After more than ten years on our screen, Modern Family aired its last episode on April 8, 2020. The iconic comedy series won’t disappear, though. The dry, documentary-style delivery of the groundbreaking show ensures it will still keep entertaining fans the world over through reruns.
Modern Family changed the attitudes of Americans and the viewing public the world over. By integrating a gay couple into a family structure and showing an apparently age-mismatched older American with a hot Latina wife who genuinely seemed to love each other, the comedy challenged stereotypes. The calm manner in which the show exposed prejudices and presented reasonable counter-arguments released social tensions in the viewing population and gave everyone the courage to discuss issues rationally.
The series ran for eleven seasons, with a total of 250 episodes. Amazingly, all of the original cast remained with the show, with the younger actors growing up before the eyes of the viewers.
Watch Modern Family online
Modern Family is an ABC production. The ABC website shows some episodes of season 11, but not all. It lists five episodes of the season. So, if you missed out on the whole season, or if you want to binge-watch all of Modern Family from season one episode one right up to the finale, you will need to look elsewhere.
Where else to watch Modern Family
The availability of Modern Family online has changed drastically over recent years. Until 2013, only ABC had the show. During that year, the company started to sell the rerun rights to the show. These went to USA Network, Fox, and a number of local stations in the USA.
USA Network has a TV viewing app for mobile devices, set-top boxes, and Xbox consoles. However, in order to watch, you will need to log in with your cable TV provider passkey.
It is possible to watch Modern Family through Hulu and YouTube TV – both subscription streaming services. iTunes and Vudu rent or sell the digital videos of the show. The service on Hulu is just a pass-through of ABC, so you won’t be able to access any more episodes than those available on the ABC website. You also won’t be able to access any videos through Hulu if you are outside the United States.
DIRECTV shows all seasons, including season 11, but not all of those are available to watch online at the DIRECTV website. Only those who have a home TV package with DIRECTV can access streaming videos at the service’s website.
In all cases, those streaming services in the USA that have Modern Family in their libraries, only allow the videos to play in browsers that are located in the USA. They will not respond to requests for Modern Family that arrive from outside the country.
Modern Family is shown by Sky One in the UK, Star World in India, Fox in Sweden, and yes Comedy in Israel. In Canada, Citytv has the rights to show the first ten seasons and also got the syndication distribution rights for Canada for the entire franchise. The company didn’t pick up the right to premier the final season of Modern Family in Canada, though. That went to Global.
Citytv has all of its episodes available on its website. However, viewers have to log in with their cable TV network identifier, so those who don’t have a cable TV package that includes Citytv are locked out. The website will also block access to Modern Family videos to anyone who is not located in Canada even if they can provide the necessary cable TV service proof.
The Global TV website only shows the last-aired episode of Modern Family and blocks access to anyone outside Canada. The video is free to watch, though, and doesn’t require a login.
Sky One is part of the Sky entertainment group, which is owned by Disney. The Sky channels can be watched online for free at Sky Go by those who already pay for a home Sky entertainment package. The Sky family also includes Now TV, which is exactly the same as Sky Go, but is paid for direct and is not linked to a home cable or satellite package.
Some advice sites on the web will tell you that Netflix shows Modern Family in some of its European libraries. However, I have checked this for myself and found that it isn’t true. Netflix doesn’t have the series anywhere.
Online video service, Lightbox in New Zealand has seasons one to ten available, and Fox8 has the right to broadcast Modern Family in Australia. Fox8 is a cable and satellite TV service and home subscribers get to access entertainment, including modern Family online through Foxtel Go. Those who don’t want a home entertainment system, but just want to watch Foxtel programming online can subscribe to Foxtel Now in order to watch Modern Family in Australia. Videos on Lightbox can’t be accessed from outside New Zealand and none of the Foxtel online services will deliver video streams to browsers outside of Australia.
How to stream Modern Family outside the United States with a VPN
While the series is still recent, it is very difficult to get access to Modern Family episodes without signing up for a home TV package or a paid streaming video service. The easiest way to get to watch Modern Family episodes online is to opt for the episodes available at ABC. Here’s how.
- Subscribe to a VPN provider with US servers (for example, ExpressVPN)
- Download and install the VPN client onto your devices
- Open the VPN client
- Connect to a server in the USA and start the VPN
- Go to the ABC website in your browser and look for the Modern Family page
- Click on an episode and watch the video
If you subscribe to a home TV package with online access or a video streaming service that includes Modern Family, you won’t be able to watch online when you go out of your home country unless you use a VPN and connect through a server in your country. In those cases, follow the instructions above, but select a VPN location in your country and surf to the website of your video streaming service instead of the ABC website.
Best VPNs for Modern Family
ExpressVPN
Our top pick!
- Always evades internet control in the PRC
- Keeps ahead of the Netflix VPN detection algorithm
- Benchmark tests show excellent speed
Surfshark
- Smart DNS service, understands the technology
- Comprehensive security add-on package.
- No data throughput limits and has a no-logs policy
NordVPN
- More US city locations than its rivals
- Includes malware protection
- No-logs policy
CyberGhost
- Precise locations
- Very large VPN server network
- Offers a 45-day money-back guarantee
IPVanish
- No limit on the number of devices you can connect at the same time
- SOCKS5 proxy, which its main rivals don’t have
- More VPN servers in more US cities to dodge blackouts