ABC Renews Sofia Vergara’s “Modern Family” for 11th and Final Season

Sofia Vergara’s extending her Family time…

ABC has picked up its flagship comedy series Modern Family, starring the 46-year-old Colombian actress, for an eleventh and final season.

Sofia Vergara, Modern Family,

The Emmy-winning family comedy will reportedly consist of at least 18 episodes, and could expand to 22 episodes, according to Deadline.com/

Modern Family’s renewal was all but assured when the original adult cast, stars Ed O’NeillJulie BowenTy BurrellJesse Tyler FergusonEric Stonestreet and Vergara, agreed to new deals in December with producing studio 20th Century Fox Televisionto return. 

Since then, the studio also has signed co-creators/executive producers Steve Levitanand Christopher Lloydfor another season, and also has made new deals with the original child actors — now all young adults —  Sarah HylandAriel WinterNolan Gould and Rico Rodriguez

Ten seasons in, Modern Family remains ABC’s top rated comedy (2.1 adults 18-49 rating in Live+3) and second highest rated series on the network only behind Grey’s Anatomy (tied with The Good DoctorThe Bachelorand The Conners).

“Chris and Steve have created one of the most seminal and iconic comedies in television history,” said Karey Burke, president, ABC Entertainment. “In its final season, there will be more milestone events that anyone who has been a fan of the series won’t want to miss.”

A five-time Emmy winner for Outstanding Comedy SeriesModern Family stars O’Neill as Jay Pritchett, Bowen as Claire Dunphy, Burrell as Phil Dunphy, Vergara as Gloria Pritchett, Tyler Ferguson as Mitchell Pritchett, Stonestreet as Cameron Tucker, Hyland as Haley Dunphy, Gould as Luke Dunphy, Winter as Alex Dunphy, Rodriguez as Manny Delgado, Aubrey Anderson-Emmonsas Lily Tucker-Pritchett and Jeremy Maguireas Joe Pritchett.

“For 10 years, our characters have bravely faced turning points in life and moved through them to great personal enrichment; we have chosen a different path by doing one more season of Modern Family,” said Lloyd.

Added Levitan, “Even after 10 years together, we realized there are still some things our writers don’t yet know about each other’s sex lives.”

Rico Rodriguez Re-Ups for Two More Seasons on ABC’s “Modern Family” with a Big Pay Increase

Rico Rodriguez will be making bigger bank deposits soon…

After lengthy on-and off-negotiations, the original children’s cast of ABC’s flagship comedy Modern Family, including the 18-year-old Mexican American actor, has been locked in for two more years by 20th Century Fox Television with new contracts that include salary increases.

Rico Rodriguez

The studio turned its attention to securing Rodriguez and his fellow kid castmates after closing new two-year deals with stars Ed O’NeillJulie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet and Sofia Vergara in May that paved the way for a two-year Modern Family renewal by ABC.

Like with their older co-stars, who secured salary increases of over 40%, from about $350,000 an episode in the most recent Season 8 to about $500,000 in Season 9, the young actors scored significant pay increases that take them over $100,000 an episode.

The re-ups for Rodriguez, who plays plays Gloria’s (Vergara) wise-beyond-his-years son Manny, and the younger cast members keep the entire original cast of Modern Family, whose contracts were up after Season 8, intact for the upcoming ninth and tenth seasons of the Emmy-winning comedy series.

Production on Season 9 is slated to begin in early August.

Murciano to Star in Sony Pictures’ Comedy “Rock That Body”

Enrique Murciano has a new Body of work…

The 43-year-old Latino actor has joined the cast of Sony PicturesRock That Body, the R-rated comedy about a bachelorette party in Miami that goes wrong and ends with a male stripper dead.

Enrique Murciano

Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell, Ilana Glazer and Zoe Kravitz star with Demi Moore, Ty Burrell, Dean Winters and Colton Haynes.

The film has a June 23 release date with Lucia Aniello direcing a script she co-wrote with Paul W. Downs.

Murciano starred on Netflix’s Bloodline series. He currently has roles on Starz’s Power and SundanceTV’s Hap and Leonard, also has New Line’s Will Smith starrer Collateral Beauty coming out this year and just finished shooting the TNT pilot Civil.

Louis C.K. Earns SAG Award Nomination for His Work on FX’s “Louie”

Louis C.K. is a multi-talented man…

The 47-year-old Mexican American actor/stand-up comedian, who recently earned two Writers Guild Award nominations for penning his critically acclaimed FX comedy series Louie, has earned a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.

Louis C.K.

Louis C.K., a multi-Emmy winner, received the SAG Award nomination in the Best Actor, Comedy Series for his performance on Louie, a series he created and loosely based on his own life. He’s up against Modern Family’s Ty Burrell and Eric Stonestreet, as well as ShamelessWilliam H. Macy and The Big Band Theory’s Jim Parsons.

