Four years after the end of Modern family on ABC, actor Eric Stonestreet is mulling over the spinoff that didn't happen. While Stonestreet had hoped to star in a spinoff alongside Jesse Tyler Ferguson that would have followed Cam and Mitch, the series was scrapped by the network.
According to Deadline, Stonestreet has discussed his desire Modern family spinoff during an interview with Graham Bensinger. The actor recalled how there were plans to potentially develop a Cam and Mitch spinoff from a pilot script that Stonestreet thought was really strong. Ultimately, the series was not picked up, a decision that Stonestreet suggested may have been due to the perception that he and Ferguson were “the old boys,” and therefore unworthy of their own spinoff.
“I don't think it has any more potential“, Stonestreet explained. “They had their chance. Chris Lloyd and a couple of writers wrote a really great script that had Jesse and me going through our life in Missouri, and they said, 'No.' They just said, 'We don't want to do it.'“
We don't want to do that.
Stonestreet added: “I love my character. I love the show. I love Jesse. We had a great working relationship, we had incredible chemistry. I think Jesse and I maybe felt like they considered us the old onesor something like that, that didn't seem worthy of carrying those characters forward. It felt a little painful to me. But people make business decisions.”
The unmade spin-off would have been different from Modern family putting the main characters in a new location, meaning others from the original series wouldn't be as present. It would have seen Cam, Mitch and their adopted daughter Lily Tucker-Pritchett (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons) after moving to Missouri from California. While Stonestreet shared how Modern family Co-creator Steven Levitran was hesitant to do a spin-off just for the sake of it; the actor believed the series would be a success, given that co-creator Christopher Lloyd was on board as a writer.
“I think it would have been a no-brainer“, Stonestreet said. “I don't think it wouldn't have been successful. Because you had one of the creators, who had really cared so much about making sure that show was great for so long, willing to do it.”
He continued, “We had the right people in place. It would have been great. If ABC had said, “Let's do it,” I think we'd be on the air right now.”
Eric Stonestreet Still Hopes For A Special Reunion
Modern family was created by Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd. Along with Stonestreet and Ferguson, it starred Ed O'Neill, Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Sarah Hyland, Ariel Winter, Nolan Gould, Rico Rodriguez, and Jeremy Maguire. While the Cam and Mitch show is dead in the water, Stonestreet still hopes to revisit that character one day by reuniting with his Modern family co-stars.
“I wish we would do a Christmas special,” Stonestreet said.
Modern family is streaming on Hulu and Peacock.
Source: Graham Bensinger