‘Modern Family’ Star Reveals He Said No to Spinoff Series

Jesse Tyler Ferguson is opening up about his decision not to move forward with a Modern Family spinoff after the beloved ABC show wrapped in 2020.

Ferguson, who played Mitchell Pritchett throughout the course of the sitcom’s decade-long run, revealed during Tuesday’s episode of his Dinner’s on Me podcast that he was offered a spinoff with on-screen husband Eric Stonestreet and daughter Aubrey Anderson-Emmons that he ultimately declined.

“Modern Family ended, and then we had a pandemic,” Jesse told guest Wendi McLendon-Covey. “I was so excited for this next chapter of my life, and then it was like, ‘Everyone go inside.’ During that time, they were brewing this idea of maybe doing a spinoff with Eric and I, which I was interested in, but I was also supposed to do this play in New York.”

During the delay, in which Ferguson’s Broadway revival of Take Me Out was delayed until 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the actor said he realized he didn’t want to be pigeonholed into playing one character.

“As the reality of maybe the spinoff was actually going to happen, I literally felt like, ‘Oh my God, I want to date other people,’” he recalled. “I have to feel what it’s like to not do that. It didn’t end up working out.”

While Ferguson wasn’t on board with a spinoff at the time, in 2024, both Anderson-Emmons and Stonestreet expressed their interest in the possible return of the Tucker-Pritchett family.

“I’d definitely be interested if the script was good and the dads were on board, but school is my priority right now – unless something great comes along,” Anderson-Emmons, who played Lily Tucker-Pritchett, told The Daily Mail at the time. “I feel like the finale left possibilities, and I think that’s why people are always talking about a spinoff of the Tucker-Pritchett family.”

Stonestreet, who played Cam Tucker, shared her opinion, saying in an episode of In Depth With Graham Bensinger, “I love the show. I love Jesse. We had a great working relationship and chemistry. I would’ve kept going. I think everyone would’ve kept going a year away from everyone being done with the show.”

He continued, “But I think Jesse and I maybe felt like [ABC] thought of us as old guys that didn’t seem worthy of keeping those characters going. It felt a little hurtful, but people make business decisions.”