* ActorInspiredElement:
** In several episodes Cameron dresses up as his clown alter-ego 'Fizbo'; Eric Stonestreet wanted to be a clown as a child and created Fizbo himself, even performing at birthday parties by the time he was 11.
** Julie Bowen was pregnant during the pilot, hiding it by holding a hamper in front of her belly during most of the episode. In the seventh episode of season 11 Claire sees Gloria walking with a hamper and asks immediately if she is hiding a pregnancy.
* BabyNameTrendStarter: The pet dog Stella caused many people to give their daughters and pets the same name.
* TheCastShowoff:
** Ariel Winter shows off her singing voice in "White Christmas."
** When Mitchell asks Jay for self-defense tips, Jay is shown as effortlessly putting him in a headlock. Ed O'Neill is a longtime practitioner of martial arts and is well-regarded in the community, having earned a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
* CreatorBacklash: Creator/SarahHyland voiced her displeasure with Haley’s storyline in the final season, feeling that reducing Haley to just a new mother of twins was a disservice to her character development over the course of the series.
* DawsonCasting:
** Played straight with Creator/SarahHyland (Haley) & Creator/ReidEwing (Dylan), with both actors being three years older than their characters. To the show's credit, [[OlderThanTheyLook Sarah doesn't look it]], and some people, not aware of her actual age, have actually accused her of being too ''young'' to play her character's age).
** Averted by Rico Rodriguez (Manny), Nolan Gould (Luke) & Creator/ArielWinter (Alex), with the three being roughly the same age as their characters - whilst the actors are all the same age, Alex is a year older.
** Also played straight with Creator/AdamDevine, whose character Andy is implied to be in his twenties, but the actor is actually in his ''thirties'', meaning that he is almost a '''''decade older''''' than Andy. Thankfully, [[OlderThanTheyLook he looks significantly younger than his actual age]].
* DiedDuringProduction:
** Creator/JonPolito, who played Jay's nemesis Earl Chambers, died of cancer before Season 8 began airing. An episode featuring Chambers had already been written, but he luckily spends his whole appearance in a devil costume so they were able to use a FakeShemp wearing a mask. The following season featured the character's death.
** Phil's father Frank Dunphy passed away during the eleventh and final season of the show and not long after that episode aired, his actor Creator/FredWillard also unexpectedly passed.
* DuelingShows: With ''Series/{{Parenthood}}''.
* DyeingForYourArt: Creator/SofiaVergara is naturally blonde. Her hair has gotten lighter as the series has gone on but it's still darker than her natural hair color. She began dyeing it early in her career when she was told that people wouldn't find a blonde Latina believable.
* ExecutiveMeddling: Parodied in the show's sketch at the 2010 Emmy Awards, which shows various proposed "changes" to the show, such as: having Cameron and Mitchell adopt [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Stewie]], making Cameron and Mitchell not gay, shooting the show in 3D (with an emphasis on shots of Creator/SofiaVergara's chest), and replacing Creator/EdONeill or Creator/TyBurrell with Creator/GeorgeClooney.
* FakeBrit: Creator/EdwardNorton as Spandau Ballet bassist, Izzy Lafontaine, in "Great Expectations".
* HideYourPregnancy: Julie Bowen was eight months pregnant with twins during the filming of the pilot, so they hid her behind laundry baskets and other assorted things.
* HistoryRepeats: This is Ed O’Neill’s second sitcom to go 11 seasons with at least 250 episodes, after ''Series/MarriedWithChildren''.
* IronyAsSheIsCast: Luke is of below-average intelligence, albeit with occasional flashes of brilliance. His actor is a member of MENSA and graduated high school at 13.
* {{Melodrama}}: Sarah and Adam would often dramatise their scenes together because of how invested they both were in Haley & Andy’s relationship. However, it wouldn't work with the pacing of the show.
* TheOtherDarrin:
** Lily was recast for season three when it became clear the little girls playing her really didn't like acting.
** As of Season 7, Baby Joe has been replaced with an older child actor, to allow him to be a more active part of scenes.
** As mentioned above in DiedDuringProduction, Creator/RobertCostanzo replaced the late Creator/JonPolito as [[SitcomArchNemesis Earl Chambers]] in season 8.
* PlayingAgainstType:
** Creator/TyBurrell played jerk characters prior to the show. For instance, ''Film/DawnOfTheDead''. However, in the show, Phil is one of the sweetest, nicest and funniest characters in the show.
