A Modern Farewell (2020) - full transcript

"Modern Family"
getting ready to say goodbye.

The award-winning comedy
announcing its 11th

and final season.

The extended family
moving on to a new chapter

after over a decade of laughs and love.

Alright, everybody,
welcome to the last first,

as we are calling it.

By the way, 10 years ago,

we did our very first table
read in this very room,

and then right afterwards,
we went outside,

and on my phone, I grabbed...



"Modern Family" was born from the notion

that families have changed.

Chris and I,
we were working on a couple of ideas,

and we realized that we'd
come in on Monday mornings,

and one of us would tell a funny story

about something our kids did

or some sort of thing that
happened with our wives

or whatever it was.

And it started to dawn on us

that maybe that was more interesting

than what we were
working on at the time.

So we started writing the script.

This is the casting breakdown for the
"Modern Family" pilot.

At the time, the show
was called "My American Family."



"Synopsis: A documentary style
look at 3 American families...

1 traditional and 2 non-traditional."

Breakfast!

We saw 212 Claires,

232 Phils...

Do you love it?

...228 Camerons.

I know my family's gonna
have a big opinion about it.

Mitchell, we only saw 110.

Oh, God.

Haley, 185.

No, the little bitch shoved me!

Alex, we saw 107.

- Right.
- Luke, 92.

And Manny, 198.

Stop the car.

And we were already in discussions

right from the get-go
with Sofía Vergara.

Don't let him! Kick him!

I mean, I don't remember...

...seeing anyone on TV
that sounded like me.

I mean, the last time,
I think it was Ricky Ricardo.

The character was, like,
a passionate woman.

You know, she loved her family.

And she's loud, and she was,
you know, very colorful.

And that's how Latin women are.

That's the woman that I grew up around.

I'll tell you the funny thing.

When I met with Chris and Steve,
I told my manager,

"Look, this is rude, at best.

"'Cause I'm not doing a half-hour,

"and you know I'm not doing a half-hour,

and... and I want them to
know I'm not doing it."

- So, why am I...
- So, hold on, hold on.

Before you even go in, you're like,

"Half-hour comedy not
part of my future"?

Never again,
'cause I did "Married" 11 years.

But I got the script in the mail,

and it was so well-written.

And then I thought, "[BLEEP]"

And I read it again.

So I called my manager and said,
"Make the deal."

We wrote the part of Phil...

- Hi.
- ...for Ty Burrell.

And we went to the network and said,

"We want Ty Burrell for this."

And they weren't big fans.

And I got word that
it was basically over.

"They're not finding you appealing,
charming, funny.

"You know, like, all the basic...
basic things

about you personally
that they don't like."

And I said, "Well,
why don't we just show them

the way that we think
this will actually look?"

- So...
- No jacket.

...we grabbed a camcorder

and created a scene from
my life with my son.

How'd that feel?

Which I thought was very good parenting.

And I think you've
learned your lesson...

- Ow!
- Wow, okay.

- You hit my bone!
- That was an accident!

- Dad.
- Dad, Dad?

You have got to talk to Mom.

She is, like, completely freaking out

and embarrassing me!

Well, honey,
your mom isn't always as cool

- about things as I am.
- Ow!

What is with this thing?!

The network saw it and said, "We get it.

Alright, good. Go."

And that was it.

Thank you, Steve.

Ed, I think, had been cast.
Sofía had been cast.

Ty hadn't. Maybe Julie had. Jesse had.

He likes to remind everyone
he was cast before me.

I'm sure he'll bring
it up in his interview.

I had the pleasure of being cast first,

so I got to audition with
several people for Cam.

And I remember when
Eric walked in the room,

there was a crackle,

and there was something special
that happened between us.

And to have so many
characters in that pilot

and have them all perfectly cast

was something that was really magical.

- Which family is this?
- The Dunphys.

- The Dunphy family.
- We are the Dunphys.

- And we are proud.
- What... What's our last name?

I don't know what our last name is.

What's our last name?

You're Pritchett.
You're Mitchell Pritchett.

Yeah, Mitchell Pritchett. Pritchett.

Chest bump on three.

Ooh.

We just ran over our director.

It hurt... hurt my foot.

They're in trouble.

We're gonna get fired.

- [BEEP]
- Scene 11, take 1.

Gary, you can get a little
tighter when you go to the kids.

I hope we do this show for so long,

I'm doing scenes with
Nolan when he's 31.

