MODERN FAMILY IN FAMILY FEUD WITH ABC

Cast members of ABC’s Modern Family who have threatened to go on strike unless they receive substantial pay increases returned to work today (Thursday) after a one-day walk-out, trade reports said. Earlier this week key cast members, including Sofia Vergara, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell, filed a lawsuit seeking to have the courts invalidate their contracts on the grounds that they violated California law limiting employment contracts to seven years. Each of the actors reportedly earns about $65,000 per episode, Another star, Ed O’Neill, who earns around $100,000 joined the effort of his colleagues. The actors reportedly are borrowing a page from the cast of Friends, who also joined together to seek pay raises when their show became — as Modern Family is now — television’s biggest comedy hit.