His Home Life Is Fodder for ‘Modern Family’

April 14, 2010 by emily · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Crew

: Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Jewish Journal has an interview with Steven Levitan, co-creator and executive producer of ABC’s “Modern Family”. Here are some of the highlights:

In an interview, Levitan credited the success of “Modern Family” to its blending of diverse points of view. Levitan says he has “no filter” for his emotions; Lloyd, in his opinion, is reserved. Levitan believes that his own cultural sensibilities at times trickle down to the writing, while Lloyd sees no Jewish or religious sensibilities on the show.

“We certainly don’t delve into religion — second, after politics, on the list of show-killing topics – nor do we have any intention of doing so,” Lloyd wrote in an e-mail.

“One of our constant issues is, what level of fighting can these couples do?” Levitan added. He cited the remote-control argument between Claire and Phil: “They barely got into it, from my point of view, and Chris was like, ‘I think they’re too angry.’… But oftentimes, from our differences, the best [work] comes.”

Levitan, 48, acknowledges his strong cultural Jewish connection but says he is not religious. He grew up attending a Reform synagogue in suburban Chicago, where he aspired to become a writer from an early age. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, he took a job as a reporter at Madison’s ABC affiliate because “I wanted to be on TV,” he said sheepishly.

So, why aren’t any of the “Modern Family” members Jewish? Casting, Levitan said. “I don’t subscribe to the thinking that people won’t fall in love with a Jewish family,” he explained. “But when you have actors like ours, they don’t look Jewish or seem Jewish. So even if some of the humor seems Jewish, we’re not avoiding the issue to play to a mass market.”

Tags: American Broadcasting Company, Chicago, Judaism, Modern Family, Reform Judaism, Religion and Spirituality, Steven Levitan, Television producer

Announcing Modern Family Forums

March 19, 2010 by emily · 1 Comment
Filed under: Modern Family News

We are proud to announce that after many requests we opened the “Modern Family” Forums. the “Modern Family” Forums is your place to chat with fellow Modern Family fans, review episodes, and post opinions about the characters — this is the place to grow our Modern Family community.

We hope you will love it and use it to talk to fellow Modern Family fans. We would love to hear additional ideas, and get feedback on the blog and forums.

Have a great Modern Family weekend,

Team Modern Family TV.

Tags: EdOneill, EricStonestreet, Modern Family, Religion and Spirituality, RicoRodriguez, SofiaVergara, Television, Ty Burrell

1-on-1 with…MODERN FAMILY’s Eric Stonestreet

November 23, 2009 by admin · 2 Comments
Filed under: Actors

Jim Halterman has an interview with MODERN FAMILY’s Eric Stonestreet. Here are some of the questions he asked:

Jim Halterman: How are you getting used to all the attention that the show is getting and, more importantly, that you’re getting?

Eric Stonestreet: The one thing I was taken by surprise by was how fast it was. We were on one week and it went from people looking at me and thinking they saw me somewhere or I went to school with them to now people definitely quickly know me as Cameron from Modern Family, which is amazing and I was pretty blown away by how fast it works.

JH: Are people assuming you are Cameron?

ES: [laughs] When you meet me I think it’s pretty clear that I’m pretty different from Cameron but we’ve had conversations about that. I don’t care if people think I’m gay. People ask me all the time ‘Aren’t you worried about people thinking you’re gay?’ If I was worried about that I wouldn’t be doing the character. There are actors that may not want to do this character for that reason but I don’t happen to be one of them. I joke around and say that I was more worried that people would think I was a killer because I killed three people on TV last year. [laughs]
Ferguson Stonestreet