Shooting the pilot was, of course,

like any pilot... stressful.

♪ Are you ready to get
your minds blown? ♪

♪ Yeah, I think so ♪

♪ Oh, my dad might be a phenom ♪

♪ How does he do it? ♪

♪ We're all in this together ♪

♪ Yes, we are ♪

♪ Just like us four ♪

♪ But I mean that metaphorically ♪

No.

But I remember saying...

..."This feels good.

I think we have something here."

I come from a small village.

Very poor but very, very beautiful.

- Wow!
- Ew!

Kids!

It's the number-one village
in all Colombia for the...

What's the word?

Murders.

Yes, the murders.

Sorry. You just...

♪ Wakka wakka wakka wakka ♪

I was pregnant with twins.

Very pregnant with twins.

So there was a lot of laundry baskets,

a lot of folding towels,
a lot of large sweaters.

Come on!

Nobody knew.

Nobody could tell.
It was pretty amazing.

We were pretty proud of ourselves.

- We're getting there.
- Really?

I will take you down to Chinatown,
my friend.

You will not know what happened.

We're here.

That was the first AD.

And she just checked on us.

We're rolling.

You come into my house and you
insult me and my boyfriend...

I can't help but think of all the ways

we could've screwed it up.

But miraculously,
these 10 amazing actors

came together at that perfect moment.

We found each other,
and lightning struck.

♪ It's the circle of life ♪

We adopted a baby.

Her name is Lily.

- Exciting!
- Turn it off.

I can't turn it off.

- It's who I a...
- The music.

Oh, yes, the music.

Say hi to Lily!

I was driving down Ventura Boulevard,

and my phone rang,
and it came up "Unavailable."

I'm like, "Oh, I'll answer." Click.

"Hello?" "Eric."

"Yes." "Ed O'Neill.

"I saw the pilot.

"It's fantastic.

"Honestly,
if this show doesn't go 10 years,

I don't know what the hell
I'm doing in this business."

And from that moment on,

I was convinced the show
was going to get picked up.

I was convinced the show was
going to be on for 10 years

because Ed O'Neill said so.

It is quickly becoming one of
the most popular shows on TV.

It's "Modern Family."

You ever heard of it?

We shot the pilot,
and we were all very excited.

But I didn't think much about it

until it started airing
for the first time.

And then we realized, "Oh, my God.

This is gonna be huge."

What makes "Modern Family"
appeal to so many people?

The show is so incredibly funny.

Yeah, I mean, it's been crazy.

I... Just a blast.

I don't know how I ended
up in this position,

but it's been really fun.

It was a hit right from the beginning.

And I don't know if there could
be another "Modern Family" today

because there are so few shows

that collect and unite
people like this one.

The compliment I always love is,

"It's like you have a
camera in my house."

That's the one show that
my whole family can watch.

You know, my 10-year-old
sits down with me,

my kid in college who won't
give me the time of day.

We all sit down and watch it together.

Watching "Modern Family" with my wife.

The Romney family,
it was their favorite show.

- "Modern Family."
- Yes.

And it was the Obamas' favorite show.

Malia and Sasha love that show.

And when I heard that,
I thought, "That's remarkable."

That show really spoke to both sides.

The best in prime-time TV were
honored at the Emmy Awards

last night in Los Angeles.

The big winners... "Modern Family."

- "Modern Family"!
- "Modern Family."

"Modern Family," the mockumentary

about a dysfunctionally funny family,

took home top comedy prize.

It's amazing, and this is, like,

the most important day
of my life right now.

I made it through a
20-something-year career

very skillfully avoiding
getting any award whatsoever.

And I will say that getting
awards is so much better.

But the year we won
our fifth Emmy Award,

there was a collective
groan in the audience.

So people are like,
"Oh, God, not again."

Welcome back to the
"Modern Family" awards.

So, at that point, we're like,
"We'll try not to win next year.

Just please don't be mad at us."

Hey, guys,
you know that picture I showed?

Let's re-create it right now.
Can we do that?

- Yeah.
- Okay.

You're leaning into his shoulder.

- He's big now.
- Yeah.

This is the end of an era for us.

- We got to pose like this.
- Let me see this again.

11 years is such a huge
part of anyone's life.

Okay, here we go.
Let's just take a bunch of these.

Ending that is...

And here we go.

- ...it's hard to think about.
- Everybody act nervous.

