Hit comedy 'Modern Family' to end in 2020 after 11 seasons on ABC

PASADENA, Calif. –The Pritchett family will soon clean out its closets.  

"Modern Family," the Emmy-winning comedy about an extended Los Angeles family, will end in 2020 after 11 seasons, ABC announced Tuesday at the Television Critics Association.

The show has been renewed for a final season of at least 18 episodes, which allows it to delay its exit until after CBS's "The Big Bang Theory," TV's top-rated comedy, says farewell this May after 12 years.

After a TCA executive session, new ABC entertainment president Karey Burke said producers have "big plans" for the final season and that she would be happy if that included laying the ground for a potential spinoff.

"I would love one. No one would be happier if there were one," she said, offering no details.

For the final season, "there are some surprises and big milestones coming. They intend to really go out big, so it would be terrific if a spinoff were part of that, but I haven’t heard anything" specifically, Burke said.

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The series, created by Steven Levitan and Chistopher Lloyd, premiered in 2009, became an instant hit and was long ABC's top-rated sitcom, peaking in 2011. It still ranks among the top 5 TV comedies, but is also among the most expensive, with weekly episodes costing the network more than $5 million.

In a statement accompanying the announcement, Burke said Levitan and Lloyd “have created one of the most seminal and iconic comedies in television history.” She added to TV critics: "I reserve the right to be the saddest person in the room when it ends its remarkable run."

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

"Modern" tells the story of patriarch and retired closet-remodeler Jay Pritchett (Ed O'Neill), his second wife Gloria (Sophia Vergara) and their extended clan of Jay's children, Claire (Julie Bowen) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), and their families. It broke ground for a network sitcom in depicting gay son Mitchell in a committed domestic relationship with Cam (Eric Stonestreet). They later married and are raising a daughter. 

Ferguson took to Instagram after the announcement to reflect on his time on "Modern Family." 

"I can’t believe I’ve spent over a decade of my life working with a cast and crew I love so much," he captioned a series of behind-the-scenes photos. "I’m already preparing myself for a VERY emotional last year with my beautiful, hilarious fake family."

Related: 'Modern Family' star Ariel Winter shuts down body-shamers: I 'didn't get plastic surgery'