Modern Family has been on for so long that it’s hard to remember just how good it was in season one. Maybe not “winning the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series” good, but it was a very funny show, with a cast that had instant chemistry. The cast still works well together in season eight, but Modern Family has grown slightly stale and complacent. There are only so comical misunderstandings, so many fights that solve themselves in 22 minutes, and so many “Jay is old and has a hot wife” jokes to tell.
Creators Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd could shake things up — would it be wrong for Claire to divorce Phil? Or for Manny to commit patricide? — but it’s not that kind of a show. Modern Family, despite the mockumentary presentation, is an old-school family sitcom that Eric Stonestreet says is closer to the end than the beginning. It might happen as soon as next season.
“All of the cast, we’re now sort of in the twilight of the show,” Stonestreet told People. “Maybe we have one more season. Maybe we have two more seasons. Nobody really knows. So I think now what’s fueling everyone is that we’ve had this great opportunity for the last seven, eight years, and it’s coming to an end.” He added, “We’ve shot more than we’re going to shoot in the future. We’re at the end of the series, in a sense, and I think what keeps us going now is that we want to go out as strong, and positive, and great as we possibly can, whether that’s one or two seasons, three seasons, I have no idea.”
(It’s worth mentioning that the cast is only signed through season eight.)
Everyone involved with Modern Family should be extremely proud of what they’ve accomplished. Not only is the show an Emmy-winning ratings hit that, even after 150-plus episodes, is still able to produce some amusing episodes, but it led to the success of other ABC family sitcoms, like Black-ish, Fresh Off the Boat, and The Goldbergs. (The Middle is great, but it premiered the same season as Modern Family.) That being said, it might be time for the Dunphys to take a long vacation (not to Disney) away from the Pritchetts.
(Via People)