Gil Pickles! Who wants a Gil Pickle?

Fun? Are you joking?

Margaritas, you guys, these guys.

Stop it.

Rainer Shine.

Pepper Saltzman.

- When the show...
- Oh.

...is a successful show, it's easy...

I commanded a circus.

...to get really good actors.

Oh! Vroom, vroom!

Oh, my God. You're Ray Liotta. Wow.

Billy Dee Williams?

I'm a huge fan.

'Cause they want to do funny parts,
and they want to...

Watch and be amazed.

...enjoy some good writing.

I walk five miles a day,

and I've had a tremendous
amount of plastic surgery.

"Modern Family" was a class act,

and people wanted to come play.

I am the evil boy king,
and I want your heads!

It's a Katrina car.

He's like the least gay
person I have ever met!

Have you ever touched the smooth,
taut skin

of a 48-year-old woman?

About to ask you the same thing.

He is the winner.

When I got invited to
become part of the show,

I was thrilled.

And I was also a little bit nervous.

Wow, that's close.

This was the biggest
and best party in town,

and everyone at that party knew it.

- B mark.
- And action!

He's here.

He's here!

Yeah!

- Haley, get in here.
- I'm good, thanks.

No, we're not gonna let go of each other

until you get in here.

Haley, get in the hug. Come on.

- Oh.
- Right, yeah.

Sure, but who needs a hug
when you can...

- Man-shake!
- Man-shake!

Give them room, give them some room.

The virtue of the style of the show

is the simplicity it creates

keeps everything fresh
and funny for the actors.

And I would hear stories
where it was, like,

the envy of other shows
on the lot because,

"Oh, 'Modern Family'
finished by lunch again."

Alright, here we go, guys.
Trading gifts.

- Get ready.
- Here we go.

Lock it up. Roll sound, please.

Rolling!

The show moves fast.

I mean, I'm not kidding you.

I mean, it's probably the fastest-run

single-camera show there is.

Okay, here we go.

We'll do a quick rehearsal.

We show it to the crew.

Hey, guys,
I need a 10-20 in here, please.

They light, and then as soon
as the cast comes back in,

we start shooting.

When you walk on the set of
"Modern Family,"

it is a team, it is a family.

We all want to make this,
every single episode,

as good as it can be.

This I think it's definitely funnier...

The way that we shoot,
it helps the comedy,

because you do feel like
you've got time to improvise

and do multiple takes.

I'm doing it! I'm doing it!

You're doing it.

Everybody around you,
if you're gonna try some alts

or something at the end of the day,

the end of the day is
3:00 in the afternoon

or maybe 6:00, you know?

People are still fine.

They're like, "Yeah, try new stuff."

But sometimes you've been...

I've been on a film set,
and it's 2:00 in the morning,

and you're like,
"I've got an idea for a new line,"

and you're getting this,
like, from the boom guy,

just like, "[BLEEP]"

[BLEEP] damn it.

We... It's not... It's never funny.

"It's not gonna be funnier."

I cannot believe that there are three

active documentaries right now.

It's the most meta thing
that's ever existed.

A documentary of a documentary.

On the show that's a documentary.

Okay.

This show "Modern Family"
is so beloved by so many Americans.

Are you and Ty still getting along?

No. I'd like to discuss it right now.

No, we get along famously.

Yeah, no, we are fantastic.

He's like the nicest
guy in the whole world.

He is. He makes me feel
bad for most of what I do.

Actron 2000.

Ty is one of those magical beasts.

He's not only a good person.

Ohh!

He's funny, he's serious,
he's soulful, he's kind.

He's just the greatest.

And Ty will always surprise me
with what comes out of his mouth

or what he's gonna do with his body.

Of course. The power of social...

- I'm... No, my stomach...
- Is that your stomach?

- Yes.
- Oh, my God.

That was an amazing sound.

- Hold for Ty's stomach, please.
- Holding.

Holding for Ty's digestive tract.

Like, as soon as they say action,
it's always fun.

I've never had a bad time
doing a scene on this show.

Unless it's physically painful.

And even that, I'm weird. I like that.

I like falling.

Aww!

- Down.
- Oh, God! Phil!

Oh, no!

Oh, no. Oh, God.

Also, it took him about six years

to let me know in a very gentle way

I need to stop talking
right before takes.

Okay. Okay.

I'd be talking, talking,
talking, talking.

"Action!"
And he's like, "It's impossible."

