Bob D'Amico/Disney General Entertainment Content via Gett Jesse Tyler Ferguson revealed thatModern Familywas originally meant to be a documentary calledMy American Family, filmed by a foreign exchange student Although the mockumentary format was inspired by shows likeThe Office,Modern Familydropped the backstory of its film crew early in the series On hisDinner's on Mepodcast, Ferguson and guest Wendie Malick discussed how the show eventually used the mockumentary style purely as a filming technique Jesse Tyler Fergusonis spilling the secret behind the camera crew that followed the extended Pritchett family's every move. On a recent episode of hisDinner's on Mepodcast, Ferguson, 49, and his guestWendie Malickdelved into the original reason behindModern Family's mockumentary format. The series featured confessional scenes throughout its run, but after the first few seasons, the illusion that the family was being filmed for a real documentary was largely shattered. Ferguson noted that "in the very early seasons, we would really try and hold onto the reality that we were with a film crew." However, by the time Malick, 74, guest-starred in season 11, she said, "I don't even remember thinking about that." Eric McCandless/Getty However, in the beginning, the documentary was supposed to have been filmed by an old classmate of Mitch (Ferguson) and his sister Claire's (Julie Bowen). "[The reason] it was a mockumentary, although we never explained this, was a very early version ofModern Familyhad a foreign exchange student that had stayed with Mitchell, my character, and [Julie Bowen's] Claire when we were young," Ferguson revealed. "And he was coming back to do a documentary about this family he lived with when he was a kid, and the title of it wasMy American Family." He continued, "They ended up cutting that character and then renaming itModern Family. But the construct of it still being a mockumentary was there, but we never explained why." Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE's free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Modern Familypremiered in 2009, just four years after the 2005 premiere ofThe OfficeU.S.and eight years after the 2001 premiere ofThe OfficeU.K. While neither of those shows invented the mockumentary-style format, they did popularize the style on television. Shows likeModern FamilyandParks and Recreationuse the style without ever delving into the question of who is filming the characters and why, while others fully lean into the conceit. Recently, shows likeAbbott ElementaryandWhat We Do in the Shadowshave embraced their camera crews as characters in their own right, even though they are kept offscreen. But in a 2020Entertainment Weeklyinterview,Modern Familyexecutive producer Christopher Lloyd explained why the hit ABC comedy chose to simply use the mockumentary style as a filming device and nothing more. Jessica Brooks/ABC/Getty "Obviously, we started out in our pilot having that person be a character. And then the more we thought about [it], we thought, 'That might take the audience out of it,'" he explained. The PEOPLE Appis now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more! Lloyd continued, "And then having lived in a mockumentary form without literally a crew for 250 episodes, it felt like it might've been too meta or too cute to maybe do that for us. Because I thinkThe Officemade you aware that they were actual people much more than we did. We were just using it as a technique more than a sort of an actual reality." Modern Familyis streaming on Hulu and Peacock. Read the original article onPeople
