Modern Family has become one of the most well-loved television shows in the United States. However, despite the fact that the sitcom has spent a considerable amount of time in the spotlight and under the scrutiny of the public eye, there are still some things that many people don’t know. With that in mind, here we present our list of 15 things you probably didn’t know about Modern Family. Check out part one below, and stay tuned for part two, coming soon!
Number Fifteen: The Cast Almost Included a Dutch Filmmaker. The show was originally conceived as a documentary shot through the lens of a Dutch filmmaker who lived with the Pritchetts as an exchange student some years ago. However, the directors eventually nixed the idea.
Number Fourteen: Craig T. Nelson Could Have Been Jay Pritchett. Imagine how much different the show would be! Nelson ended up passing on the role because he wasn’t offered enough money.
Number Thirteen: Rob Huebel Really Didn’t Want to Be Phil Dunphy. Huebel was offered the role, which he apparently “aggressively turned down.” He said that he hated the script and didn’t realize when he read it how popular the show would turn out to be.
Number Twelve: Mitchell’s Coming Out Story Is Based on Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Real Life. It’s true! In real life, Ferguson had to come out to his father three different times before his father believed it. The show’s writers made this part of Ferguson’s life part of Mitchell’s life as well.
Number Eleven: Fizbo the Clown Is Also Based on Reality. Eric Stonestreet, who plays Cameron, actually dressed up as a character named Fizbo the clown when he was a child, and he even performed at other kids’ birthday parties. However, Stonestreet has said he’s not sure of the name’s origin.
Number Ten: Cameron’s Life Story Has a Lot of Inside Jokes. Specifically, there are a ton of inside jokes related to Stonestreet’s life. For example, while Stonestreet went to Piper High School, the character of Cameron went to Tonganoxie, which is Piper High School’s rival in real life.
Number Nine: Sofia Vergara Thought Ed O’Neill Could Speak Spanish. And she thought this because she watched Married…with Children while she was growing up in Colombia. At the time, she didn’t realize that the dubbed lines weren’t actually O’Neill’s voice. Stay tuned for part two of our list of 15 things you didn’t know about Modern Family, coming soon!