'Modern Family' Cast Seeking New Deals

Situations like these, when a cast bargains collectively, have gotten dodgy before. Here's hoping that history is no sure indicator.

With "Modern Family" racking up 14 more Emmy nominations this past Thursday, the primary cast has summoned Disney-ABC to the bargaining table, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Adult leads Ed O'Neill, Tyler Ferguson, Ty Burrell, Julie Bowen, Sofia Vergara and Eric Stonestreet - between them, accounting for six of those 14 nods in individual categories - have threatened to skip a scheduled Tuesday table read for the coming season if ABC doesn't agree to discuss new contracts.

None of the six have new contracts with 20th Century Fox locking them into the hit ensemble comedy's fourth season. THR speculates the six will negotiate deals together, as once did NBC's "Friends" cast.

Recall also that when those negotiations went down, speculations ran rampant that the landmark sitcom might not have been much longer for the network's "Must-See TV" lineup.

Though it's worth noting that TV veteran O'Neill made a reported sum just over $100,000 per episode last season, the other five could push for upward of $200,000 per episode plus backend money and guaranteed raises in future seasons. The five other than O'Neill currently make something in the $65,000 per episode neighborhood. According to THR, two sources have backed the no-show rumor, while a third has claimed the cast will attend the read regardless.

Cast representatives are rumored to be scheduled for a meeting with 20th Century Fox executives Dana Walden and Gary Newman on Monday. Neither 20th Century Fox nor cast representatives addressed THR's requests for comment.