** Creator/AdamDevine, after rising to fame by playing an extremely immature ,drug-addicted alcoholic, made a career out of playing [[Film/PitchPerfect arrogant,]] [[Film/TheFinalGirls selfish]] [[Film/MikeAndDaveNeedWeddingDates jerks.]] Because of this, many people are shocked that he plays sweet, dorky Andy so believably, considering he's so ''insanely'' polar opposite to his other roles.
** The typically erudite yet badass Creator/VictorGarber has a guest spot as a Gordon Ramsey-esque {{Jerkass}} chef.
* QueerCharacterQueerActor:
** Like Mitchell, Creator/JesseTylerFerguson is also gay in real life.
** Creator/NathanLane is gay like his character Pepper Saltzman.
* RealLifeRelative: In "Connection Lost", Julie Bowen's eldest son has a "cameo" in a baby photo of Haley that Claire looks at [[spoiler: when she thinks Haley's pregnant and has eloped with Andy]].
** Aubrey Anderson-Emmons' mom comedienne Amy Anderson plays a waitress in "The Future Dunphys".
* RealitySubtext:
** "Suddenly, Last Summer", the fifth-season premiere episode, was set on June 26, 2013, the day that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower-court decision that invalidated California's Proposition 8 and thus re-legalized gay marriage in California—setting up a plot where [[spoiler:Cameron and Mitchell connive with other members of their extended family to come up with a more romantic marriage proposal]].
** "Lake Life", the ninth-season premiere, was set on the day of the total solar eclipse in America: August 21, 2017.
* StarMakingRole:
** All of the actors save for Creator/EdONeill (who was already a well-known name in TV), became HouseholdNames following the success of the show. Creator/JulieBowen and Creator/TyBurrell were in a few well-known projects before, but ''Modern Family'' truly cemented their fame.
** Whilst Creator/AdamDevine was already famous prior to appearing, his recurring role on the show has elevated his notoriety considerably.
* SuppressedMammaries: Creator/ArielWinter started out flat-chested (it makes sense; she was 11 when the show started) and eventually grew past Creator/SofiaVergara's famously curvy frame (Vergara, though, is 5'7", while Winter is only 5'1") . Similarly to Creator/SoleilMoonFrye, Winter revealed in August 2015 that she'd had a breast reduction in June that took her from 32F to 34D, citing negative media attention and back pain as as one of her primary reasons.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** [[Creator/MattLeBlanc Matt [=LeBlanc=]]] and Creator/RobHuebel were initially approached for the role of Phil Dunphy before Creator/TyBurrell was cast. However, [=LeBlanc=] turned it down as he didn't think he was the right choice for the character, while Huebel declined due to his dissatisfaction with the script for the pilot. Huebel would later go on to play Glen Whipple in "The One That Got Away".
*** Creator/DavidHarbour, Creator/JoelMcHale and Creator/AlanTudyk were also considered for the part of Phil Dunphy before the casting of Burrell. Tudyk was credited for coming up with the "Why the Face?" joke in the pilot during his audition.
** Creator/LisaKudrow, Creator/LeahRemini, Creator/DebraMessing, Creator/RachaelHarris, [[Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun Kristen Johnston]] and Creator/ConstanceZimmer were considered for the part of Claire Dunphy before the casting of Creator/JulieBowen.
** Creator/CraigTNelson was the first choice for Jay Pritchett before Creator/EdONeill was cast, but turned down the offer due to salary disagreements and was eventually cast as Zeke Braverman in ''Series/{{Parenthood}}'' after this.
** Creator/JoshGad, Creator/TonyHale and Creator/KevinDaniels read for the role of Cameron Tucker before the casting of Creator/EricStonestreet.
** [[WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019 Matt Oberg]] and Creator/MoRocca screen-tested for the part of Mitchell Pritchett before Creator/JesseTylerFerguson was cast.
** Creator/SkylerSamuels auditioned for Haley Dunphy before the casting of Creator/SarahHyland.
** Creator/AdamDevine (Andy) was approached by the show's creators to become [[PromotionToOpeningTitles a series regular]] following season 7 but had to decline due to his other commitments.
** The pilot script was originally titled "My American Family"
* WordOfGay: Creator/SarahHyland stated that her character Haley was bisexual during Season 9.
* WordOfGod: There is no documentary crew. The show is only filmed in a documentary style and the talking heads are the characters BreakingTheFourthWall. It explains how the camera can suddenly be in a building before a character enters it.