Yesterday, we mentioned that Modern Family’s first table read of the season might be canceled because of looming negotiations. Well, that table read was supposed to be today and that shit got canceled. Beyond not showing up for work, the ModFam5 is suing 20th Century Fox (the studio who own Modern Family) for violating the “7 Year Rule”, which prohibits contracts longer than seven years. It’s a standard move for actors in negotiations like this. The studio’s most recent offer of $150,000 per episode plus a $50,000 per episode bonus for season 4, $200,000 per episode for season 5, $225,000 for season 6, and up to $325,000 for a potential 9th season to the adult leads was not nearly good enough for Ty Burell, Julie Bowen, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet and Sofia Vergara. (Ed ‘Neill is negotiating separately because he already had a higher salary.) They’re looking for more than double what was offered for the hypothetical eighth and ninth season. This likely means something in the million an episode range, which seems nuts but isn’t at all unprecedented. The Friends cast got that amount in 2003, 15 years earlier than the possible ninth Modern Family season. Modern Family generated $164 million in advertising revenue last year and has a liscensing deal with USA in place worth $1.5 million an episode, so ABC and 20th Century Fox are doing just fine. Can’t they all just push each other into the pool and laugh this off already?
This ‘Modern Family’ Negotiation Just Got Real
