cosby Show
''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class African- ...
'', and ''Friends
''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...
''. During the second season, Adweek
''Adweek'' is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1979. ''Adweek'' covers creativity, client–agency relationships, global advertising, accounts in review, and new campaigns. During this time, it has cover ...
named the show one of the 100 Most Influential TV Shows (98th chronologically). Despite this, some critics were less favorable toward the season and described it as a sophomore slump
A sophomore slump or sophomore jinx or sophomore jitters refers to an instance in which a second, or sophomore, effort fails to live up to the relatively high standards of the first effort.
It is commonly used to refer to the apathy of student ...
. Eric Stonestreet's acting was widely praised throughout the first season, but criticized during season two for being too contrived and "over-the-top"; Alan Sepinwall
Alan Sepinwall (born October 19, 1973) is an American television reviewer and writer. He spent 14 years as a columnist with ''The Star-Ledger'' in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix. He th ...
called Cameron Tucker a "whiny, overly-sensitive diva". On the other hand, the praise for Ty Burrell's performance (as Phil Dunphy) continued.
Season 3
The third season was met with critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, season three has a rating of 92% based on 13 reviews, with an average score of 8.33/10 and the consensus: "''Modern Family'' settles into a well-oiled groove, consistently delivering inspired farce and making it look effortless." ''Slant Magazine
''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...
'' reviewer Peter Swanson wrote that while the first episode was "the type of wacky-location stunt that's usually reserved for the fifth or sixth season of a dying sitcom," the following episodes "have been better... but they're still uneven". He also criticized the writers for relying too much on "stunt episodes and celebrity cameos, like David Cross". He ultimately gave the season 3 out of 4 stars. James Parker of ''The Atlantic'' said, at the beginning of the third season that "''Modern Family'' is very, very funny, almost ruthlessly so. It's a bit of a master class in pace and brevity. The writing is '' Vorsprung durch Technik'': hectically compressed but dramatically elegant, prodigal in its zingers and snorters but austere in its construction." He found it an exception to his dislike for sitcoms that do not use a laugh track
A laugh track (or laughter track) is a separate soundtrack for a recorded comedy show containing the sound of audience laughter. In some productions, the laughter is a live audience response instead; in the United States, where it is most common ...
. During the third season, ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' columnist Frank Bruni
Frank Anthony Bruni (born October 31, 1964) is an American journalist and long-time writer for ''The New York Times''. In June 2011, he was named an op-ed columnist for the newspaper. His columns appear twice weekly and he also writes a weekly ne ...
argued that gay criticism of Cameron and Mitchell actually showed the progress gays have made toward social acceptance. "A decade ago," he writes, " ayswould have balked—and balked loudly—at how frequently Cameron in particular tips into limp-wristed, high-voiced caricature." But now, "most gay people trust that the television audience knows we're a diverse tribe, not easily pigeonholed. ''Modern Family'' endows us with a sort of comic banality. It's an odd kind of progress. But it's progress nonetheless."
Season 4
The fourth season of ''Modern Family'' received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes currently gives the season an approval rating of 73% based on 11 reviews, with an average score of 7.75/10 and the consensus: "''Modern Family'' still has charm to burn and boasts a uniformly excellent cast, but the series' subversive edge has dulled". Halfway through the season, Rachel Stein of ''Television Without Pity'' wrote, "much as I liked the pairings and some of the dialogue, New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...
"] is just another contrived episode of Modern Family we can cite when we talk later about how a different show should have won the 2013 Emmy for Best Comedy." Dalene Rovenstein of ''Paste Magazine'' gave the season a positive review, but said a better season was possible.
Season 5
The fifth season of ''Modern Family'' also received positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, season five has a rating of 90% based on 10 reviews, with an average score of 7.57/10 and the consensus: "''Modern Family'' returns to its conventional roots with grace in a fifth season that delights in providing reliable laughs and rekindles the show's trademark warmth". Reviewing the season's first eight episodes, Matthew Wolfson of ''Slant Magazine
''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...
