About
"Get in the business with great actors who are brilliantly funny and they'll save you. You'll write brilliant scripts, hopefully most of the time, but occasionally you won't and they'll make them seem brilliant."
In his three-hour interview, Steve Levitan describes his early interest in creative writing. He talks of his multiple internships in radio and television, and discusses working in television news for several years. He recalls his switch to advertising, working for the Leo Burnett agency in Chicago, and explains his desire to attempt to write for sitcoms. Levitan then outlines getting his big break and talks of his first job in the business -- writing for Wings. He shares why he left Wings, how he came to work for The Larry Sanders Show, and how he became a writer on Frasier. He speaks of writing several episodes of The Critic, developing Just Shoot Me!, and working on Greg the Bunny, Stark Raving Mad, and Stacked. He then details co-creating Modern Family and starting Picture Day Productions with Christopher Lloyd. Levitan describes selecting the format of the show, chronicles the casting process, and touches on pitching the program to several networks. Karen Herman conducted the interview on June 15, 2012 at Fox studios in Los Angeles, CA.
Highlights
Steve Levitan on Ty Burrell as "Phil Dunphy" on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on working with child actors
Steve Levitan on winning multiple Emmys for Modern Family
Steve Levitan on casting Laura San Giacomo in Just Shoot Me!
Steve Levitan on pitching a script for Wings to David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee (creators of the show) and being asked to become a staff writer
Full Interview
Chapter 1
On his early years and influences; on his interest in creative writing; on not being afraid of failure
On being drawn to performing and writing in high school; on attending the University of Wisconsin at Madison and doing local radio and TV internships
On working for ABC News in Madison right after college; on aspects of working in news that he did and didn't like
On moving back to Chicago and working for Leo Burnett advertising; on the moment he considered writing for sitcoms, and making the connections that got him a job in the industry
On his first writing job for Wings; on the writers' room at Wings and almost not getting asked back for season two
Chapter 2
On writing two episodes for the animated series The Critic; on leaving Wings and writing for The Larry Sanders Show; on working on The Larry Sanders Show, feeling like he didn't know the show, and being asked to leave
On getting hired on Frasier; on what he learned from working on the show
On developing Just Shoot Me! and casting the show; on his favorite episodes of Just Shoot Me ! - including "Slow Donnie", and the finale of the show
On working on Stark Raving Mad and Greg the Bunny
On Stacked with Pamela Anderson
Chapter 3
On why he started Picture Day Productions with Christopher Lloyd
On co-creating Back to You (starring Kelsey Grammer) with Christopher Lloyd; on realizing he no longer wanted to do multi-camera shows
On co-creating Modern Family with Christopher Lloyd; on selecting the format and structure for the show
On the actors he originally had in mind for Modern Family; on pitching and casting the show
On winning Emmys for Modern Family; on then-upcoming storylines on Modern Family
Shows
Critic, The
Steve Levitan on writing two episodes for the animated series The Critic
Emmy Awards, The (Primetime and Daytime)
Steve Levitan on winning multiple Emmys for Modern Family
Frasier
Steve Levitan on wanting to leave Wings to work on the other David Lee/Peter Casey/David Angell show Frasier
Steve Levitan on getting hired on Frasier by Christopher Lloyd
Steve Levitan on the most important thing he learned while working on Frasier
Steve Levitan on working with Kelsey Grammer on Frasier
Just Shoot Me!
Steve Levitan on developing the premise for Just Shoot Me !
Steve Levitan on running his own show for the first time - Just Shoot Me !
Steve Levitan on working with NBC on Just Shoot Me !
