Modern Family officially wrapped filming on its eleven-season run last month, and Julie Bowen has already found her next TV project. The word project is critical here as Bowen’s potential return to television is solely in the pilot stages. That is right, Bowen is not heading to an established series. She is instead positioning herself to start all over again.
Julie Bowen may have almost passed on Modern Family, but she is going all-in on a new pilot. Deadline reports that Bowen has “been tapped” to lead the pilot for multi-camera comedy Raised by Wolves, which has not been granted a series order yet. The pilot is for CBS, which means Bowen moving away from Modern Family’s home at ABC.
What is Raised by Wolves about? Well, first up, it is from the minds of Will & Grace’s creators, Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. On a relevant side note, the Will & Grace revival wrapped last year. The duo’s new pilot centers on Julie Bowen’s Frankie Wolfe. She is an incredibly successful crisis manager. As a “fiercely independent” woman, she decides to adopt an 11-year-old girl.
Helping Frankie raise her newly adopted daughter is her “fragile” sister, who is described as being a “nervous wreck.” Like Modern Family, it seems that a fun TV family surrounds Julie Bowen’s Frankie. Besides Frankie’s sister, there are their parents, Barbara and Arnie Wolfe. You probably figured out why the show is titled Raised by Wolves now.
Is it too soon to ask if the family says, “I woof you,” à la Love and Joe on You? Probably. I think this pilot sounds promising. CBS is no stranger to producing hit sitcoms, and this project sounds like an excellent fit for their legacy.
If the pilot is ordered to series, Julie Bowen will reportedly make $250,000 an episode from a premium deal with CBS and Universal TV. Bowen is undoubtedly a hot commodity after her Emmy-winning stint on Modern Family took the actress’ career to staggeringly new heights. Her deal for the pilot comes after Bowen’s co-star, Sofia Vergara, signed on to be a judge on America’s Got Talent.
Julie Bowen’s move to a multi-camera series marks a switch for the actress. Modern Family is a single-camera comedy, which is a style popularized by fan-favorite, The Office. The pilot that Bowen has signed on for will be a sitcom in the mode of The Big Bang Theory; a sitcom set-up that CBS has clearly had success with.
With The Big Bang Theory gone, the Eye Network needs its next hit sitcom. Julie Bowen signing on for another pilot so soon after Modern Family makes sense. After all, Bowen has her reasons for not retiring. It is tough to say goodbye to a long-running series. Getting started on a new project so soon may prove helpful.
Fans are still waiting to see what will happen to Julie Bowen’s Claire Dunphy when Modern Family ends. Claire went from being a mother to young kids when the show began to a grandmother to twins as it finishes its run. While expected to spawn a spinoff, Modern Family has yet to get one off the ground.
While viewers wait to see what happens there, they can also anticipate finding out if Julie Bowen’s pilot gets picked up to series. New episodes of Modern Family air Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC. The much-anticipated series finale is thought to air on April 8. While you prepare to say goodbye to Modern Family, look forward to this winter and spring’s premieres.
