'Modern Family' is best new comedy this fall

Modern Family" is the funniest new show on TV this fall.

The comedy, which premieres Wednesday at 8 p.m. on ABC, Ch. 4, is about three very different nuclear families who are also one big, relatively happy family. And, in a way that would no doubt shock Ozzie and Harriet, this nontraditional clan rings true.

"We just wanted to show three different types of families," said executive producer Steve Levitan ("Just Shoot Me"). "The idea here was one traditional family and two non-traditional families, so we were searching for interesting, different forms of family, because the family in America is changing. It comes in lots of different shapes and sizes now that it perhaps didn't used to, and I think that's what's fun about exploring the differences between them. And then, the fact that they're linked adds that extra layer."

The three branches are:

Phil (Ty Burrell) and Claire (Julie Bowen) appear, at first glance, to be the most traditional. They have a teenage daughter (Sarah Hyland) who's growing up too fast; a middle girl (Ariel Winter) who's too smart for her own good; and a young son (Nolan Gould) who can be too much to handle.

And, while Phil wants desperately to be a "cool" dad — and is, thus, incredibly uncool — Claire is wound too tight.

Claire's father, Jay (Ed O'Neill), is married to the much-younger Gloria (Sofia Vergara), who has a young son (Rico Rodriguez) from a previous marriage. Not only is he frequently taken for his wife's father, but there are cultural differences — Gloria is from Colombia.

And Claire's brother, Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), and his life partner, Cameron (Eric Stonestreet), just adopted a baby.

"It just seemed like a natural that there would be a lot of comedy in the challenges that they face," Levitan said. "I mean, the truth of the matter is the way that (executive producer) Chris (Lloyd) and I have always seen Cam and Mitchell, they're in many ways the most traditional couple. Cam is a stay-at-home parent. Mitchell goes to work. They're fairly conservative."

Levitan said he wouldn't be surprised if there are protests about gay parenting. And controversy always helps ratings.

"I welcome criticism from the far-right groups … If people are going to take shots at that, let them," he said. "I think that everybody else will be laughing at it."