TBS Expands Comedy Lineup With ‘Modern Family’ License Deal

“Modern Family” has landed a cable run at Warner Bros. Discovery’s TBS network starting Sept. 25.

The ABC sitcom, which ran for 11 total seasons from 2009 to 2020, will air on TBS for a three-hour block on weekdays — specifically from 12:30-3:30 p.m. on weekdays. The licensing by the cable outlet marks an attempt to bolster its comedy options.

Previously, “Friends” and “Young Sheldon” have occupied the hours that “Modern Family” will run. Both shows will remain on the network. Monday saw longer daily marathons of “The Big Bang Theory” on TBS.

“Our audience continually seeks out popular comedies like ‘Friends,’ ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and ‘Modern Family,’ so now that we have all three of these iconic series on TBS, we can build an even bigger, more engaged audience,” said Julie Taylor, chief of Content Strategy & Insights, US Networks Group, Warner Bros. Discovery. “We have the best in class content that drives an audience from daytime through primetime and we do that by leveraging our fans’ affinity for comedies and by creating daily destinations.”

“Modern Family” followed three interconnected family units that make up the Pritchett-Dunphy-Tucker clan, whose patriarch Jay Pritchett (Ed O’Neill) remarried Gloria Delgado-Pritchett (Sofía Vergara) after having two children: Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Claire (Julie Bowen). Claire married Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell), and Mitchell married Cameron Tucker (Eric Stonestreet). The show explores the complicated dynamic between the three families and the children of Claire and Mitchell.

The Dunphy children include Haley (Sarah Hyland), Alex (Ariel Winter) and Luke (Nolan Gould). Cameron and Mitchell adopt Lily (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons) early on in the show.

Throughout its impressive run, “Modern Family” was nominated for 85 Emmy Awards and won 22 including five for Outstanding Comedy Series. The series was also honored with a Golden Globe® Award, numerous Screen Actors Guild Awards® and was recognized by the AFI, Humanitas and Peabody organizations. “Modern Family” premiered in 2009 and aired 250 episodes until its conclusion in 2022.

“Modern Family” was produced by 20th Television in association with Steven Levitan Productions and Picador Productions. Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd were co-creators/executive producers. Paul Corrigan, Brad Walsh, Danny Zuker, Abraham Higginbotham, Jeffrey Richman, Elaine Ko, Stephen Lloyd, Vali Chandrasekaran, Jack Burditt, Jon Pollack and Jeff Morton also served as executive producers on the final season. The series is distributed by Disney Entertainment.