TCA press tour: The secret of 'Modern Family'

Like most modern families, ABC's new fall comedy "Modern Family" can't keep a secret.

When the network provided an early look at the single-camera mockumentary-like show, which satirizes the crazed lives of three very different families, reviewers and television writers were begged not to divulge the stunning reveal at show's end.

Well, this morning at the summer press tour, one of the show's executive producers divulged it. Three characters -- one member of each of the families (a gay couple with an adopted infant, an older man and younger wife who've been married before, and a "Leave It to Beaver"-type unit) -- share a bloodline!  

Actually, it wasn't so much that anyone let the information accidentally slip, explained executive producer Steven Levitan ("Just Shoot Me" and "Back to You"). It's just that the show tested better with audiences when they knew the disparate characters were related.

And that's modern television.

-- Martin Miller

Photo: Ed O'Neill and Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Credit: Getty Images