Marc Freeman - Modern Family: The Untold Oral History of One of Televisions Groundbreaking Sitcoms

My thoughts often go back to August 2009. The pilot has been shot and the series has been ordered, but apart from a relative handful of studio, network, and advertising people, no one in America has a clue what Modern Family is.

Which means that we are showing up to work at the barn that is stage 5 on the Fox Studio lot, and we are, eighty or so of us, making episodes of a thing that isnt really a thing yet.

But there is an unmistakable suspicion that what we are making may be well, we would never have used the word good or special or any other terms to tempt the itchy fingers of the lightning boltwielding comedy gods. But it did feel promising.

How else to describe the sensation of discovering that Sofa Vergara isnt just beautiful but is a first-rate clown? Or that Ed ONeill can do more with a raised eyebrow than most actors can do with a soliloquy? Or that Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell, both consummate professionals, are reducing each other to a demonstrably unprofessional level of laughter mid-take on a daily basis? Or that Eric Stonestreets rubbery face is making us marvel five different ways in five consecutive takes, forcing his scene partner Jesse Tyler Ferguson to counterpunch in five different, equally inventive ways?

And its not just that our actors are showing a resourcefulness we had no clue they possessed. The chemistry within each couple is palpable (and this is a thing you simply cant gauge until you see your actors in scenes together you can hope, but you cant know). Yes, it is by design that we have a more buttoned-up spouse and a more combustible one in each couple, but who knew these twosomes would seem so real? The actors make us understand why these people would be with each otherwould be good together. This Gloria WOULD choose this Jay. This Claire WOULD find this Phil irresistible.

Across from stage 5, where this happy experiment is playing out, another is happening in a different barn. This is where our writers gather and where we have stumbled into a highly effective and Marquis de Sadeworthy process premised upon the idea that this show is only going to be good if it feels real to people, so we are all going to have to unburden ourselves of our most embarrassing personal stories, because that is the grist our comedy mill seems to need.

Now revealing an embarrassing personal anecdote to a roomful of comedy writers is, on the survival instincts scale, right up there with rubbing yourself with salmon and lying down outside a cave full of hibernating bears. But so it is that Danny Zuker tells us of his gallstones attack and his wifes changing into a sexy outfit before the hunky EMTs arrive. And Brad Walsh tells us of his doomed ice dancing partnership with his sister. Dan OShannons father once canceled Christmas. Bill Wrubel went out with a woman on Halloween but wasnt sure if it was a date or just a fun Halloween night out, so he wore a Spider-Man costume under his clothes. These and other inglorious tales all become the basis for episodes.

Six weeks pass like this. The stories are coming easily in barn 1, though not without plenty of averted eyes at the lunch table. (Did I really reveal that, at thirteen, I practiced mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on my sister in a lifeguard training class thats pretty damn close to admitting I made out with my sister, both of us wearing goddamned bathing suits!) And in barn 2, the actors and directors and cinematographers and costumers and gaffers and set-dresserseveryoneare showing a dedication to detail that is the hallmark of professionalism, or at least the hallmark of dont-let-me-be-the-one-to-screw-it-upism.

And thus we arrive at our premiere night, September 23, 2009.

We gather, those eighty or so of us, at a Mexican restaurant, and we watch our show as America watches it for the first time, our secret a secret no more. And I remember two things best from that night. One, that life was about to be very different for all of us. And two, that there is no better feeling than being on a team where your teammates make you better.

Ten years have passed since that time250 episodes, marvelous additions to our wondrous cast, a parade of the best comedy writers in Hollywood all submitting to our cheek-reddening process. Its been a dreamy journey. Weve seen our child actors become adults (they were always brilliantnow theyre just older, with houses). We continue to find stunning skills among our cast. Julie playing Claires inability to confront the topic of death without smiling? Ed playing both remorse and boundless love walking his son down the aisle Ty, who makes us cry with laughter every week, making us cry the even better way learning that his daughter is no longer a virgin And Sofa speaking Russian, Jesse fighting off a pigeon, Eric going to pieces at the choice Sophie had to make. The list goes on

In those earliest days, wed have only occasional guests come to our set. Once we premiered, this number grew, to the point where, in the final seasons, wed commonly have thirty or forty visitors, in their own gallery, observing as we made our show in that same barn wed started out in. And the comment most often heard was, You all look like youre having such a great time. Well, its important to note here that we are entertainment professionals, people steeped in the black arts of make-believe, who know how to put on appearances for an audience.

Its also important to note that those people were right; we were having a great time. Every day. It was a joy to be part of that family.

Christopher Lloyd