'Modern Family's' Steve Levitan Says Early Emmy Sweep a 'Little Surreal'

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Modern Family co-creator Steve Levitan says he's "beyond thrilled" about Modern Family's early Emmys sweep. The show won the first four categories: supporting actress, actor, directing for a comedy series and writing for a comedy series.

"It's an embarrassment of riches. From the bottom of my heart, Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen deserved this, and I'm thrilled about their wins. Michael, not so much…" Levitan joked backstage to reporters, referring to Michael Alan Spiller beating him in the outstanding directing for a comedy series category. "I'm kidding."

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"It's a little surreal. We're gonna have fun tonight. I just hope we have a good ending, and we're really just so grateful to everybody who's been saying the nicest things about our show."

Levitan also joked they're "getting a label maker" to make sure the cast doesn't mix up their statuettes on set.

So what's up for the next season?

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"We're dealing with a few different issues, following a few threads this season… Cam and Mitch's quest to adopt a baby," Levitan told THR. "Claire is taking on a political interest, that's the storyline involving David Cross. "Otherwise, [Mitch and Cam's daughter] Lilly talks now. We love her. She is fantastic, and adding a whole new dimension… those kids keep getting better and better."

Levitan also said there's "such dedication about everybody keeping the quality up. We all fear the quality dipping, so we work extra hard and if we feel a scene doesn't quite work, we never settle. We still stay late. We will do whatever it takes to rewrite that and rework that."