'' wrote that the show "appear dto have finally arrived at the depressing and predictable low point toward which it adbeen trending for the past two years." He also went on to say that the show had "turned into a shrill pastiche of stereotypical characterizations and superficial banter lacking both feeling and wit", assigning it a rating of 1.5/4 stars. Different writers for ''The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' rated, in total, a majority of the former-half episodes with a "B−" grade or less. One writer for the magazine, Joshua Alston, gave " ClosetCon '13" a "C+" and remarked that "''Modern Family'' becomes a high-wire act when it separates its characters into three storylines with no overlap between them." The second half was more warmly received, with three episodes rated an "A−" or higher.
Season 6
The show's sixth season received highly positive reviews from TV critics, with some claiming that it was an improvement over the last few seasons. This season has a rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
based on 7 reviews, with an average score of 7.67/10. Joshua Alston and Gwen Ihnat ''The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' have awarded the majority of episodes a "B" grade or higher – with particular praise for "The Day We Almost Died" and "Closet? You'll Love It!" – marking an improvement over the repeated "C" grade given throughout the previous season's former half. "Connection Lost" received high critical acclaim, with many praising the episode's writing, originality and "success in transcending what could have been a gimicky episode". In her review for "Closet? You'll Love It!" Gwen Ihnat of ''The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' stated that the episode represents "all the reasons why we still watch Modern Family" and awarded the episode an A−. On the same site, David Kallison reviewed "Grill, Interrupted", saying: "This season proves that sitcoms can survive on solid characters and solid jokes."
Season 7
The seventh season received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics with many critics calling it similar to the fourth and fifth seasons. On Rotten Tomatoes, this season is rated 67% with 6 reviews and an average rating of 6.5/10. Kyle Fowle from ''The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' had a very mixed reaction to the season, only giving one episode an A− or higher. Fowle felt the season was frustrating, believing the season would be defined "by its lack of character progress and overstuffed episodes."
Later seasons
The series was renewed for a 9th and 10th season on May 10, 2017, Season 9 premiered on September 27, 2017, while season 10 premiered on September 26, 2018,
Seasons 8 and 9 received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, with main criticisms directed at the lack of character development, overstuffing of episodes, and too many filler episodes per season. While the show continued to be praised for its charm, witty writing, and the cast's performances, criticism grew in these seasons, particularly from reviewers such as those at ''The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
''.
In January 2018, Steve Levitan and Christopher Lloyd announced that season 10 would most likely be the final season, during the Television Critics Association
The Television Critics Association (TCA) is a group of approximately 200 United States and Canadian television critics, journalists and columnists who cover television programming for newspapers, magazines and web publications. The TCA accepts app ...
's winter press tour. However, in August 2018, reports indicated that ABC was in discussions to renew the series for a potential eleventh season.
Season 10 received positive reviews from critics, citing the season as a significant improvement over the last two. The series was praised for its tackling of Haley's pregnancy, the humor of Mitch and Cam looking after Cal, and its dealing with change in a positive way. Episodes 'Torn Between Two Lovers', 'Good Grief, and 'A Year Of Birthdays' were particularly praised.
The series was renewed for an eleventh season on January 7, 2019, which was confirmed as the final season on February 5. The last season premiered on September 25, 2019, and aired its last episode on April 8, 2020.
Season 11 similarly received positive reviews. The season was praised for its themes of change and ending, and the improved humor upon the last seasons, with particular attention to episodes 'The Prescott', 'Legacy,' 'Spuds' and 'Finale'.
''Modern Family'' final episode, Finale
Finale may refer to:
Pieces of music
* Finale (music), the last movement of a piece
* ''Finale'' (album), a 1977 album by Loggins and Messina
* "Finale B", a 1996 song from the rock opera ''Rent''
* "Finale", a song by Anthrax from ''State of Eu ...
, aired April 8, 2020, and received a B+ grade from Kyle Fowle of ''The A.V. Club'', citing 'there's something that's satisfying in just how low-key it is. The finale doesn't necessarily shoot for outsized emotions. Instead, it makes things personal. It's a finale that suits ''Modern Family'' as it is in 2020, a show that's settled into old age. This is a finale that's both tidy and unfinished, and that feels just right'. The episode was praised by critics and fans alike, particularly for the humor in Claire and Mitchell's ice skating scene, Mitchell and Cam's karaoke scene, and The Dunphy children's final joke on Luke, with TV Fanatic saying, 'one of the highlights of the episode were the scenes between Haley, Alex, and Luke.' Critics also praised Gloria finally letting Manny go, describing the scene as bringing the two characters' arcs full circle. The episode's message of 'leaving a porch light on' was also praised, with fans and critics expressing this ending note's highly emotional nature.
