Modern Family “Pilot” (2009): Adoption on the Small Screen

007 | Modern Family “Pilot” (2009): Adoption on the Small Screen

 

For 11 seasons the Dunphys, the Delgado-Pritchetts, and the Tucker-Pritchetts influenced modern American families’ views on gender roles, inter-generational relationships, and transnational adoption. Listen in as podcast journalist Haley Radke, filmmaker Kristal Parke, and cultural critic Sullivan Summer break down the pilot episode of ABC’s Modern Family. Because the circle of life has to start somewhere.         

Modern Family was created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan. Its “Pilot” episode (September 23, 2009) was written by Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd, and directed by Jason Winer.  

This episode aired on January 21, 2026. In it we discussed and/or relied upon:

Home Improvement aired on ABC from 1991-1999.

Family Matters aired on ABC and CBS from 1989-1998. Its breakout star, Jaleel White, played both the dorky next door neighbor, Steve Urkel, and Steve’s stylish alter ego, Stefan.

Since recording this episode, Sullivan and Kristal have had occasion to discuss privately Haley’s unique contributions to this podcast, and we have come up with the following: (1) She’s very accurate. Whereas Sullivan and Kristal often misremember plot points or dialogue, Haley always gets them right. (2) Her facial expressions alone are worth watching on YouTube. (3) She is Adoption Pop!’s resident audio expert. We sound good because of Haley. (4) She has a decade-long record of devotion to the adoptee community. It is not an exaggeration to say this podcast, and many projects like it centering adoptee stories, would not exist without her.

According to Miriam-Webster dictionary, virtue signaling is “the act or practice of conspicuously displaying one’s awareness of and attentiveness to political issues, matters of social and racial justice, etc., especially instead of taking effective action.” Used in a sentence: The separating of children from their parents, extended biological family, community, country, and culture can often be avoided completely with monetary resources far below what it costs a person or couple to adopt; Mitchell’s claim that Lily “would have grown up in a crowded orphanage” if it not for he and Cam is mere virtue signaling.  

Miriam-Webster defines antecedent as “a preceding event, condition, or cause.” 

Operation Babylift was a US government plan to transport Vietnamese children out of the country during the final days of the Vietnam War. Critics claimed the program was fueled by politics and white saviorism. It is undisputed, however, that many of the children were not orphans. 

Marc Freeman, Modern Family: The Untold Oral History of One of Television’s Groundbreaking Sitcoms (St. Martin’s Press, 2020).

Reeshma Haji and Fabio Fasoli, “Predicting and Changing Attitudes towards Same-Gender Parenting: Informational Influence, Parasocial Contact, and Religious Fundamentalism,” LGBTQ+ Family: An Interdisciplinary Journal, Vol. 18, No. 2, 119-134 (2022). 

Kimberly McKee, Adoption Fantasies: The Fetishization of Asian Adoptees from Girlhood to Womanhood (Ohio State Press, 2023).

In Season 3 Episode 5 of Friends “The One with Frank Jr.” Ross’s list of five celebrities he would most like to sleep with, otherwise known as a “hall pass,” is laminated, indicating that it cannot be changed. Haley’s hall pass has Craig T. Nelson on it, and it’s laminated. We just know it. 

If it’s been a minute since you’ve seen the antecedent to Cam Tucker’s “Circle of Life” spotlight moment, you can check out the original source material here. 

The Adoption Pop! theme music is The Chase by Audiogreen.

We’d love to hear what you thought of this episode, and what you’d like for us to cover in the future. Find, follow, like, and subscribe to Adoption Pop! at our website, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts. 

Podcast journalist Haley Radke is at adopteeson.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. 

Filmmaker Kristal Parke is at kristalparke.net, on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. 

Cultural critical Sullivan Summer is at sullivansummer.com, on Instagram, and on Substack.