Which of the ‘Modern Family’ cast has the most Emmy nominations (and wins)?
“The Bear” snagged 10 nominations for its comedic cast this year, with Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri leading the line. Those 10 nominations are part of a huge 23 nominations for FX show, which broke the record for the most Emmy nominations in a single year for a comedy show. That record was previously held by “30 Rock,” which picked up 22 citations in 2009.
“30 Rock” has now gone down as one of the great comedy shows of all time with its eclectic cast, featuring Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin, cited as one of the best comedic casts ever. Joining “30 Rock” on that status are the likes of “Veep,” “Friends,” and “Modern Family.”
“Modern Family,” in particular, boasted a fantastic collection of comedic actors who all turned in pitch-perfect performances as their respective characters on the ABC show. The legendary Ed O’Neil led the line as Jay Pritchett, the curmudgeonly patriarch who actually had a huge heart. O’Neil’s passionate and fiery on-screen wife, Gloria, was played by Sofía Vergara, while their older-than-his-age son Manny was played by Rico Rodriguez. Julie Bowen portrayed the tense, competitive Claire Dunphy while her on-screen husband was everybody’s favorite TV dad Phil Dunphy, played by Ty Burrell. Their three on-screen kids were streetwise Haley (Sarah Hyland), book smart Alex (Ariel Winter), and not-so-smart Luke (Nolan Gould). Jesse Tyler Ferguson featured as anxious and uptight Mitchell Pritchett while his on-screen husband was sensitive, lovable Cameron Tucker. Their daughter — sarcastic Lily — was portrayed by Aubrey Anderson-Emmons.
All of these actors played off of one another delightfully and all deserved awards attention. However, Emmy voters do tend to pick their favorites, so let’s break down their Emmy records. First, we’ll break down their overall Emmy records across their whole careers, and then we’ll focus specifically on the nominations they received for “Modern Family” only. Rodriguez, Hyland, Winter, Gould, and Anderson-Emmons have yet to receive an Emmy nomination in their careers so we’ll skip those fine actors in these two lists for the sake of concision.
Overall Emmy Nominations
Ty Burrell — Two wins, nine nominations
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2010
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2011 — WON
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2012
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2013
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2014 — WON
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2015
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2016
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2017
- Best Actor in a Short Form Series, “Boondoggle” — 2017
Julie Bowen — Two wins, six nominations
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Modern Family” — 2010
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Modern Family” — 2011 — WON
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Modern Family” — 2012 — WON
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Modern Family” — 2013
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Modern Family” — 2014
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Modern Family” — 2015
Eric Stonestreet — Two wins, three nominations
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2010 — WON
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2011
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2012 — WON
Jesse Tyler Ferguson — Zero wins, five nominations
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2010
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2011
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2012
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2013
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2014
Sofía Vergara — Zero wins, five nominations
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Modern Family” — 2010
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Modern Family” — 2011
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Modern Family” — 2012
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Modern Family” — 2013
- Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actress, “Griselda” — 2024
Ed O’Neil — Zero wins, three nominations
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2011
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2012
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2013
“Modern Family” Only Nominations
Ty Burrell — Two wins, eight nominations
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2010
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2011 — WON
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2012
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2013
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2014 — WON
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2015
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2016
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2017
Julie Bowen — Two wins, six nominations
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Modern Family” — 2010
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Modern Family” — 2011 — WON
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Modern Family” — 2012 — WON
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Modern Family” — 2013
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Modern Family” — 2014
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Modern Family” — 2015
Eric Stonestreet — Two wins, three nominations
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2010 — WON
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2011
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2012 — WON
Jesse Tyler Ferguson — Zero wins, five nominations
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2010
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2011
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2012
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2013
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2014
Sofía Vergara — Zero wins, four nominations
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Modern Family” — 2010
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Modern Family” — 2011
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Modern Family” — 2012
- Best Comedy Supporting Actress, “Modern Family” — 2013
Ed O’Neil — Zero wins, three nominations
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2011
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2012
- Best Comedy Supporting Actor, “Modern Family” — 2013
So, there you have it. The Dunphys fared the best out of this cast. Burrell and Bowen earned the most and second most Emmy nominations, respectively, with eight and six nominations each. They both won twice each along with Stonestreet so that’s three actors who won twice for “Modern Family.” The other three never managed to win, although three nominations (O’Neil and Stonestreet) is the lowest amount of bids any of these actors received for this show and for their careers. Very impressive.
“Modern Family” was a fruitful show for all of these actors, clearly. The show was the only show four out of the six actors earned Emmy nominations for in their whole careers so far. Only Vergara (Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actress, “Griselda”) and Burrell (Best Actor in a Short Form Series, “Boondoggle”) earned Emmy nominations for another show aside from “Modern Family.” The others earned their bids exclusively for “Modern Family.”
“Modern Family” also dominated Best Comedy Supporting Actor during its run-time. The show ended up with the second-most amount of wins in this category with four — the same number as “Frasier” and “Night Court.” Only “The Andy Griffith Show” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” won more in this category in Emmys history than “Modern Family” with five wins each. “Modern Family” also has the joint-highest most consecutive wins in this category with three victories on the bounce (Stonestreet, Burrell, Stonestreet in 2010, 2011, and 2012). Plus, only “M*A*S*H” has more bids in this category (with 21) than the 19 of “Modern Family.” With eight bids in this category, Burrell has the third-highest amount of nominations with only Harry Morgan (nine) and David Hyde Pierce (11) reaping more than him.
Over to Best Comedy Supporting Actress now. “Modern Family” has 10 nominations in this category overall (the same amount as “M*A*S*H”) with only “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” (12), “Cheers” (13), and “Saturday Night Live” (22) picking up more citations in this category. With two victories, Bowen is on the same amount of wins in this category as the likes of Alex Borstein, Allison Janney, and Betty White. Only Laurie Metcalf and Valerie Harper (with three each) as well as Rhea Perlman and Doris Roberts (with four each) have won more than Bowen.
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