Accolades
''Modern Family'' has won 22 Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
s and 6 Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949.
Eligibility
Th ...
s. The show also later received a GLSEN
GLSEN (pronounced ''glisten''; formerly the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) is an American education organization working to end discrimination, harassment, and bullying based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expres ...
Respect Award for its portrayal of "positive images and storylines that reflect a diverse America, including the depiction of a family headed by a gay couple." In 2010, ''Modern Family'' was nominated for five Television Critics Association Awards. To reinforce the idea of an ensemble cast, the cast all submitted themselves in the Supporting Actor and Actress categories instead of Lead Actor and Actress for the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards
The 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards, presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, were held on Sunday, August 29, 2010, at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California beginning at 5:00 p.m. PDT (00:00 UTC; August 30). Come ...
. The series has also been put on multiple critics' lists. In 2010, the series was listed 2nd on Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
's Top Ten Best Shows of 2009, 2nd on BuddyTV
BuddyTV is an entertainment-based website, which generates content about television programs and sporting events. The website publishes information about celebrity and related entertainment news through a series of articles, entertainment profile ...
's Top Ten Best Shows of 2009, Jason Hughes Best TV of 2009, ''Modern Family'' was awarded a Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...
in 2009. In 2012, the show won the and was nominated for a British Academy Television Award
The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955.
Background
The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until ...
. Every season of the show was also named one of the top 10 TV seasons of the year (from 2009 to 2012) by the American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Leade ...
.
During the 2012 US presidential election
The 2012 United States presidential election was the 57th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Joe Biden, were re-el ...
, both First Lady Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...
, in an interview with Kal Penn
Kalpen Suresh Modi (born April 23, 1977), known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, academic lecturer, and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration. As an actor, he is known for his role portrayin ...
at the 2012 Democratic National Convention
The 2012 Democratic National Convention was a gathering, held from September 3–6, 2012, at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, in which delegates of the Democratic Party nominated President Barack Obama and Vice Presid ...
, and Ann Romney
Ann Lois Romney ( Davies; born April 16, 1949) is an American author and philanthropist. She is the wife of businessman and politician, Senator Mitt Romney of Utah. From 2003 to 2007, Romney was First Lady of Massachusetts, while her husband se ...
, in an interview with '' The Insider'', cited ''Modern Family'' as their favorite TV show.
In June 2013, the Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers:
* The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO
* The Writers Guil ...
ranked ''Modern Family'' number 34 on a list of the 101 most well-written television series ever made. In December 2013, TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
ranked it number 43 on its list of the 60 Best Series of all time.
Emmy Awards received by cast
The following is a list of Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
nominations received by the cast of the series. Wins are highlighted in boldface.
* Ed O'Neill
Edward Leonard O'Neill (born April 12, 1946) is an American actor and comedian. His roles include Al Bundy on the Fox Network sitcom '' Married... with Children'', for which he was nominated for two Golden Globes, and Jay Pritchett on the awar ...
earned three consecutive nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, 2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
and 2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
.
* Sofía Vergara
Sofía Margarita Vergara Vergara (; born July 10, 1972) is a Colombian and American actress and model. She was the highest paid actress in American television from 2013 to 2020. earned four consecutive nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
* Julie Bowen
Julie Bowen Luetkemeyer (born March 3, 1970) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Claire Dunphy in the ABC sitcom ''Modern Family'' (2009–2020), for which she received critical acclaim and six nominations for the Primetim ...
earned six consecutive nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
and 2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
.
* Ty Burrell
Tyler Gerald Burrell (born August 22, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. Burrell is best known for his role as Phil Dunphy on the ABC sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in ...
, the most nominated actor in the series, received eight consecutive nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
and 2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
.
* Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Jesse Tyler Ferguson (born October 22, 1975) is an American actor. From 2009 to 2020, he portrayed Mitchell Pritchett on the sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he earned five consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding ...
received five consecutive nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.
* Eric Stonestreet
Eric Allen Stonestreet (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for portraying Cameron Tucker in the ABC mockumentary sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he received two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting ...
received three consecutive nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
* Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane (born Joseph Lane; February 3, 1956) is an American actor. In a career spanning over 40 years he has been seen on stage and screen in roles both comedic and dramatic. Lane has received numerous awards including three Tony Awards, ...
received three nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 2011, 2013 and 2014.
* Fred Willard
Frederic Charles Willard (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor, comedian, and writer. He was best known for his roles in the Rob Reiner mockumentary film ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984); the Christopher Guest mockumentaries ''Wai ...
received two nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 2011 and 2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
.
* Greg Kinnear
Gregory Buck Kinnear (born June 17, 1963) is an American actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in ''As Good as It Gets'' (1997).
Kinnear has appeared in many popular films, including ''Sabrina'' (199 ...
was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 2012.
* Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Banks (born Elizabeth Irene Mitchell; February 10, 1974) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is known for playing Effie Trinket in ''The Hunger Games'' film series (2012–2015) and Gail Abernathy-McKadden in the ''Pitch Perfe ...
was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2015.
Criticism
Michelle Haimoff of the ''Christian Science Monitor
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
'' criticized the show for only casting the women as stay-at-home moms while the husbands have highly successful careers: "There is a difference between quirky, flawed characters and ones who are incapable of professional success. And when the latter is reliably female, it makes for sexist television. It also makes for unrealistic television." ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by comedian Jimmy Fallon.[ About pag ...](_blank)
'' writer Ali Waller asked her Twitter followers "If ''Modern Family'' is so 'modern' then why don't any of the women have jobs?" Other authors reinforce this criticism, claiming that stay-at-home mothers are no longer the norm in today's society.
According to a CNET
''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...
staffer commenting on a first-season episode: "The wife and daughter are unable to learn how to use the remote and must be taught by the father, while the son is 'good with electronics,' even though he is thought of as the stupidest member of the family." Arianna Reiche from ''Gawker
''Gawker'' is an American blog founded by Nick Denton and Elizabeth Spiers and based in New York City focusing on celebrities and the media industry. According to SimilarWeb, the site had over 23 million visits per month as of 2015. Founded in ...
'' commented on the episode "Game Changer" in which Gloria hides her skill at chess so her husband will not be upset at losing: "This moment is at best a sappy quip about compromise in an often heavy-handed series, and at worst, it's a moment in a show with 9.3 million viewers, on a network owned by Disney, which explicitly validates girls and women subduing their intellect."
The show eventually focused more on Claire's career progress, with her running for city council, and flipping
Flipping is a term used to describe purchasing a revenue-generating asset and quickly reselling (or "flipping") it for profit.
Within the real estate industry, the term is used by investors to describe the process of buying, rehabbing, and sell ...
a home. In season 4 of the show, she reveals that she has been trying to find work now that her three children no longer need a stay-at-home mother, but that she found it difficult to reenter the job market after such a long hiatus, even with a college degree. In season 5, Claire returns to work a job at her father Jay Pritchett's closet company.
Syndication, streaming, and international broadcast
The series was picked up for syndication by USA Network
USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...
for $1.5 million per episode, along with being offered in local syndication at the same time, with Fox Television Stations
Fox Television Stations, LLC (FTS; alternately Fox Television Stations Group, LLC), is a group of television stations located within the United States, which are owned-and-operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of the Fox Corp ...
the lead station group picking up the series. The series is also shown on Sky Comedy
Sky Comedy is a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky, a division of Comcast, which launched on 27 January 2020, replacing Universal TV. It is the first dedicated full-time comedy station in Sky's channel portfolio since the ...
in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, e.tv
e.tv (commonly referred to on-air as e) is the first and only privately owned free-to-air television station in South Africa. It is the fifth terrestrial television channel in the country, following three channels that are operated by the sta ...