I'm ready.

Okay. Go ahead.

So I owe him probably
six years of scenes.

Um...

- Oh.
- Now it's fine.

From the very beginning,
we both were working hard

to be a good work partner,

and I think and I hope that
that translates, you know?

That the fact that we do
actually trust each other

and know each other pretty well.

If we didn't, it would show.

We've seen the best and worst
of each other in 11 years,

and I just feel lucky to have
had a work partner like that.

I'm feeling a little bit of melancholy

as this comes to an end

because I know these last few episodes,

it's gonna be harder to just
really try to do the show.

I am gonna miss this.

Me too.

This show has sort of
ruined me in the best way...

because it has been the
best job of my life.

Oh!

I love you. I'm so sorry.

I'm so sorry.

Just make our way past
all the set dec stuff.

And right outside of the set-dec
department is the Dunphy house.

So, this is where Phil, Claire,
Haley, Alex, and Luke live,

and now Dylan and the twins
live here, as well.

A lot of people ask me which
step is the broken step.

Gotta fix that step.

And the answer to that is,
nobody really knows.

Fix that step.

Ty... I personally think he
just tripped up the steps,

and he's such a great actor
that it made it into the show.

And then throughout the series,

he constantly makes references to,

"Oh, I gotta fix that step."

Gotta fix that step!

This is their kitchen.

Everything in here is
completely practical.

No matter what you try and open,

there will be something in there.

I do always like to point out

that things have expired in 2010.

They basically stocked this fridge

and then never looked back.

Rats.

Somebody had a party
here over the weekend

and I guess took a
notch out of the floor,

so I'm gonna get my best painter on it.

It's Rod Stewart.

I don't know if you guys realize that.

This is tinted wax.

Made for furniture,
but it serves a purpose here.

I've been the lead painter
on the show since Season 2.

I remember, at the time,
I hate to admit it,

but I hadn't heard of the show.

But my daughter was a huge fan,
so she said,

"Dad, you better take this thing
because it's gonna go far."

10 years later,
and she was absolutely right.

Five or less. Five or less.

I'll call you when the van's here.

Today is a very jam-packed day.

What I call almost a full family
day where I have every actor

except for the three Dunphy kids.

So it's just one big
domino dance around.

But I've been doing it long
enough that I feel as calm

and cool as I possibly can doing it.

- Thank you very, very much.
- No problem.

Here's your breakfast here.

I had to drop off Ed's breakfast.

He gets a fried egg on sourdough
with lettuce, mayo, and cheese.

It's been the same for nine years.

Literally, everyone gets the
same breakfast for nine years.

Like, I had his backpack.

With the show ending,
it's a very heavy feeling,

'cause normally, it's just a job,
and you walk away.

But even if we all come
back as a crew together,

it will never be this.

And a big part of that was them, so...

Yes, sir?

Copy.

Give me one second, guys.

Be right back.

Okay. Let's just talk about
the Mitch-Cam thing first.

Let's talk about what
worked and what didn't.

While I know all the writers

have been thinking about the ending

and dreaming about it
and planning for it,

I do think that they're in
a place right now that is,

in a good way, panicky.

The first joke,
it feels like it's, like...

- I know. It feels weird.
- Yeah.

"The clock is ticking, Cam."

I'm not sure it's gonna get
us a laugh out of that. Maybe.

One of the benefits
of this writers' room

is so many of us have been
there from the beginning.

We know each other so well,
and we trust each other.

And we are a bunch of overachievers

who wants A's all the time.

This writers' room,
year in and year out,

broke 24 episodes a season.

And that's unheard of now.

I mean, they've demonstrated
that it can be done,

and you don't sacrifice quality.

Six minutes of sleep.

I think that's okay...
"I get six minutes of sleep."

And we worked hard to...

Not great, okay, but...

...keep pushing ourselves

into be more and more
ambitious with episodes.

That's where some of
the most outrageous,

inventive things come
from in a comedy room.

"How fun for you.
Cameron made a little mistake."

That's funny.

- You know, a door closes.
- And a window opens.

But should we answer it?

- You don't answer windows.
- Oh, how fun for you.

Cam made a little mistake.

Our best episodes have come

from the writers having
experienced something.

And we start with that.

We all revealed such awful
stuff about ourselves,

our spouses, children, anything

to come up with a story.

Like, I remember pitching the
episode where Mitch and Cam

came out at the same
time in the same outfit.

