Enjoy Ty talking to Conan:

Ty got footage of Conan’s scene with Captain Picard

Ty Burrell Talks “Dawn of the Dead”

After a summer of heated salary negotiations that led to a lawsuit, the cancellation (and subsequent rescheduling) of a table read and a tense week of back-and-forth negotiations, the six adult actors on ABC’s top-rated comedy have agreed in principle to new contracts with producer 20th Century Fox Television.

The end to the messy stalemate allows the fourth season of the Emmy-winning comedy to begin production on time next week in advance of its Sept. 26 premiere. The series is a profit center for both 20th TV and ABC, for which it regularly draws 13.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen. In 2011, Modern Family generated $164 million in advertising revenue for ABC, up 40 percent from a year earlier, reports Kantar Media.

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• Modern Family Cast Shows Up For Table Read

Simmering tensions in the battle over the spoils from a wildly successful sitcom boiled over in public Tuesday as five “Modern Family” stars filed a lawsuit against 20th Century Fox TV amid a stalemate in their contract renegotiation talks.

Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet and Sofia Vergara claim in the suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, that the original contracts they signed for the show violate California’s seven-year limit on personal service contracts. That legal precedent was established in 1944 after actress Olivia de Havilland waged a long contract fight against Warner Bros.

The other adult star of the series, Ed O’Neill, was not named as one of the plaintiffs but has since joined the litigation in a show of unity with his co-stars.

LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 18: (L-R) Sarah Hyland, Nolan Gould, Ariel Winter, Ed O'Neill, Sofía Vergara, Rico Rodriguez, Julie Bowen, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ty Burrell and Eric Stonestreet of 'Modern Family' pose in the press room after winning Outstanding Comedy Series during the 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE on September 18, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

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