Modern Family has been a powerhouse of a comedy for ABC since it debuted back in 2009, scoring impressive ratings and landing all kinds of awards recognition. The show is remarkable for managing to keep its full main ensemble together for eight seasons already, including the young adults who were only kids when the story started. Modern Family won a huge renewal by the end of Season 8, and we know that the stories won't come to an end for a while yet. That said, co-creator Steve Levitan recently revealed when he can see that show ending, saying this:
Our original goal was to just stay on the air. But after awhile though we may be in control our own fate, and 10 sounded like a nice round number.
Judging by Steve Levitan's comments to Deadline, he and fellow co-creator Christopher Lloyd have decided that ending Modern Family after Season 10 sounds like a good idea. Modern Family actually scored a renewal for two seasons in May, so the team is guaranteed to make it to ten seasons, which is a healthy run for any series. Fans don't need to start counting down to the end, however. Nothing is set in stone, and we can't guarantee that the Season 10 finale will also be the series finale.
Honestly, ending after ten years might be for the best. The show has more or less kept its story momentum going, but it might become hard to believe after a while that all these kids have found reasons to hang out with their parents and adult relatives on a regular basis. The two-season renewal means that Steve Levitan and Christopher Lloyd will be able to plan the plots out well ahead of time and make sure that they hit all they beats they want to before the end. A series finale at the conclusion of Season 10 could be exactly what the show needs to end on a high note with all fans, unlike a certain other long-running sitcom that came to an end in recent years.
The folks behind the scenes at Modern Family evidently haven't put much thought into how exactly they'll wrap things up. Steve Levitan went on to say this:
We haven't had that exact conversation yet how we want to end the show episode-wise. We've talked about areas that we want to go and tonally what we want to do. . . . I think we will end the show the way we started it in the pilot, with a big family event.
The pilot of Modern Family introduced the different members of the extended family in their own segments, then brought them together to meet the baby girl that Cam and Mitchell had adopted from Vietnam. Another big event pulling everybody back together after a decade of laughs could be the perfect bookend. The characters will have gone through plenty of changes over the years, and the kids will have grown up.
We can only wait and see. Modern Family will return for Season 9 on Wednesday, September 27 at 9 p.m. ET on ABC. For all the other fall premiere dates, check out our 2017 fall TV schedule.
