ABC comedy series Modern Family has been renewed for an 11th and final season in 2019-20. The 20th Century Fox Television series has been an anchor of ABC’s primetime schedule since its premiere in 2009. Created by Steve Levitan and Christopher Lloyd, the domestic comedy revolving around an extended family that won five consecutive Emmy Awards for best comedy series from 2010 to 2014. The show and its stars have picked up countless other awards, from Peabody honors to SAG, DGA, WGA and PGA kudos.
Modern Family has seen its seen its audience decline in recent season but it consistently ranks among ABC’s top five scripted series. The show, now in its 10th season, had been expected to wrap its run with season 11.
“Chris and Steve have created one of the most seminal and iconic comedies in television history,” said Karey Burke, president of ABC Entertainment. “In its final season, there will be more milestone events that anyone who has been a fan of the series won’t want to miss.”
Levitan and Lloyd both offered a cheeky response to the news that the sun will soon set on the Pritchard-Dunphy clans.
“For 10 years, our characters have bravely faced turning points in life and moved through them to great personal enrichment; we have chosen a different path by doing one more season of ‘Modern Family,’” said Lloyd.
Said Levitan: “Even after 10 years together, we realized there are still some things our writers don’t yet know about each other’s sex lives.”
Modern Family has been credited as groundbreaking for primetime in its portrayal of a gay couple — Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Mitchell and Eric Stonestreet’s Cameron — as stable, loving and parents of a precocious girl. It also examined the concerns of blended families — as represented by Ed O’Neill’s Jay, Sofia Vergara’s Gloria and Rico Rodriguez’s Manny — and the trials and tribulations of a traditional family with three kids, represented by Ty Burrell’s Phil, Julie Bowen’s Claire and siblings Haley, Alex and Luke played by Sarah Hyland, Ariel Winter and Nolan Gould, respectively.
