“Modern Family” just finished shooting its eighth season, which is currently airing on ABC in the US and Sky 1 in the UK. The season finale reportedly revolves around Luke and Manny’s high school graduation and is apparently just a normal season finale rather than a series finale. Sometimes with season finales, TV shows will shoot a season finale that could also double as a series finale if need be or at least shoot an alternate ending just in case they don’t get the renewal.
But since “Modern Family” is the second highest rating comedy series on Television, Season 8 was made assuming that a Season 9 renewal would happen.
However, it’s a little more complicated than that. See, 20th Century Fox Television is the production company that makes the show and ABC is the network that airs it, and they need a constant deal on the go in order to get the episodes from 20th TV’s cutting rooms onto ABC’s airwaves, and that deal needs to make both parties happy whilst also reflecting the value of such a popular show.
Actors need new contracts too
In addition to the license-fee deal between 20th TV and ABC, 20th TV also needs to negotiate new contracts with the cast. The actors’ current contracts only took them to the eighth season of “Modern Family” on $350,000 an episode plus some of the network’s profits from it. However, this is a cast that is notoriously greedy and constantly demanding higher pay and it would be so easy to just cut them loose if they weren’t so damn good.
Apparently both sides of the fence are holding off on the license deal until the actors sign new contracts.
20th TV initially wanted ABC to renew “Modern Family,” which has won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series five times, for both a ninth and tenth season, but it seems that ABC isn’t so sure it has that kind of longevity and would rather renew it for the ninth now and consider the tenth when it comes to it next year.
Negotiations with the “Modern Family” cast began a few weeks ago, and word has it they are demanding significant pay raises. What the cast members want to be paid and what 20th TV is willing to pay are still very far apart after over a fortnight of negotiating.
Ninth season still might not happen
If these deals can’t be reached and 20th TV continue to push for the two-season renewal, ABC will back down.
ABC is reluctant to pay top dollar since they don’t own “Modern Family” and only profit from its broadcast on their network, rather than the lucrative syndication and international and streaming service deals that networks get when they own a show.
ABC usually wait until the last minute to make a decision regarding “Modern Family,” which infuriates fans hanging in the balance, not to mention the show’s staff who are waiting to find out if they still have a job or not and will either have to scramble to make the show in less time than they could’ve done or start working on it now, unsure of whether or not it’ll ever get to screens.
Either way, the eighth season of “Modern Family” has been great, and fans of the show would welcome both a ninth and tenth season with open arms.
