Unfortunately for fans of Modern Family, it looks like the WhatsApp commercial from earlier this year is as close to a spin-off or reunion as viewers are going to get. Despite rumors of a Cam & Mitch Centric spin-off being in the works at ABC, it appears to be dead in the water. Modern Family ran for 11 seasons on ABC, wrapping up its lengthy run in 2020. Fan desire for the series to return in some form has been rampant in the years that followed, but nothing significant has materialized.
Per Deadline, in an interview with Graham Bensinger, Eric Stonestreet blasted ABC’s decision to pull the plug on a Cam & Mitch Modern Family spin-off. After being asked about the status of the ill-fated reunion between him and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Stonestreet squashed any hope for the future, stating, “I don’t think it’s potential anymore.” Stonestreet further commented on what went wrong for the possible new series, with his comments featured below:
“They had their chance. Chris Lloyd and a couple of the writers wrote a really great script that spun Jesse and I off in our life in Missouri, and they said, ‘No.’ They just said, ‘We don’t want to do it.”
Stonestreet Detailed How ABC Hurt His Feelings
The new series would have featured Cam & Mitch in a more significant lead role, alongside their daughter, Lily. However, it seems as if one of the significant factors in the decision not to move forward was a notion against a spin-off for the sake of doing a spin-off. Stonestreet commented on this in his interview, stating, “We had the right people in place. It would have been great. If ABC would have said ‘Let’s do it,’ I think we’d be on right now.” Regardless of the Cam & Mitch series not getting greenlit, Stonestreet is still hopeful that the Modern Family cast will reunite again down the road, citing a desire for a holiday special.
Stonestreet isn’t the only Modern Family star expressing interest recently in bringing the gang back together. The actor’s former costar, Sofia Vergara shared her hopes for a return to Modern Family and revealed she’d die to be back on the set of the legendary sitcom. The America’s Got Talent judge’s comments, coupled with Stonestreet’s interview make it somewhat surprising the network would opt to vote against continuing the franchise in some capacity. Stonestreet admits in the interview that he understands ABC is a business, but that doesn’t change the emotional toll the rejection has had on him.
“I love my character. I love the show. I love Jesse. We had a great working relationship, we had amazing chemistry. I think Jesse and I maybe felt like they thought of us as the old guys, or something like that, that didn’t seem worthy of keeping those characters going. It felt a little hurtful. But people make business decisions.”
All 11 seasons of
Modern Family
are streaming now on Peacock.