Thoroughly Modern Family

Modern Family, the documentary style comedy that has become a breakout hit on ABC Wednesday nights, was honored at the opening night of the PaleyFest, the annual festival honoring the best of television.

Cast and creators gathered for a panel discussion about the show, sharing tidbits about behind the scenes happenings and how the show came to be.

Here are some of the things they revealed.

1. The idea for the series came when creators Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd would chat about what was happening with their families while brainstorming ideas for a show following the cancellation of their last series, Back to You. Eventually, they realized these stories they were casually sharing was perfect fodder for a new family comedy.

2. Ed O’Neill, who plays family patriarch Jay Pritchett, is best known for playing Al Bundy for 11 seasons on Married with Children. He never planned to do another series, but once he read the pilot script, he said, “Oh my God, I’ve got to go back to work.”

3. While Married with Children made O’Neill a star, he says that he and the series never seemed to get the proper recognition or respect from critics or the public. With Modern Family, he’s getting both and finds that refreshing.

4. Jesse Tyler Ferguson was cast fairly early as the gay son, Mitchell. He then tested with numerous actors up for the part of his husband Cameron, but liked Eric Stonestreet, saying they had the best chemistry.

5. Because Ferguson and Stonestreet have such good chemistry, many people assume they are a couple in real life. They aren’t. But after Stonestreet was cast, Ferguson invited him to go out for coffee so they could get to know each other. About halfway through that coffee date, they realized it was Valentine’s Day.

6. Stonestreet found it a challenge to get just the right amount of flamboyance for Cameron without being too flamboyant. Ultimately, he used his own mother for his model.

7. Levitan says having gay characters in lead roles is no longer a big deal for a network series – Will & Grace broke down those barriers more than a decade ago. However, their job is to make sure they present the gay family responsibly.

8. Ty Burrell calls playing Phil Dunphy a “vacation” since Phil’s mind is a “meadow.” He says Phil thinks he’s rather smart, but is actually fairly dumb, thinks he’s cool and hip, but is neither.

9. Julie Bowen is such a hit as smart, sexy mother, Claire, many of the current pilot scripts circulating in Hollywood are calling for “Julie Bowen types.”

10. Levitan says that Claire needs Phil to balance her out. Given her background, Claire would go to a very dark place if left alone, so she chose a very positive person for her husband. Levitan says the same is true of why Mitchell chose Cameron.

11. When asked if there will be an episode about how Claire and Phil fell in love, Levitan thinks that was explained when Phil became the Clive Bixby character in the Valentine’s Day episode.

12. Sofia Vergara says her character Gloria’s first husband was an irresponsible playboy, so she chose the opposite of that for her second husband, Jay.

13. Vergara is happy to be able to play a character in her native Columbian accent. She says it’s exciting to be opening doors for other Columbian actors.

14. The cast doesn’t get many chances to interact as their scenes are shot separately. So, when the script does call for family gatherings, it’s a treat for them to see each others.

15. Similarly, the cast enjoys watching each episode to find out what the other characters are doing.

16. For the “Moon Landing” episode where Jay and Cameron accidently bumped butts in the locker room, producers had to fight the network to use pixilation rather than blurring for the exposed butts.

17. Levitan reports many famous people approached him at the Golden Globes about appearing on the show. While very flattered, they have to be careful not to overdo the guest stars (they’ve already had Shelley Long, Benjamin Bratt and Edward Norton). They don’t want the guest stars to overshadow the great cast.

18. As for the documentary style of filming, they note that only the family members look directly at the camera. That helps make the audience feel like part of the family.

Photos by Kevin Parry, The Paley Center for Media.

For more information, visit the Paley Center website.