PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA, THE: PALEYFEST 2015: MODERN FAMILY {LONG VERSION}

Summary

One in a series of evenings and special screenings presented as part of The Paley Center for Media's 32nd William S. Paley Television Festival in Los Angeles. Held this year at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, the festival celebrates the excellence and diversity of American television and is dedicated to television's creative community. This PALEYFEST 2015 seminar honors "Modern Family," the "mockumentary" comedy series about the eccentric individuals comprising three inter-related families in Los Angeles. Host Diane Lewis (Executive Vice-President of Programming, The Paley Center for Media) offers opening remarks and brings moderator Andy Daly (comedian and creator/cast member, "Review") to the stage. Daly introduces the episode "Spring Break," which is then screened in its entirety. (For synopsis and credits, see ACCNUM 121619.)

After the screening, Daly moderates the following panelists: executive producer/creator/director/writer Steven Levitan; executive producers/writers Abraham Higginbotham and Danny Zuker; and cast members Rico Rodriguez (Manny Delgado), Nolan Gould (Luke Dunphy), Ariel Winter (Alex Dunphy), Sarah Hyland (Haley Dunphy), Eric Stonestreet (Cameron Tucker), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Mitchell Pritchett), Ty Burrell (Phil Dunphy), Julie Bowen (Claire Dunphy), Sofia Vergara (Gloria Delgado-Pritchett) and Ed O'Neill (Jay Pritchett).

The panelists touch on such topics as: how the changing California laws about gay marriage affected the writing of the Mitchell-Cameron wedding episodes in season five; Jay's shifting reactions to his son's marriage and the evolution of his acceptance; O'Neill's funny scenes with Barry Corbin, who portrays Cameron's gruff father Merle; Vergara's comedic inspirations growing up in Colombia and an outrageous family story involving a stranded circus troupe; Bowen's sense of responsibility over her character and desire not to make Phil and Claire's marriage too "Punch and Judy"; Burrell's views that comedic characters can do new things without "growing" out of their silly habits; learning about parenting his two young daughters from Mitchell and Cameron's adventures with Lily (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons); Ferguson's interest in learning his character's flaws, including his questionable talents as a lawyer; Daly and Stonestreet's past antics at Walt Disney World and Hyland's excitement at visiting the park for an episode; Stonestreet's real-life interest in being a clown, reflected in Cameron's alter ego "Fizbo," and his gratitude for his parents' support of his odd passion; the "will they or won't they" tension between Haley and the Pritchetts' nanny Andy (Adam DeVine), with comparisons to the famous Ross-and-Rachel pairing on "Friends"; Winter's enjoyment of growing up on the show and having "Alex-first" adolescent experiences; the entertaining father/son bond between Luke and Phil; Rodriguez's similarities and differences from his "innocent yet cunning" character; Zuker's recent Twitter feud with Donald Trump; the recent episode "Connection Lost," depicted entirely on a laptop screen and involving various forms of technology and social media; and Levitan's inspiration for the episode from his FaceTime conversations with his college-student daughters and the actors' struggles to "be their own cameramen."

Questions from the audience and from Twitter and the PaleyFest app then lead to a discussion of the following topics, among others: praise for Fred Willard, who portrays Phil's father Frank and with whom Burrell previously starred in "Back to You," also created by Levitan; Vergara's early attempts to alter her strong Colombian accent; Bowen's ability to "compartmentalize" her role as Claire while parenting her own three children; Jay's uncharacteristically excessive affection towards Stella, his French bulldog; and praise for an episode featuring American Sign Language from a hard-of-hearing fan.

Details

• NETWORK: N/A
• DATE: 8:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:36:40
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: 121607
• GENRE: Seminars
• SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
• SERIES RUN: N/A
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Diane Lewis … Host
• Andy Daly … Moderator
• Abraham Higginbotham … Panelist
• Danny Zuker … Panelist
• Rico Rodriguez … Panelist
• Nolan Gould … Panelist
• Ariel Winter … Panelist
• Sarah Hyland … Panelist
• Eric Stonestreet … Panelist
• Jesse Tyler Ferguson … Panelist
• Ty Burrell … Panelist
• Julie Bowen … Panelist
• Sofia Vergara … Panelist
• Ed O'Neill … Panelist
• Steven Levitan … Panelist
• Aubrey Anderson-Emmons
• Barry Corbin
• Adam DeVine
• Donald Trump
• Fred Willard