Ty Burrell Lands New ABC Show 4 Years After 'Modern Family'

While Phil Dunphy left our TVs with the end of Modern Family in 2020, the actor behind the character is poised for a possible ABC return. Ty Burrell has been tapped to star in and executive produce ABC's Forgive and Forget. The show is a multicamera comedy, per Deadline.

ABC has only ordered a pilot episode, meaning the network is waiting to see a test installment before committing to a full-on series. The series marks ABC's second comedy pilot order of the year after the Tim Allen-starring Shifting Gears.

The planned series, which Deadline first reported was in the works in January 2023, centers around Burrell's Hank, a "perennial life of the party" who, following an unexpected diagnosis, "reconnects with his responsible adult son Ben in hopes of making new memories together." The series is from writer Eugene Garcia-Cross and is inspired by his experiences of caring for a parent with Alzheimer's disease. The "show hopes to destigmatize a disease afflicting millions."

From 20th Television, Forgive and Forget is written by Garcia-Cross with Shorr as showrunner. The duo, who previously worked together on Punky Brewster for Peacock, will also executive produce alongside Burrell via his Desert Whale Productions banner. Garcia-Cross's credits also include Disney+'s The Santa Clause reboot and NBC's Indebted. He was a member of the 2018 NBC Writers On The Verge Program. Shorr's credits include showrunner and exec producer of Disney+'s Diary of a Future President, as well as previous work on Galavant, The Middle, and The Carmichael Show.

Burrell's casting in Forgive and Forget marks his return to the alphabet network after he spent 11 seasons and 250 episodes as Phil Dunphy on Modern Family. The hit sitcom, created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, followed the lives of three diverse family set-ups, interrelated through their patriarch, Jay Pritchett, living in suburban Los Angeles. Along with Burrell, the show also starred Ed O'Neill, Sofía Vergara, Julie Bowen, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, Sarah Hyland, Ariel Winters, Nolan Gould, Rico Rodriguez, Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, Jeremy Maguire, and Reid Ewing.

Burrell earned eight consecutive Emmy nominations and two wins in the supporting comedy actor category in 2011 and 2014. He also received a SAG award for best comedy actor in 2014. Following his time on Modern Family, Burrell went on to join the voice cast of Fox's animated series Duncanville in the role of Jack Harris opposite Amy Poehler.