Ed O'Neill Talks About his New Sitcom, "Modern Family"

There are certain actors that are so deeply associated with a role, that no matter what heights they reach in their careers, they are forever known for that one big part. Carroll O'Connor will always be Archie Bunker. Michael J. Fox will never shake Alex P. Keaton. Alan Alda will go down in history as Hawkeye from "M*A*S*H." And it seemed for a long time that Ed O'Neill would live in eternity as Al Bundy from Married… with Children.

Bundy was a breakthrough role for O'Neill. Before being cast as the accident-prone but lovable loser and shoe salesman, Ed made a few guest appearances on such shows as Miami Vice and Spencer for Hire. But playing Al would make him a household name.

Still even after MWC went off the air in 1997, no matter what Ed did, he couldn't live down the Al Bundy moniker. He made a few movies, including The Bone Collector and Lucky Numbers, and then returned to the small screen with Big Apple, Dragnet (playing Lt. Joe Friday), and John from Cincinnati. None of these shows would come close to reaching the success of MWC.

But, finally Ed has found a role that we think will leave Al Bundy in the dust. He has struck TV pay dirt for a second time, as Jay Pritchett, the lovable patriarch of the Pritchett/Delgado/Dunphy clans in Modern Family.

We are convinced Modern Family will go down in television history with the best of the best alongside shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, All in the Family, and Cheers.

The cast and creative team behind ABC's Modern Family gathered for a panel discussion and screening at the Television Academy on March 3. Emmy magazine's Editor-in-Chief Juan Morales asked Ed why he came back to do a sitcom after all these years in this video that was shot and edited by the Pop Culture Passionistas for the Archive of American Television.