You did it again?

My partner and I have done
that thousands of times.

Lily, it's time to play
"Who Wore it Best?"

I had to reveal that
once when I was a guest

at a very close friend's house,
I spilled red wine...

- Oh!
- ...on a carpet.

My mom has to take an airplane pill

in order to come visit me in California.

She's back East.

And it makes her a little loopy.

It's time to take that special
flying medicine Ronaldo gave us.

- What does "cuidado" mean?
- I think it means "Sleep tight."

- I don't know.
- Oh, well, cheers.

- Cuidado.
- Mm-hmm.

But we did an episode
where Mitch and Cam

take an airplane pill,
but their flight is grounded.

So they're kind of roaming the airport

on an airplane pill,
which happened to us.

- I'm gonna follow you.
- Yeah, okay.

And we actually lost
my mom at one point.

I knew it. Instinct.

And we found her trying
to buy handfuls of hats.

And so when we were breaking
the episode, we were like,

"What do you do on an airplane pill?"

And I said, "Well, I know you go
and try to buy a ton of hats."

There's a saying that's been
going around for a few years

that if you're happy on set,

well, are you as happy
as Eric on a Fizbo day?

'Cause that's happy.

I think this will be the last time.

- Aww.
- For sure.

This will be it for Fizbo.

Okay.

How big is my face that I
need this much moisturizer?

Well, when we were shooting the pilot,

I had said, you know,
I had wanted to be a clown

and performed as a clown as a kid,
and I had auditioned for

Ringling Bros and Barnum
& Bailey Clown College,

and Chris Lloyd was like,

"Uh, we're gonna need to
see pictures of that."

I didn't realize it was
gonna make it into the show.

Wow. Is that you, Uncle Cam?

No, I'm Fizbo the Clown!

I don't know who this Uncle Cam is,

but he sure sounds handsome, doesn't he?

Hey! Howdy, life partner!

I love putting the makeup on.

I love the costume.

There's a line in the
show where Cam says...

I've known I wanted to be a clown

since I found out clowns
were just people with makeup.

That's absolutely how I decided

Eric Stonestreet wanted to be a clown.

And I said, "Look,
if I'm going to do this,

it's got to be right."

I want it the way I want it.

Steve's like,
"You have control over the clown."

There's no need for a mirror
if you're on selfie mode.

That's so not accurate.

I would be applying
the makeup in a mirror.

Have you not seen an episode of
"Fizbo the Clown"?

Have you watched any of the show?

I don't remember.

The notion that I had
hung up the clown dream...

Ow!

...and it all came full circle.

Okay, guys, hey, it's me again.

Now, remember
when you're applying makeup

to the mouth region,
you don't want to overdo it.

You're doing tricks, not turning them.

You know, I dreamed
of being a clown in the circus.

Oh.

I never knew I would become a clown

in the biggest circus of all.

For people that don't know
"Modern Family,"

what is the show about?

Well, "Modern Family" is about...

One minute.
I was talking when you started.

- That's my fault.
- It's okay.

Coming at me with the hard
questions there right up front.

"Modern Family" is about...

These three different families

and how they live and
interact with each other.

They're all going through their
troubles and their phases.

It's just a really funny comedy,

and we're all just going
along for the ride,

and it's gonna be really cool.

Okay, well, this is gonna be so funny.

Every job that I've worked on,
I always get the hottest mom.

I always get the hottest mom.

I did it!

I'm gonna play outside!

Oh!

Going through the experience
of growing up on a show,

and especially a show
that is on for 11 years,

is really difficult, but I was grateful

that I got to do it with Nolan
and Rico and to have that bond.

But I do have to say,
the couple years I had braces,

those... those episodes
are not really my favorite.

I looked it up.

The distance between our
houses is 2,443 miles.

Yeah, on some maps, it's like this big.

God, you're stupid.

I always say that "Modern Family"

is professional home videos.

So I know what I looked and
sounded like when I was 10,

when I was 15 to when I turned 20.

And so, like,
I had my first kiss on the show.

Ever.

It was the whole crew
and the whole cast...

- Aah!
- Surprise.

...right there, and it was on-camera.

Ruin the greatest moment of my life?

- Thanks again, Mom.
- Oh!

And the surprised becomes the surpriser.

This party had everything.

"Modern Family" was my first job,
my first audition.

Oh, my God. These cupcakes are so good.

Hi, honey.

I remember my first day on set.