Sofia Vergara and her television son Rico Rodriguez, who picked up their record-breaking fourth consecutive SAG Award for outstanding performance by a cast in a comedy series for starring on ABC’s Modern Family, have a chance to extend their streak.

The Colombian actress, Rodriguez and the rest of the Modern Family team are once again nominated for Best Ensemble Cast, Comedy Series.

They’ll face off against the cast of  Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which stars Latina actresses Stephanie Beatriz and Melissa Fumero. It’s the first Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for the two.

Other nominees in the category include The Big Band Theory, Veep and Orange Is the New Black, which stars several Latina actresses, including Dascha Polanco and Selenis Leyva.

Another first-time nominee is Pedro Pascal. The 39-year-old Chilean actor received a SAG Award nod in the Best Ensemble Cast, Drama Series category. Pedro, who portrayed Oberyn Martell in the fourth season of HBO’s Game of Thrones, is nominated in the Best Ensemble Cast, Drama Series category alongside his GOT co-stars.

More than 100,000 actors vote on the SAG Awards, which will be handed out on January 25 in Los Angeles. They’re one of the most closely watched honors during awards season because actors make up the largest voting bloc for February’s Academy Awards.

Here’s a look at this year’s Screen Actors Guild awards nominations:

FILM

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST
Birdman (Fox Searchlight Pictures )
Boyhood (IFC Films )
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
The Imitation Game (Weinstein Co)
The Theory of Everything (Focus Features )

BEST ACTOR
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher (Sony Pictures Classics )
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler (Open Road Films )
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

BEST ACTRESS
Jennifer Aniston, Cake (Cinelou Films)
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice (Sony Pictures Classics)
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl (20th Century Fox )
Reese Witherspoon, Wild (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert Duvall, The Judge (Warner Bros Pictures )
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
JK Simmons, Whiplash (Sony Pictures Classics)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures )
Naomi Watts, St Vincent (Weinstein Co)

TELEVISION

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST, DRAMA SERIES
Boardwalk Empire (HBO )
Downton Abbey (PBS)
Game of Thrones (HBO)
Homeland (Showtime )
House of Cards (Netflix)

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST, COMEDY SERIES
The Big Bang Theory (CBS )
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox )
Modern Family (ABC )
Orange Is the New Black (Netflix)
Veep (HBO)

BEST ACTOR, DRAMA SERIES
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones (HBO)
Woody Harrelson, True Detective (HBO)
Matthew McConaughey, True Detective (HBO)
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards (Netflix)

BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA SERIES
Claire Danes, Homeland (Showtime)
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder (ABC)
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife (CBS)
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black (BBC America)
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey (PBS)
Robin Wright, House of Cards (Netflix)

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY SERIES
Ty Burrell, Modern Family (ABC)
Louis CK, Louie (FX )
William H. Macy, Shameles (Showtime)
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family (ABC)

BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY SERIES
Uzo Aduba, Orange Is the New Black (Netflix)
Julie Bowen, Modern Family (ABC)
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep (HBO)
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation (NBC )

BEST ACTOR, TV MOVIE OR MINISERIES
Adrien Brody, Houdini (History)
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: His Last Vow (PBS)
Richard Jenkins, Olive Kitteridge (HBO)
Mark Ruffalo, The Normal Heart (HBO)
Billy Bob Thornton, Fargo (FX)

BEST ACTRESS, TV MOVIE OR MINISERIES
Ellen Burstyn, Flowers in the Attic (Lifetime)
Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Honorable Woman (Sundance TV )
Frances McDormand, Olive Kitteridge (HBO)
Julia Roberts, The Normal Heart (HBO)

“Modern Family” Star Rodriguez Gets a Hefty Raise

Rico Rodriguez will be mucho más rico this year…

The 14-year-old Latino actor and Modern Family scene-stealer has reportedly finalized a deal that would triple his current salary.

Rico Rodriguez

Rodriguez—who gave a memorable acceptance speech at the SAG Awards after picking up the coveted trophy for Best Ensemble in a Comedy SeriesSarah Hyland, Nolan Gould and Ariel Winter are set to earn approximately $70,000 per episode, according to Deadline.com.

The Modern Family children started renegotiating their contracts the day after their adult counterparts reached an agreement with 20th Century Fox, which produces the Emmy-winning series for ABC.

The negotiations for Modern Family’s adult stars Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet resulted in a missed table read for the upcoming Season 4 premiere episode and a lawsuit filed by all five actors.

Vergara and her adult co-stars, who were originally each making $65,000 an episode, are now making in the $170,000-$180,000 range with year-to-year increases and a portion of the show’s back-end.

The new season of Modern Family premieres on Wednesday, September 26 at 9:00 pm ET on ABC.