Eric Stonestreet says ‘it felt a little hurtful’ when a Mitch and Cam ‘Modern Family’ spinoff was rejected

He said he and Ferguson “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.”

The sequel would have focused on the family, which added a baby boy, relocating to the Midwest so Cam could pursue his dream of being a college football coach. It was a premise Stonestreet said he thought would have been a “slam dunk.”

Those two made me cringe. Cartoony, neutered fags.

I understand his disappointment and I understand why they nixed it.

[quote]Those two made me cringe. Cartoony, neutered fags

*Every* character was a cartoon with a real center, r2. How were they neutered? It was a prime time network comedy, were you expecting full frontal?

I can't picture these two characters as leads for a sitcom series. Same for Jack and Karen, of Will & Grace. They're hilarious, over-the-top support characters. But leads in a spinoff? My gut says no, unless the spinoff story and slate of its own hilarious support characters was compelling enough to at least shoot a pilot to gauge interest. As described in the article, with next to no detail, from me it'd be a no.

They can star in a sitcom based on Bridget Fonda and Danny Elfman.

This would have flopped worse than "The Ropers."

That's gonna be a hard no from me, dawg

He and Jesse should be thanking their lucky stars that with their limited acting ranges they are now set for life after eleven years on a hit show plus syndication residuals.

[quote]This would have flopped worse than "The Ropers."

They were planning on calling the show, "Earrings. Caftans."

Network shows are nearly dead, and after a full fucking decade, we really didn't need yet more Mitch & Cam on a definitely doomed sequel. (Or "The One Where Lily Becomes A Midwestern Scrapbooking Hausfrau.")

They were ok in small doses but they were definitely not engineered to be central characters. Especially Cam. That guy existed to be an automatic punchline.

Who?

Would the same awful actress play the daughter?

Doesn’t necessarily sound like a slam dunk, but what do I know? I remember thinking that Frasier was a terrible character to try to spin off into his own show.

Frasier had the benefit (like Modern Family) of good writing and a large cast that had chemistry and were all on the same page. That doesn't happen a lot.

[quote] Frasier had the benefit (like Modern Family) of good writing and a large cast that had chemistry and were all on the same page.

You can’t leave out that they also essentially rebooted the character and retconned some of his history

It would have been fun.

It sounds more like Joannie Loves Chachi than it does Laverne and Shirley or The Tortellis rather than Frasier.

I wonder if other spin-offs were considered. I can’t remember how her character ended up in the finale but I could imagine the network wanting something with Haley/Sarah Hyland.

But 10 years with all those characters was enough. I stuck with the show to the end but those last few seasons were a slog. It actually might be more interesting to try a spin-off now that some time has passed to see how the characters are doing. Maybe that’s Stonestreet’s hope with these revealing interviews.

[quote]I can’t remember how her character ended up in the finale but I could imagine the network wanting something with Haley/Sarah Hyland.

She had twins and married her longtime boyfriend, Dylan, played by Reid Ewing who came out as gay in 2015. They had either bought or were renting Mitch and Cam's old apartment.

[quote]Dylan, played by Reid Ewing

A good example of an incredibly broad character that was played with sincerity.

[quote]r17 = You can’t leave out that they also essentially rebooted the character and retconned some of his history

Nobody was going to remember Frasier's back story from Cheers.

Their characters are best in an ensemble cast.

We've had sufficient, thank you.

Missouri?!

There's a non-starter right there.

Yet CBS/ Young Sheldon chose to make a spinoff with Georgie and Mandy. I don’t see the show lasting more than a season, but what do I know.

I too will be shocked if the George/Mandy spin-off lasts very long. I assume they were the cheapest options to continue in the universe

ABC also passed on The Middle spin-off. But the network did pick up the awful spinoff from The Goldbergs which was a big bomb.

A huge thank you to whoever said no to this. Thank you!

Phyllis didn't last and nobody was happy how Rhoda ended up.

[quote] Yet CBS/ Young Sheldon chose to make a spinoff with Georgie and Mandy.

So it will then be a spin-off of a show that was itself a spin-off.

Will this be the first one since "Good Times" (which was a spin-off of "Maude," which was a spin-off of "All in the Family")? There must have been others.

I think homeboys in outer space it's been off from The parkers which spun off from moesha.

I heard Stonestreet is rather homophobic and not a very nice person.

R26 the series OZARK (set in Missouri) was recently a hit for Jason Bateman.

Shows what I know.

(Didn't watch it.)

"Phyllis" was a very funny show, I don't know why it failed. It might have been that Phyllis was overly flawed as a character.

The mostly elderly supporting cast was very funny and the writing was pretty funny and sometimes hilarious.

[italic]Phyllis Lindstrom: Bess wants to marry a boy whose parents are midgets.[/italic]

[italic]Leo Heatherton: Has she found one yet?[/italic]

[quote] Nobody was going to remember Frasier's back story from Cheers.

Huh? Frasier premiered 3 months after Cheers ended.

For broadcast networks, scripted television is dead.

Blame the actress who played Lily. She was wooden and her timing was always off.

They should have considered re-booting the entire show after Phil's death. Cam and Mitchell return to Calif.

I loved the show but the shows with Cam’s relatives are my least favorite, as is any episode in which Fizbo the Clown makes an appearance.

The first few seasons of Modern Family were quite good thanks to the writing and performances. It began to feel tired to me by the time Gloria and Phil had their baby, and I drifted off.

I checked back in during the end of the show’s run and was surprised at how truly terrible the show had gotten. Lazy writing and bad acting (the actor playing Manny was dreadful) caused me to throw in the towel after a single episode, which featured the smart daughter in Antarctica. I found it sadly unfunny and stale. I can’t imagine rebooting or spinning off any slice of the show.

The show BEGAN for me when they re-cast Lily in the third season.

The show would have been far better off had it gone The Cosby show route of jettison the older kids off to college and bringing in a new cute kids.

This would have had Blansky's Beauties written all over it.

Manny didn’t age well as with all cute tubby actors when they reach adolescence.

Phil’s death?

I could see it being a Disney+ exclusive. Maybe Hulu?

A gay Stepin Fetchit couple for the 21st Century, so very modern.

They could be funny but yeah, they were quite stereotypical. Wasn’t one of the writers gay?

[quote]It began to feel tired to me by the time Gloria and Phil had their baby, and I drifted off.

You must have been asleep before that since Gloria and JAY had a baby, not Phil.

I can't stand either character and pushing them forward was never going to work. They were more suited to a supporting "B" story line.

I found them even worse than the Jack minstrel show on Will and Grace. The fat one was the worst and the redhead gave off angry/controlling vibes.

This fat, talentless, fuck whom no one had ever heard of, who made $25M out of playing a lispy, stereotyped hysterical gay on a TV show that was (incomprehensibly) a hit for 11 years. And now he feels hurt he didn't win a lottery jackpot for a 12th, a 13th, or however many years more?

It’s a comedy, ALL the characters are exaggerations. Can’t you grasp that?

What were the show's ratings like in Spain, r54?