Youngstown native Ed O'Neill returns to network TV tonight

O’Neill also hopes to film a story by his late brother in Youngstown.

By GUY D’ASTOLFO

vindicator entertainment writer

Ed O’Neill is in a position today that few actors have been in before — including himself.

He is starring in a new television show that has received absolutely glowing reviews from critics, almost across the board.

“Modern Family,” a half-hour sitcom, premieres at 9 tonight on ABC.

The anticipation for a show that has garnered so much buzz is a new feeling for O’Neill. The Youngstown native admits he’s in uncharted territory.

“It’s a strange feeling,” said O’Neill during a phone interview with The Vindicator. “I’ve never had a show come out of the gate like this one. Usually there is some activity around it. But this time, it’s been so positive, it’s almost freakish. Obviously, it’s good on the one hand, but I don’t know what to make of it. ...”

In “Modern Family,” O’Neill’s character is the father of two adult children. He’s divorced and remarried to a much younger Hispanic woman who has a son of her own. His daughter is married and she and her spouse have two kids. His son is gay and lives with his partner and a newly adopted Asian girl.

According to Verne Gay, a television critic for Newsday, the show is “better than good ...O’Neill — dry and wonderful as ever — and [Sof’a] Vergara [his fictional wife] are a winning combination. ...This ‘Family’ is a genuine pleasure to hang with.”

Mary McNamara of The Los Angeles Times, wrote “ABC’s ‘Modern Family’ single-handedly has brought the family comedy back from the dead.”

O’Neill said he knew when he first viewed the pilot that it was good. He just wasn’t sure if everyone else would think the same.

“When I saw the pilot, I was real, real happy,” he said. “It just realizes itself. It does exactly what it set out do. But I didn’t know what that would mean, if everyone would find it nice.”

The show uses the same faux documentary style as “The Office.” The action jumps between the three branches of the family, and occasionally gets them all together for a scene.

The humor, said O’Neill, is more on the warm end of the scale, and not the nasty end.

“They don’t deny the emotion,” he said. “It jumps back and forth from being heartfelt to being funny.”

O’Neill gave credit to his colleagues, including Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd, who created and produced “Modern Family.” The team was the driving force behind the highly regarded and long-lived sitcom “Frasier.”

“Chris Lloyd and Steve Levitan are very talented and they have assembled a good writing staff,” said O’Neill. “And the cast is really loaded. Everybody is firing on all cylinders.”

In addition to O’Neill and Vergara, the cast includes Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell (as the daughter and her husband), Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet (as the son and his partner), and in the roles of the children, Sarah Hyland, Nolan Gould, Ariel Winter and Rico Rodriguez.

Shelley Long, of “Cheers” fame, plays the ex-wife of O’Neill’s character.

O’Neill is perhaps best known for his role as Al Bundy in the sitcom “Married ... With Children” (1987-1997). As in that Fox show, he plays the father around whom his whirlwind family swirls in “Modern Family.”

But other than that, the two characters have nothing in common.

“I’ve done six episodes [of ‘Modern Family’], and there are no similarities,” said O’Neill. “It’s a human story. Plus, this guy has quite a bit of money, dresses well, has a gorgeous home. He couldn’t be further from Al Bundy.”

O’Neill said he has no visits to Youngstown on his schedule, but said, “I’m always looking for an excuse to go.”

A reason might come as soon as next spring. O’Neill said he has adapted a novella written by his late brother into a screenplay and is shopping it around.

“It’s quite good,” he said. “If I get a green light, I will shoot it in Youngstown next spring.”

O’Neill said he would direct the film — which would be a first for him — and also make a cameo appearance in it.