Next up on ABC’s hit rookie comedy Modern Family is the December 9 episode “Undeck the Halls.”

The installment features guest star Fred Willard (series regular Ty Burrell’s former fellow cast member on Back to You) as Phil’s father, and as the title clearly indicates, it’s not exactly full of holiday cheer.

That time of the year is upon us, namely the spring upfront season, which is when viewers learn the fates of their favorite shows on the bubble. The industry-speak phrase refers to those series that network executives haven’t yet decided what to do with: cancel, renew, or downsize to a midseason replacement. The last two options are obviously better than the first.
Fox has spoken regarding a couple of its shows on the cusp or brink or edge or whatever — the sitcoms ‘Til Death and its broadcast companion Back to You. Shockingly (at least in my head), …read more

Back to You’s May 7 episode, The New Boss, guest stars Suzy Nakamura (Help Me Help You) as the new woman in charge at WURG.
Of course, to everyone’s great dismay, she swoops in and starts changing stuff. Unfortunately for Team Ambush, Chuck and Kelly, she’s also more than a little savvy, which allows her to successfully derail their ambush … to their disadvantage.
This episode sounds like it’s going to be a step in the right direction, finally taking viewers away from all of that self-involved angst over revealing to Gracie that Chuck is her father. That’s gotten old, …read more

Original Air Date: April 30, 2008
Picking up right where the last episode left off, KELLY wakes up from her faint, and she and CHUCK clarify for Gracie that the two of them conceived her the “old-fashioned way.” When Chuck admits to GRACIE that he didn’t tell her he was her father because he didn’t know himself, Gracie gets angry that her mother lied to her, and then she runs upstairs.
As Chuck and Kelly repair Gracie’s science project, which was broken when Chuck fainted on it, they reminisce about how they hooked up that one time in the first place.
It …read more

Original Air Date: April 16, 2008
There are lots of changes on Back to You post-hiatus. The first thing we notice during this episode is that the actress who plays Chuck and Kelly’s daughter Gracie has changed. She’s no longer Laura Marano, formerly of Without a Trace, but a newcomer named Lily Jackson. The network still lists Marano as the actress for Gracie in print material, yet Jackson’s name appears in the opening credits now, making it unclear if this is a permanent or temporary situation.
Another change introduced with this episode is that Ayda Field, who played weatherwoman …read more

Back at the end of February, the freshman Fox sitcom Back to You returned to the tube with two new episodes — “Cradle to Grave” and “Business or Pleasure” — after a three-month drought of fresh installments.
The series is coming back again tonight with “The Wall of Fame,” this time for an extended run to complete the interrupted rookie season.
Before the latest episode premieres, I’d like to share a few responses to intriguing questions asked of series star Fred Willard during a group interview before the February episodes aired.
Willard, who plays up-front but lovable sports anchor Marsh McGinley on Back …read more

The April 23 episode of Back to You, “Hug & Tell,” will pack an extra shot of star power due to the guest appearance of entertainment pioneer Diahann Carroll.
Carroll is an icon for so many reasons besides her obvious beauty, talent, and good deeds. She’s the first black actress to star in her own television series in an untraditional non-servant role (the 1968–1971 sitcom Julia, on which she played a nurse), the first black woman to win a Tony Award for Best Actress (the 1962 musical No Strings), and one of only seven black actresses ever nominated for a …read more

Fox newbie Back to You returns from writers strike-induced hiatus on April 16 with the festive episode “The Wall of Fame.”
Crotchety sports reporter Marsh plans a big surprise for his colleague Chuck that leads to a troubling discovery for Chuck and Kelly. Of course, the two, ever concerned about appearances, then go to great lengths to make sure that nobody else finds out what they just found out. I’d bet money they won’t succeed either.
Back to You airs Wednesdays on Fox at 8:30pm EST.

Source: Carin Baer/FOX

Original Air Date: February 27, 2008
While the Channel Nine news team is out to dinner at a nice restaurant, Channel Eight News’ charismatic new anchorman CRAIG ST. CLAIRE (Guest Star Coby Ryan McLaughlin) comes over to introduce himself and make small talk. This is a big deal because the newsman is the hottest new personality in town — everyone’s discussing how good-looking he is.
Not surprisingly, MONTANA flirts with Craig relentlessly, but he seems most interested in KELLY. She offers to give him some insider local tips because he’s not from Pittsburgh, and he agrees and asks her out …read more

Original Air Date: February 26, 2008
After CHUCK and KELLY close the news broadcast with the development that former anchor Ed Coleman has died, Kelly reveals she was asked to deliver the eulogy at his funeral, although she didn’t like him because he was so mean to her. GARY is stunned because, according to him, he knew the man better than anyone else at the station. Chuck, on the other hand, informs his colleagues he’s not even going to the funeral since he decided at nine years old that there were certain things he wouldn’t do anymore, and funerals …read more