in South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, Fox in Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, yes Comedy
Yes Comedy (styled as yes Comedy and formerly called ''yes stars Comedy'') is an Israeli television channel carried by the Israeli satellite television provider – '' yes'', which broadcasts American and British TV shows of the sitcom, dramedy ...
in Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and Star World
Star World (formerly known as Star Plus) is an English language entertainment television channel originally launched on 15 December 1991 as Star Entertainment () by STAR TV in Hong Kong as the old iteration of Star Plus. On 30 March 1996, the ...
in India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. In Canada, the series aired on Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...
for its first ten seasons. The network additionally obtained the syndicated strip-rights to the series when they became available. Subsequently, the series moved to Global
Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003
* ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007
* ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989
* ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015
* Bruno ...
for its eleventh and final season.
The series was made available for streaming on Hulu
Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...
and Peacock
Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...
in its entirety on February 3, 2021.
Adaptations
* Chile: MEGA
Mega or MEGA may refer to:
Science
* mega-, a metric prefix denoting 106
* Mega (number), a certain very large integer in Steinhaus–Moser notation
* "mega-" a prefix meaning "large" that is used in taxonomy
* Gravity assist, for ''Moon-Eart ...
was the first in the world to buy the rights of ''Modern Family'' to produce their own version of the series, with the title ''Familia moderna
''Familia moderna'' (English: ''Modern Family'') is a Chilean television series based on the American sitcom ''Modern Family'' which aired on ABC. It is produced and broadcast by Mega since December 3, 2015, starring Patricio Contreras, Mariana L ...
'', which premiered on December 3, 2015. One difference in this is Mitchell and Cameron's counterparts in this version do not adopt, but instead one of them is the biological father of the child as a result of a drunken fling. They take custody of the child while the mother travels overseas.
* Greece: Mega Channel
MEGA Channel, also known as MEGA TV or just MEGA, is a television network in Greece, that broadcasts a mix of foreign and Greek programming.
It is the first and the oldest private television network in Greece.
History Mega Channel (1989–2018) ...
bought the rights of ''Modern Family'' for Greece and Cyprus and announced a Greek language
Greek ( el, label=Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy (Calabria and Salento), southern Al ...
adaptation, under the name '' Moderna Oikogeneia'', which premiered on March 20, 2014.
* Iran: The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting
The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB; fa, صدا و سيمای جمهوری اسلامی ايران, ''Sedā va Sīmā-ye Jomhūri-ye Eslāmi-ye Īrān'', , formerly called National Iranian Radio and Television until the Iranian rev ...
produced a scene-by-scene remake of ''Modern Family'', titled '' Haft Sang'' which premiered on June 30, 2014. However, in this version the same-sex relationship between Cam and Mitchell of the original series was replaced by a heterosexual
Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to ...
relationship. Also, Haley Dunphy
''Modern Family'' is an American TV comedy series revolving around three families interrelated through Jay Pritchett, his son Mitchell Pritchett, and his daughter Claire Dunphy. The families meet for family functions (usually around their three ...
's character is replaced by a teenage boy. Due to this change, Haley's boyfriend Dylan is replaced by a close friend of the teenage boy.
Potential spinoff
In June 2020, ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke discussed a spin-off of ''Modern Family'' centered around Mitch and Cam, inspired by an idea from series co-creator and executive producer, Steven Levitan. In June 2022, star Jesse Tyler Ferguson confirmed that the script for the show's spinoff is completed. "The script's out there and it's very good," he told. "So you know, who knows? If someone wants to produce it, maybe."
References
External links
* at ABC.com
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Modern Family
2000s American LGBT-related comedy television series
2000s American mockumentary television series
2000s American single-camera sitcoms
2009 American television series debuts
2010s American LGBT-related comedy television series
2010s American mockumentary television series
2010s American single-camera sitcoms
2020 American television series endings
2020s American LGBT-related comedy television series
2020s American mockumentary television series
2020s American single-camera sitcoms
American Broadcasting Company original programming
American LGBT-related sitcoms
Best Musical or Comedy Series Golden Globe winners
English-language television shows
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Peabody Award-winning television programs
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Primetime Emmy Award-winning television series
Television series about families
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