We saw you guys on "Modern Family."

- Yeah!
- We watched it.

- Yeah.
- I was so confused.

I was like, "This is a fake set,
and these are all fake houses,

so these must be fake people."

I don't know what I was thinking, but...

Whenever I watch the episode
"Caught in the Act"...

- Surprise!
- Oh!

No! Oh!

- No!
- No!

I'm sorry!

...it makes me realize
how incredibly long

the show has been on and
how much of a baby I was.

- What were they doing?
- Nothing.

Whatever it was,
it looked like Dad was winning.

I remember at the time, like,

not really realizing what I'm saying

because I was so young and innocent.

These jokes that flew
over my head at the time.

Now I'm like, "Oh. Now I get that."

My kids are now the age

that these kids were when they started.

Often, people say, "Oh, did you...

Have you taught those kids a lot?"

And I'm like, "No."

They've taught me a lot.

The kids really do truly mark

how long the show has been in
our lives and on television,

specifically Nolan's
height literally marks it.

Six months into the show,

I decided to make a height chart.

Luke, you can see here, 12 years old.

Also, Ariel... Alex... is up here.

And Haley is up here, as well.

And then Luke is way up here.

See, he started way down here at 12,

and here he is a bunch of years later.

I look at Ariel and Nolan,

and sometimes I want
to wring their necks.

And other times,
I want to squish them until they die

'cause I love them so much, you know?

They just really are
like my little siblings,

and so is Julie.

She's been a big sister.

She's been a guardian angel at times.

When my fiancé proposed,

he asked my mom and
dad for their blessing.

Then he also hunted down
Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell

and asked for their blessing.

So...

they really, really are
like my second set of parents.

- What?
- Just love you so much.

- You're making fun of me.
- No, we're not.

No, not at all.

"Modern Family."

The gang is all here.

There's Justin.

Eric, Abraham, Julie, Joe.

Half of my life has
been spent on this show,

and it's become a huge part of who I am

and the way that I define myself.

This set has always been so supportive,

through our best moments and our worst.

We always really have been a family.

I guess I'm in the denial stage.

I think it hasn't really dawned on me.

And then, like, as soon as the show ends

and gonna kick in, like, "I'm not...

I'm not coming back to
work at this place."

Like, I won't... I won't...

I don't know... see all the people

that I grew up with every single day.

And I wish that I could
go back and do it again.

Smell my hair.

Just I want you to tell me
what's different about my hair.

Or what it reminds you of.

Okay.

Anything?

I'm shocked if it doesn't.

Do it again. What's it remind you of?

It just smells like you. I don't know.

- It's Paris.
- Oh.

It's the shampoo I stole
from the hotel in Paris.

I stayed at a different hotel, remember?

- Well, it's still French.
- Yeah.

Alright, guys. Let's go.

Alright, y'all, here we go.
Camera's going up.

I'm gonna enter from
where you're standing.

Yes.

Light up, roll sound, please.

- Rolling.
- And action!

You're the longest
relationship I've ever had.

Four husbands, three heart attacks,

and countless love affairs.

You've stood by me through it all.

- You know, early on...
- And we'll always have Mitchell.

What?

...the interesting thing, I think,

was that I had no clue
how to play the part.

Because I thought,
"I've never been this age before."

When you get into your 60s,

it's like,
"This is really foreign territory."

And I looked at Sofía Vergara,
and I thought,

"Who is gonna believe this?"

- Oh, this must be your dad.
- Her dad?

- Yeah.
- Uh, no, no, that's funny.

Actually, no, I'm her husband.

Don't be fooled by the, uh...

Give me a second here.

So, in the whole thing with Sofía,
I just said to her,

"Look you gotta help me out here.

You have to actually act
like you're attracted to me."

I didn't have a problem

pretending to be attracted to Ed.

You know, and 11 years ago,
he was, like, in his prime.

For the record,
I think you're smokin' hot.

I would always look for Ed's approval.

Like, every time I would do something,

I would, like, look at him.

You know, 'cause I'm not really...

Well, now...
I guess now, after 11 years,

now I can say I'm an
experienced actress.

But 11 years ago, I wasn't.

You know,
I started acting very late in my life.

You don't say, "Happy birthday."

- Okay.
- We come in with the argument.

"Give me the chess set.
We're gonna settle this right now.

Right now, let's go,"
and as you walk by him,

- go, "Happy birthday, Phil!"
- Oh, okay.

