Eric Stonestreet says ‘it felt a little hurtful’ when a Mitch and Cam ‘Modern Family’ spinoff was rejected
The world may never know about Cameron and Mitch’s life after “Modern Family.
The man who played Cameron, Eric Stonestreet, shared his disappointment about a sitcom spinoff that never came to be in a recent interview with Graham Bensinger.
The show would have focused on the lives of the married couple played by Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, as well as their daughter, Lily, played by Aubrey Anderson Emmons after they moved to Missouri from California.
Stonestreet was definitely down to do it when the series was pitched.
“They had their chance. [‘Modern Family’ co-creator] Chris Lloyd and a couple of the writers wrote a really great script that spun Jesse and I off in our life in Missouri,” he said. “And they said, ‘No.’ They just said, ‘We don’t want to do it.’”
The decision led to some stress, Stonestreet said, given his affection for “Modern Family.”
“I love my character. I love the show,” he said. “I love Jesse. We had a great working relationship. We had amazing chemistry.”
Eric Stonestreet, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Aubrey Anderson-Emmons in ‘Modern Family.’ (ABC/Bonnie Osborne)
Eric Stonestreet, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Aubrey Anderson-Emmons in ‘Modern Family.’ Bonnie Osborne/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc./ABC
He said he and Ferguson “maybe felt like they thought of us as the old guys, or something like that, that didn’t seem worthy of keeping those characters going.”
“It felt a little hurtful,” Stonestreet added. “But people make business decisions.”
The sequel would have focused on the family, which added a baby boy, relocating to the midwest so Cam could pursue his dream of being a college football coach. It was a premise Stonestreet said he thought would have been a “slam dunk.”
“We had the right people in place,” he said. “It would have been great. If ABC would have said ‘Let’s do it,’ I think we’d be on right now.”
“Modern Family” aired for 11 seasons between 2009 and 2020. It won 22 Primetime Emmy Awards during its run.