141 'Modern Family' Facts To Know Before You Watch The Show

'Modern Family' premiered in 2009 on ABC and immediately took over the American television market with its mockumentary approach and a brilliant cast that embodies each character perfectly.

'Modern Family' follows the lives of Jay Pritchett's family and the character himself, as they continue living in a Los Angeles suburb. The family of Jay Pritchett consists of his second wife, his stepson, his other two adult children along with their wives and children.

The series is helmed by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan who created the stories from their own 'modern families.' The series is very relatable for most viewers watching the show and probably that's the reason why 'Modern Family' has been so successful.

The show is actually a documentary and not a regular sitcom and that is how the show entered production. You must have noticed how the Dunphys and Pritchetts are always looking at the camera and talking.

The story behind the idea is that Geert Floortje, a character lived with the family years back as a foreign exchange student and now is back as an adult to film them. This story would have been made, but the team felt that the character was unnecessary and cut them out.

Britney Spears is a huge fan of the show and the show maker, Steve Levitan, offered her a role of an actor in season three of the show. However, Britney's team took too long to respond, and by the time they responded, the season was already planned.

'Modern Family' has won 21 primetime Emmy Awards till now and also six Writers Guild of America Awards. Not only this but 'Modern Family' has also won a GLSEN Respect Award due to their portrayal of storylines and images reflecting a diverse America.

The show was even ranked at number 43 out of 60 by TV Guide for Best Series of All Time.

If you enjoyed this article, why not also check out 'Family Guy' facts and 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' facts here on Kidadl!

Fun facts About 'Modern Family'

Let's learn about some fun facts related to the show.

There is a frame-by-frame remake of the show made by the Islamic Republic of Iran named 'Haft Sang' which premiered in 2014.

Ann Romney and Michelle Obama are fans of the show and have even said that 'Modern Family' is their favorite.

O'Neill's characters read the same newspaper for 30 years. Jay in 'Modern Family' reads the same paper that Al Bundy, O’Neill’s character in 'Married... with Children' reads.

During the pilot episode, Julie Bowen was eight and a half months pregnant. She plays the role of Claire Dunphy. During her pregnancy, Julie hid her baby bump behind various different props like boxes and tables. She was right for the part and the makers did everything to include her in the show.

The house where everything goes on, the 'Modern Family' house t was sold for $2.15 million. The Dunphy residence is located in the Cheviot Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. The house was originally built in 2006 and used in Modern Family only for the exterior shots. All interior shots were shot on sound stages.

Season four of the show was postponed due to legal issues regarding salary negotiations. The studio, at last, gave in and raised the salaries of all members of 'Modern Family'.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson plays Mitchell in 'Modern Family'. In real life, as well as in the show, Ferguson had to come out to his dad several times until his father believed him. 'Modern Family' took this event into consideration and made Mitchell come out to Jay several times until he was believed.

Each year Nielsen tracks the data on TV viewership and finds out which shows have the most viewers. It was found that 'Modern Family' was the second most-watched show, with most viewers in the 18-49 age bracket.

Facts About 'Modern Family''s Cast

The cast of the show is brilliantly chosen as each actor embodies the character perfectly.

Let's read some facts about the cast of the show.

Ed O'Neill, who plays Jay Pritchett, is good at Brazilian Ju-Jitsu and even has a black belt. He also briefly was part of the American football team Pittsburgh Steelers. However, he did not play and was released before playing the first match. He was cut in training camp.

Julie Bowen, who plays Claire Dunphy, has had a pacemaker installed in her heart since her 20s due to a heart condition.

Actor Rico Rodriguez plays the character Manny Delgado, the character's full name is Manuel Alberto Javier Alejandro Delgado.

All the 'Modern Family' cast members made a pact since the first season of the show that all the cast members will submit their names to the award shows as supporting actors. This way no one among them was more important than the other and there were basically no lead actors. All actors are equal in the show.

Sofia Vergara, who plays Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, was nearly a dentist in her native country of Columbia. She dropped out of college two semesters before she was about to graduate. Growing up in Columbia, Sofia was a fan of 'Married... With Children' and the show was dubbed in Spanish. Sofia thought O'Neill spoke Spanish.

Ty Burrell, who plays Phil Dunphy, was known to live out on a van when he was studying to get his graduation at Penn State University. He was trying to save money by living out there in real life. Now, a famous TV dad in American family houses, Burrell won Emmy awards in both 2011 and 2014.

Nolan Gould, who plays Luke Dunphy, is a genius. His character is not that bright, however, the actor has an IQ of 150 and even graduated from high school at the age of 13.

Ariel Winter plays the character of Alex Dunphy in 'Modern Family'. Winter was legally emancipated when she was 17. She did not have a healthy relationship with her mother and had a tumultuous upbringing. Her sister became her legal guardian when she was just 14. She became fully independent when she was 18 years old.

Matt LeBlanc who played Joey in the show 'Friends' almost played Phil Dunphy in 'Modern Family'. The role eventually went to Ty Burrell.

Facts About 'Modern Family''s Characters

The characters in the show were made in such a way that they resonated well with the common people and that is what made the show successful.

The role of Jay Pritchett was first offered to actor Craig T Nelson but he denied the role due to lower salary reasons. Rob Huebel also turned down the role of Phil Dunphy as he simply disliked the script.

The adopted daughter of Mitch and Cam was played by twins Ella and Jaden Hiller. For the first season and the second season, the twin sisters appeared in the show, but the acting career was limited to those seasons as it wore the sisters out.

The character Fizbo the clown is actually not something the writers of the show made up. Eric Stonestreet, who plays Cam, has dressed up as the clown character since he was nine years old in real life.

At the age of 11, Stonestreet was known to play the character at children's birthday parties. He, however, did not name the clown character Frizo himself and he does not know how the name came about.

Behind The Scenes Facts About 'Modern Family'

'Modern Family' is as interesting on television as it is behind it. There are many interesting things going on behind the scenes. Let's find out a few.

Gloria and Jay's dog Stella was played by Brigitte, a French Bulldog in seasons two and three. She was later replaced by Beatrice. There was no information why the animal acting agency that represented Brigitte dropped her as a client.

There was a Facebook campaign in 2010 that highlighted the fact that the gay couple in Moden Family never kissed each other. It worked as in September 2010, Mitch and Cam kissed in the background of an episode and it was the first time a gay couple had kissed on primetime television.

During the farewell episode, Sarah Hyland who plays Haley Dunphy revealed that Wells Adams, her fiancé had to track down Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell to ask for their blessings along with taking permission from Sarah's actual parents. This says how close-knit the family in Modern Family actually is.

Creators of the show did not think Ty Burrell and Sarah Hyland had that chemistry needed for their roles. They even did a screen test to make sure. But, Modern Family is great because of its perfectly cast actors and Ty and Sarah proved why no other actor could do better than they actually did.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 141 'Modern Family' facts to know before you watch the show, then why not take a look at Boy Meets World facts or Aladdin facts.