“Greatest moment ever.”

Modern Family stars Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet reveal the on-set gaffe they still laugh about

"Greatest moment ever."

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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January 21, 2026 11:50 p.m. ET

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'Modern Family' stars Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet. Credit:

Peter "Hopper" Stone/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

*Modern Family* made America laugh for over a decade. But there was a whole other comedy occurring behind the scenes.

Stars Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet, who played married couple Mitchell Pritchett and Cameron Tucker on all 11 seasons of the sitcom, recently reunited for a conversation on the Jan. 13 episode of Ferguson's Dinner's on Me podcast. They regaled each other with hilarious stories from the set of the ABC series, but agreed that one behind-the-scenes moment took the title of "greatest moment ever."

"I always think about, when you're talking about being in the makeup trailer and putting the Fizbo makeup on," Ferguson said, referring to Stonestreet's character's clown alter ego, "that time in the makeup trailer, and just like having time with the cast..."

Stonestreet cut in on the reminiscence to add, "Craft service, Jeff Greenberg walking into the glass that day. It's the greatest moment ever."

Jeff Greenberg in Los Angeles in 2016.

David Livingston/Getty

Ferguson dissolved into giggles as the memory came back. "I can't believe that happened," he exclaimed. "He just walked right toward us," Stonestreet joked.

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Ferguson then explained the forces that had to converge to lead the series' casting director, Jeff Greenberg, to walk directly into a glass wall in front of the whole cast and crew.

"Normally on set, the craft service area is like a table in the corner. Because we were a 'hit,'" Ferguson shared, "they built this tiny little glass box in the middle of the stage. It was like a little kitchen and that's where they put all the food, and they had the coffee machine."**

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One day the whole cast was inside the glass box having breakfast, when as Ferguson recalled, the show's "brilliant casting director came strutting across the way, walking towards us, and face planted into the glass."

Then Stonestreet erupted in laughter, adding, "And we watched it coming from a mile away, and didn't do anything about it!" The actor behind the Emmy-winning Cameron Tucker noted that when Greenberg walked away, "his face print was still on the glass. So we blue taped his face print, and it just lived in memoriam for months.

The pair agreed that, as Stonestreet put it, "No better person could have walked into that glass in that moment than Jeff."

*Modern Family*'s convivial and humorous behind-the-scenes atmosphere clearly bled over into the frame, as the sitcom enjoyed tremendous success across its series run, racking up 22 Emmy awards, including two Primetime Emmys for Stonestreet and one Creative Arts Emmy for Greenberg.

You can listen to the rest of Stonestreet's interview on *Dinner's On Me *above.

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