The Next Season Of ‘Modern Family’ Will Feature The Death Of A ‘Significant Character’

We already know that ABC’s Modern Family is expected to end sometime soon, but in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, co-creator Christopher Lloyd revealed that the same could be said for a “significant character on the series.” In other words, one of the award-winning comedy’s principal cast members will be saying farewell to the show at some point during the 10th season, because he or she is going to die.

Lloyd wouldn’t tell EW who the character was, or when the “significant” death would occur next season, but he did say that it “will be a moving event — and an event that has repercussions across several episodes”:

“We’re handling some bigger life events in this season,” he says. “We do deal with a death, which is certainly a topic that families have to deal with, and on television, it’s not easy to do because that’s a heavy subject. But at the same time, it would seem unusual for a family not to go through it.”

Seeing as how Ed O’Neill’s family patriarch, Jay Pritchett, is the eldest among the series’ many characters, it wouldn’t be too surprising if Lloyd and the writers were aiming to kill him off. (Then again, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air famously offed Hilary Banks’ would-be fiancé off-camera in a doomed hot air balloon marriage proposal, so…) As for Modern Family‘s forthcoming end, the upcoming season is the show’s final one per the current contract, but Lloyd said “there’s goodwill on both sides to make [more seasons] happen.” He added, “there’s a decent chance we’ll see it happen.”