And it was amazing to see Ed help Rico

and to see Rico, like,
learn all that and blossom.

- How you doing, Rico?
- Good.

You gonna do the Benihana
thing again soon?

Soon enough, soon enough, yeah.

Ed, you know, he took me under
his wing from the very beginning

and showed me the ropes.

Sometimes I may not
have hit the right joke

or I was having trouble with some word,

and Ed would bring me aside,
and he'd go,

"Okay, let's work with it.

Try it like this."

And then it would kind of go
back and forth, back and forth.

And then, you know,
he would look at the director

and wink at him like, "He's ready.
Let's do this."

I couldn't have done it without you.

What he taught me, I still...

We can hug. We're family.

...bring into work every day.

I'll try to make you proud.

You already have!

And action!

Welcome to your nightmare.

Ho ho ho ho.

Oh, my God.
Did I hear Gloria say, "Ho ho ho"?

She said, "Ho ho ho."

That was what set me off.

"Ho ho ho"!

Sofía, when she messes up,
is the funniest thing.

You need to make this right with Shorty.

You need you tendy more nifeen.

- Sofía.
- Honey, she's had a few drinks.

When you dream about
la blouto mamoose...

What did you say?

We make fun.

Is the mouse in your mouth?

And then we get up and keep going again.

- I said it wrong again?
- Oh, yeah.

- Poultice.
- You said it wrong every time.

- Every time.
- It's getting worse.

You do know that.

"Welcome to your nightmare.

Ho ho ho."

Quiet, quiet. Funny times.

Pbht!

It's important when people bend
over to make farting noises.

Every day,
he goes into a fetal position,

sucking his thumb,
saying, "Acting's hard."

- Acting's hard.
- Acting is so hard, you guys.

- You have a lot to think about.
- It's so hard.

I work so hard.

To portray a gay couple in a stable,

loving home with a daughter,

what is the significance of that?

It means a lot to both of us.

I mean, I think that growing up

as someone who was looking
for role models on television,

not necessarily finding them,

I love that we can be that to kids now.

- It smells like eternal love.
- Aww. Oh.

- Mitch and Cam...
- Oh, oh, a pet daughter.

...were this very regular couple...

There you go.

- ...trying to raise a kid...
- Ha-ha.

...and dealing with the
stresses that that put on them.

Lily was up all night because
she didn't have Bunny,

which means that we were up all night

because she didn't have Bunny.

God, she must've cried for...
How long was it, Cam?

Cam, Cam.

Mm. Oh, sorry.

The fact that they
also wove in the story

of Jay's inability to
accept his own son...

- What?
- I'm sure you made it very easy

for Mitch to come out of the closet.

Yeah.

...I feel like that's a relationship

that a lot of people
can really relate to.

- Mitch, get over here.
- Now?

Well, I feel weird.

What are you waiting for,
a box of chocolates?

Let's do this.

My dad had a lot of
complications with me being gay

and can look at that character like Jay

and be like,
"I understand what he's going through."

And it gave me a lot of
empathy for my father.

It gave my father a
lot of empathy for me.

It's the sweetest thing I've ever seen.

If that's how much it impacted
just these two people,

I can only imagine how much it
impacted the rest of the world.

The "Modern Family" cast is gearing up

for the biggest wedding
event of the season.

Quartet, quartet, quartet!

Cam and Mitchell finally say "I do."

- Oh!
- See?

He's not...
He's the one that's not ready.

Do I walk you down the aisle?

Does someone throw a bouquet?

I mean, I'm just saying,
I don't know how this stuff plays out

with my guys from the club.

This... This isn't about them.
This is about you.

You are the one that's
uncomfortable here.

Fine, I admit it.
This whole wedding thing is weird to me.

Wow.

The wedding episode was
probably the pinnacle

of this whole experience for me.

It's a portrayal that broke barriers,

taking place a full year
before the Supreme Court

legalized gay marriage in all 50 states.

About to start, Dad.

You should probably take your seat.

Actually, I thought you and
I would take a little walk.

We really had a wedding

that happened to be filmed
and put on a sitcom.

And they gave it the space that
it needed emotionally for us.

And I think it really
plays out in those scenes.

Thank you all for being
here on this happy occasion.

We're gathered here today
to join two amazing people.

Cameron, do you take Mitchell
to be your husband?

I do.

Mitchell, do you take Cameron
to be your husband?

