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.

Related articles

• Modern Family Cast Shows Up For Table Read