Modern Family Series Finale Date Revealed

After 11 seasons, the fan-favorite ABC sitcom Modern Family is ending this year and now ABC has revealed the series finale date for the beloved, Emmy-winning series. It was announced on Wednesday that the final episode of long-running series which follows humorous and frequently heartfelt lives of the Pritchett-Dunphy-Tucker clan, is set for Wednesday, April 8. The series returns from holiday break tonight (January 8th) to continue its final run of episodes.

In preparation for the series finale, ABC is giving fans the opportunity to program an entire night of Modern Family episodes to air on March 11. The evening will kick off with the Modern Family series premiere and will be followed by five additional episodes chosen by fans, allowing viewers to enjoy the ultimate Modern Family binge while reliving some of the Pritchett-Dunphy-Tucker clan's most hilarious and monumental moments. Voting for those five fan-chosen episodes will begin on Monday, February 3 via a daily Twitter poll conducted by the show's official Twitter account. Polling will end on Friday, February 7.

Modern Family first aired on September 23, 2009 and follows the lives of Jay Pritchett (Ed O'Neill) and his family who all live in suburban Los Angeles. Presented in a "mockumentary" format, the series features a "blended" family that includes Jay and his second wife Gloria (Sofia Vergara) along with their son and Gloria's son Manny (Rico Rodriguez), Jay's son Mitch (Jesse Tyler Ferguson,) his husband Cameron Tucker (Eric Stonestreet) and their daughter as well as Jay's daughter Claire Dunphy (Julie Bowen,) her husband Phil (Ty Burrell,) and their three children. The series won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series for the first five seasons of its run, a feat that ties the series with Frasier for number of Outstanding Comedy Series Emmys to be won by a series consecutively.

Reflecting on the success of the show, series co-creator and executive producer Steven Levitan told reporters at the winter Television Critics Association press tour that all of the elements just came together for the series when it debuted in 2009.

"It just so rarely happens that the right characters are created, and the right actors come along to play those characters," Levitan said. "The right writers to help bring those characters to life and further deepen those relationships. The time was right. To me it's not a coincidence that Modern Family, the majority of the show existed at a time where things felt a little happier in the world."

"It's a cliché that you don't realize what you have until it's gone but it's absolutely not the case here... We just knew it from the beginning. We all dug in and appreciated it," Levitan continued. "We all know how lucky we've been from day one and so many of us have been trying to hang on to it and embrace this experience while an experience like this can exist."

Modern Family's series finale is set to air Wednesday, April 8 on ABC.