Inside Modern Family’s Inaugural Halloween Episode — 15 Years Later

Many TV shows have gotten into the Halloween spirit — but Modern Family found a different way to take ownership of the spooky season.

Modern Family, which aired from 2009 to 2020, followed the lives of three interrelated families living in suburban Los Angeles. Presented in a mockumentary style, the sitcom won Us over with its equal shares of humor and heart.

One season in, Modern Family ventured into themed episodes with a Halloween special that had everything from a haunted house to fun costumes and even a colossal fog cue.

Keep scrolling as the cast breaks down with Us the highlights of the long-lasting tradition:

The Moment

“I realize it is a crazy-ass holiday for a grown woman to care about this much, but it is my crazy-ass holiday,” Claire (Julie Bowen) groused to her indifferent loved ones in Modern Family’s October 27, 2010, episode, “Halloween.”

And so a spooky tradition began — with a haunted house fail (Claire), an ill-advised superhero costume at work (Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Mitch) and a dubious choice to dress as Mother Teresa “back when she was hot” (Sarah Hyland’s Haley).

“We’d always had fun,” Bowen tells Us, “But this one, we were like, Something’s happening.”

Who Was Involved

The cast was coming off a triumphant first season that won the ABC show an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. In other words, Ed O’Neill, Sofía Vergara, Bowen, Ty Burrell, Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, Hyland, Ariel Winter, Nolan Gould and Rico Rodriguezcouldn’t have been hotter. Why not dress ’em up in silly costumes?

Why We Remember It

Did we mention the costumes? One Halloween episode turned into seven over the series’ 11 seasons.

We saw Vergara’s Gloria as a “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”-era Marilyn Monroe, Winter’s Alex as Melanie Griffith in Working Girl, Gould’s Luke as a kiss emoji and Aubrey Anderson-Emmons’ Lily as Where’s Waldo.

But the highlight of our annual rewatch is Stonestreet’s Cam as Meghan Markle.

“Nothing like going to a wardrobe fitting for a dress,” the actor quips to Us. He never heard from the Duchess of Sussex, noting, “You only hope you don’t offend people when you do stuff like that. But that was what was great about Modern Family. We were equal opportunists. We took shots at everything in pop culture and everyone.”

Beyond those delights, though, was the fact that these episodes brought together most, if not all, of the characters — fun for viewers and the cast.

“That first Halloween episode was so well written. We were dying doing it,” Bowen recalls. She laughs now, thinking of Cam as a severed head on a platter under a turkey dome. “Someone would have to come over between takes, lift it up.”

Key Details

The trick: getting into the Halloween spirit to film when October was still far off. The treats: sweet motivation!

“The Halloween episodes were a little more tempting because we just had candy everywhere. They were our props,” Gould tells Us. “And then the prop guys would come out, and they’re like, ‘This bowl is going down in the amount of candy we need.’”

The Aftermath

More Emmy love! After that first episode aired, the sitcom was nominated for 17 trophies (four of them specifically for “Halloween”) and took home five.

A New Perspective

No show has laid claim to October 31 the way Modern Family has.

“When I think of The Office, it’s for Christmas. I’m honored Modern Family is known for Halloween,” Gould says. “It’s crazy to think that at this point, the show is kind of vintage. There’s been this new experience for people who weren’t around when it first came out, or weren’t old enough, who are now getting into it.”

Where Are They Now?

After Modern Family ended in 2020, the stars scattered, but they’ve found ways to reconnect, whether it’s an informal reunion, a milestone moment like Hyland’s 2022 wedding to Wells Adams or a WhatsApp commercial.