I do.

Then by the powers vested in
me by the state of California,

I am privileged to pronounce
you spouses for life.

You may now kiss your husband.

Oh, my gosh.

- We're married.
- Yeah, we did it.

- Yeah?
- So your mark for your dancing

- is right there.
- Okay.

Tape. This is my wedding ring.

I've already lost some weight
since I've been married.

Aww.

You know, I'm a woman from the South

and the granddaughter
of a Baptist preacher,

and I'm gay,
and where I came from in my family,

it wasn't okay to be gay.

And now I'm on this show

that literally changed our relationship.

It changed the way
they thought about it.

It went to now this is just mainstream,

and it was acceptable,

and it was on people's hearts and lips,

and everybody can see
themselves in a character,

and they talked about
it at their church,

and it just helped transform my family.

I can't even imagine how it's gonna be

to be part of this world where
"Modern Family" has happened

but I don't get to see
those people every day.

For example,
I was at a table read a few weeks ago,

and I came across the line,

"Let's all just enjoy each other wh..."

See, now I'm crying just saying it.

"Let's all just enjoy..." Oh, God.

"Let's all just enjoy each other
why we... while we still can,"

and I just burst into tears
at the table read because I...

I had been burying a
lot of that emotion,

and I-I just wasn't
ready to deal with it.

And it sort of all just
came rushing at me, and...

We really have been through
so much together as a unit,

and we have been each
other's support system.

That's just what family does.

Every sound stage at Fox has
a plaque by the entrance door

that shows all the great shows
that were filmed on that stage.

And currently, "Modern Family" is there,

but we don't have an end date etched in.

So we're waiting for
that day fairly soon

where that's gonna get
chiseled into that plaque.

So, it's the final table read.

I'm here, finally!

Welcome to the table read, buddy.

Yeah! It's my first...

- Oh, your first table re...
- ...but the last table read.

The first table read, but...

Hey, guys, I'm Nolan.
I play... I play Luke.

We've come full circle.
It's exactly the same.

Alright, let's go.

Here we are at the 250th episode
of "Modern Family."

Let the man with the
golden voice take it away.

Okay.

Act 1, interior Dunphy house,
living room, morning.

Mitchell, Cam, and Lily are...

I never expected that
I was gonna be part

of something this good and special.

I complain all the time.

I don't understand,
why can't they write like "Law & Order"?

Why can't we go forever like
"Law & Order"?

I don't understand it. Why?

Why do we... Why do we have to end?

Come here. It's okay.

11 years ago,
we were all feeling so lucky

just to have a steady job.

And 11 years later, here we are.

We've been through very high moments,

and we've been there for each other

at the lowest moments of our lives.

It's just so hot in here.

My eyeballs are sweating.

They're just pumping in pollen.
It doesn't...

It's allergy season, guys.

Ty's had children since
we've been doing the show.

I've gotten married.

There's been breakups.
There's been health scares.

I mean, we really have been
through so much

together as a unit,

and we have been each
other's support system.

I've watched my children

get through most of elementary school.

I have buried my cousin.

I have gone through a
divorce on this show.

And this has been a
place for me to come.

So, if this is my best job,
I'll take it.

I think it's just beyond
all of our wildest dreams.

The experiences we've had,
the friendships,

the family that has...

been born here on this lot.

The title is prophetic.

It's been a modern family.

There's dysfunction in a family.

There's a lot of love in a family.

But what the show has
always been about...

Cast, go towards Rico!

...is they come back together
'cause they love each other.

Come on!

And that's what it's
felt like all this time.

Alright, does everyone
see a camera lens?

I've never had anything
like this go away.

So I don't know what
it's gonna feel like.

I want to just live this moment.

3, 2, 1.

We all are gonna go on
and do our own things,

so it's reasonable to say

I may not see some of these
people for a long time.

Some of the crew I may never see again.

You develop 120-,

130-some different interpersonal
relationships with people

over the course of 11 years.

And then to say...

you know, "Thank you, and...

...goodbye."

Okay. Here we go.

Lock it and roll sound, please.

Rolling.

Whoo!

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Leh-leh, blah.

- Ow.
- Okay, let's try that again.

- No, you're always silly.
- No, you're always silly.

My God, what's wrong with me?

What was that noise?

Silence! Craft service!

- Get it right in there.
- You can't do it.

Oh, you can't do it. You won't do it.

- Ohh!
- Yeah!