‘Modern Family’ Spinoff Script Might Never Get Picked Up By ABC
ABC’s hit sitcom, Modern Family, tells the story of several different family structures mockumentary-style. The show began in 2009 and ended in 2020 after 11 seasons, and many fans wish they could revisit the Pritchetts, Dunphys, and other characters that made the show successful. Now, there’s talk of a Modern Family spinoff — but ABC has yet to pick it up.
A ‘Modern Family’ spinoff script is already written, but ABC hasn’t picked it up
There’s good news for Modern Family fans. The scripts for another show related to the hit ABC series are finished, according to Mitchell Pritchett actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson.
Entertainment Tonight reports Ferguson said he’s finished writing the Modern Family spinoff script — but it has yet to be picked up by ABC. “The script’s out there and it’s very good,” Ferguson shared with an Entertainment Tonight rep. “So, you know, who knows? If someone wants to produce it, maybe.”
ABC hasn’t said why they haven’t picked up the spinoff yet. But Ferguson spoke to Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live about the situation. He stated he spoke with ABC, though the conversations didn’t go far.
“There were discussions,” he told the host. ” … We had been on for 11 years. I think they were ready to move in a different direction.”
Did ‘Modern Family’ get canceled? What happened to the ABC series?
Before talking of a Modern Family spinoff, fans want to know what happened to Modern Family for it to end. The Emmy-award-winning sitcom was never meant to last 11 seasons. ABC planned for the show to have 10 seasons and end there, but the network then extended it to last an additional season. In the end, it seems ABC thought the stories were told appropriately, and it was time to move forward in a new direction.
Co-creators Steve Levitan and Chris Lloyd talked to The Hollywood Reporter about ending the series. Lloyd and Levitan wanted the families to go their separate ways while having Phil and Claire leave their porch light on as a symbol of future reconnection.
“The best endings are actually beginnings that don’t try to put a period on a series,” Lloyd shared. “To finish everybody with a great final line or we somehow tell the audience what is going to happen to them for the rest of their lives is a mistake. The series is going to live on, the characters are going to live on in the audience’s mind, so it may be best to set people off on new paths and then let the audience imagine them on those paths and almost let the series live on in each individual viewer’s mind.”
The series co-creators talked about a possible spinoff in the past
ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke allegedly had an interest in creating a Modern Family spinoff. Steve Levitan and Chris Lloyd spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about this possibility. As for Levitan, he was ready to move forward.
“So personally, it feels like it’s time to move on and to start focusing on something very different,” Levitan shared. “Maybe, after a little while, I will be reinfused with a great idea or somebody will come forward with a great idea, and I will either get involved or give it my blessing or whatever, but for right now, I’m just focusing on new things.”
Lloyd agreed with Levitan. “We don’t want to do a series just because we want to keep the thing going or because we miss it,” he added. “It would need to be a solid idea in its own right, and that may happen, it may not. But it will get discussed. But it’s a tall order.”
For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s YouTube channel.