Steve Levitan on his favorite episodes of Just Shoot Me ! - including "Slow Donnie"
Steve Levitan on the finale of Just Shoot Me ! and regretting leaving the day-to-day operations of the show after two-and-a-half years
Steve Levitan on the finale of Just Shoot Me ! and the show having several different timeslots over the years
Larry Sanders Show, The
Steve Levitan on turning down working on Frasier and taking a job writing for The Larry Sanders Show
Steve Levitan on getting hired to write for The Larry Sanders Show and suddenly becoming showrunner
Steve Levitan on working on The Larry Sanders Show, feeling like he didn't know the show, and being asked to leave
Modern Family
Steve Levitan on writing a pilot that would become true to life when Modern Family went on the air
Steve Levitan on how he and Christopher Lloyd co-created Modern Family
Steve Levitan on selecting the format and structure for Modern Family
Steve Levitan on the actors he originally had in mind for Modern Family
Steve Levitan on pitching Modern Family and deciding to go with ABC
Steve Levitan on pitching Modern Family and deciding to go with ABC
Steve Levitan on the characters and the actors who portray them on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on using storylines taken from his real life on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on casting Ariel Winter and Nolan Gould on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on winning multiple Emmys for Modern Family
Steve Levitan on then-upcoming storylines on Modern Family
Wings
Steve Levitan on how he got his first writing job at Wings
Steve Levitan on what happened to his initial story idea for a script at Wings
Steve Levitan on the writers' room at Wings and almost not getting asked back for season two
Steve Levitan on his increased role at Wings and leaving after four years
Wonder Years, The
Steve Levitan on writing a spec script for The Wonder Years and making the connections that got him a job in the industry
Topics
Characters & Catchphrases
Steve Levitan on Ed O'Neill as "Jay Pritchett" on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on Sofia Vergara as "Gloria Delgado-Pritchett" on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on Julie Bowen as "Claire Dunphy" on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on Ty Burrell as "Phil Dunphy" on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on Jesse Tyler Ferguson as "Mitchell Pritchett" on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on Eric Stonestreet as "Cameron Tucker" on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on Rico Rodriguez as "Manny Delgado" on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on Sarah Hyland as "Haley Dunphy" on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on Ariel Winter as "Alex Dunphy" on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on Nolan Gould as "Luke Dunphy" on Modern Family
Emmy Awards
Steve Levitan on winning multiple Emmys for Modern Family
LGBTQIA+
Steve Levitan on wanting to have a gay couple raising a child as one of the central families on Modern Family
Memorable Moments on Television
Steve Levitan on his favorite episodes of Just Shoot Me ! - including "Slow Donnie"
Pop Culture
Steve Levitan on Ed O'Neill as "Jay Pritchett" on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on Sofia Vergara as "Gloria Delgado-Pritchett" on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on Julie Bowen as "Claire Dunphy" on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on Ty Burrell as "Phil Dunphy" on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on Jesse Tyler Ferguson as "Mitchell Pritchett" on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on Eric Stonestreet as "Cameron Tucker" on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on Rico Rodriguez as "Manny Delgado" on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on Sarah Hyland as "Haley Dunphy" on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on Ariel Winter as "Alex Dunphy" on Modern Family
Steve Levitan on Nolan Gould as "Luke Dunphy" on Modern Family
Representation on Television
Steve Levitan on wanting to have a gay couple raising a child as one of the central families on Modern Family
Professions
Writers
Steve Levitan on the moment he considered writing for sitcoms, and making the connections that got him a job in the industry
Steve Levitan on the writers' room at Wings
Genres
Comedy Series
Steve Levitan on the writers' room at Wings and almost not getting asked back for season two
Steve Levitan on developing the premise of, casting, and running Just Shoot Me !
Steve Levitan on co-creating and casting Modern Family
Steve Levitan on winning multiple Emmys for Modern Family and on then-upcoming storylines on the show
People
Christopher Lloyd (actor)
Steve Levitan on why he started Picture Day Productions with Christopher Lloyd
Steve Levitan on co-creating Back to You (starring Kelsey Grammer) with Christopher Lloyd
David Angell
Steve Levitan on pitching a script for Wings to David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee (creators of the show) and being asked to become a staff writer
Julie Bowen
Steve Levitan on Julie Bowen as "Claire Dunphy" on Modern Family
Ty Burrell
Steve Levitan on Ty Burrell as "Phil Dunphy" on Modern Family
Peter Casey
Steve Levitan on pitching a script for Wings to David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee (creators of the show) and being asked to become a staff writer
Michael Dinner
Steve Levitan on writing a spec script for The Wonder Years and making the connections that got him a job in the industry
Kelsey Grammer
Steve Levitan on working with Kelsey Grammer on Frasier
Steve Levitan on working on Stark Raving Mad and Kelsey Grammer being the inspiration for the show
Steve Levitan on co-creating Back to You (starring Kelsey Grammer) with Christopher Lloyd
Brad Grey
Steve Levitan on the events that led to a meeting with Brad Grey and hearing that Garry Shandling had lost faith in Levitan
David Lee
Steve Levitan on pitching a script for Wings to David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee (creators of the show) and being asked to become a staff writer
Warren Littlefield
Steve Levitan on Warren Littlefield's support of Just Shoot Me! only after the pilot aired with great ratings
Ed O'Neill
Steve Levitan on Ed O'Neill as "Jay Pritchett" on Modern Family
Tony Shalhoub
Steve Levitan on being asked to remove Tony Shalhoub as the lead in Stark Raving Mad
Garry Shandling
Steve Levitan on working with Garry Shandling on The Larry Sanders Show
David Spade
Steve Levitan on casting David Spade in Just Shoot Me!
Sofia Vergara
Steve Levitan on Sofia Vergara as "Gloria Delgado-Pritchett" on Modern Family