Dinner’s on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson - Wendi McLendon-Covey – on her office job & why her parents hated ‘Reno 911!’

Episode Date: March 3, 2026

'St. Denis Medical’ star Wendi McLendon-Covey joins the show. Over pepperoni pizza, Wendi tells me about getting paid pennies for her iconic role on ‘Reno 911,’ the office job she lowkey juggled with acting until booking ‘The Goldbergs,’ and how her husband never gave up on her – even when she almost gave up on herself. This episode was recorded at De La Nonna’s in Downtown L.A.’s Arts District.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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slash podcast. Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Dinner's on me. Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring? Do it the right way with Indeed. Hey, it's Jesse. Today on the show, you know her from Reno 911, the Goldbergs. She's currently on St. Dennis Medical. It's Wendy, Mick Linden, coffee. I think you are very different from these like women that you play, which is really impressive because I was convinced you were... An old whore. Exactly. I was convinced you were an old whore. This is Dinner's On Me and I'm your host, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. All right, today we are at De La Nona in downtown L.A.'s Arts District. I am so excited to try this place. It is a perfect place to bring my friend Wendy because it sort of has this vibe like a family dinner.

Like I think big string lights in the backyard. You're known up pulling a fresh Sicilian pie out of the oven, telling you to grab a slice before it disappears. Wendy is known for her matriarchal role on the Goldbergs, the hilarious Beverly. She's currently playing Joyce on St. Dennis Medical. Her characters are known to be funny, familiar, human, kind of like, you know, a family member.

at a dinner party, someone that you love and also slightly fear. So I'm excited to see Wendy. I haven't seen her in a while. And let's go ahead and get to the conversation. Feel free to get a glass of wine if you want. Oh, no, no, no. Do you have to work today? I have to have another lunch after this.

No. You can eat light. You can eat light. I might just get a cappuccino. Okay. Yeah. Wait, but you're not, are you in production right now? No.

Okay. No. We just finished in November, our season that's airing now. Yeah. And we just got picked up for a third season. I saw on Instagram. Like two days ago. That's so exciting.

But when will we go back? Probably July or August. Okay. Wait, how are you so lucky that you keep getting these sitcoms that are like the cushiest, most fantastic schedules in the world? I don't know. I'm so envious of you. My schedule for the other one was not great.

For the Goldbergs. Yes, that was grueling. You worked during hours. That was grueling. Yeah. Did we work on the same lot? No, we were on Sony. Okay.

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I know we were like on a comedy block together. Yes. Yeah. We were. And that's right.

We were both on NBC. ABC. ABC. Yeah. ABC. Yeah. ABC. What a great time.

Yeah. But yes, we were doing that together, but you were across town. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. And when you did the guest spot on our show on Modern Family with Michaela Walkins, you hadn't started the Goldberg yet?

That was pre-Goldberg. Pre-Goldberg, yeah. Yeah. I know I was so excited when you came on because I am and continue to be such a massive Reno 911 fan. Oh, my God. Huge. I did not know that.

Oh, my God. Did I not tell you that when you came on? I mean, I, like, massive. Really? In fact, yeah. I'm going to try that espresso situation. Yeah. Yeah.

And I'm also, water. Perfect. I'm good. Could I get just a vanilla latte? You don't have flavor? Oh. Like a latte. Yes, that'd be fine.

Perfect. Hot or cold? Hot, please. Yeah. I'll be around there. Perfect. And whole milk already? Yeah, perfect.

Thank you. No, massive. fan. In fact, when I I met Nisi Nash before I met you because I had done a sitcom with her called Do Not Disturb that Abraham Higginbotham, who was a writer on Modern Family, he

was the creator of. Was that on Fox? It was on Fox. I remember it. It was like three episodes. These are some deep cuts. I know. I know. Wow. I know. And I met I met Nisi. Back when she was still like wearing the flower and her hair.

And what I was so excited to meet her, but she for me was exactly how I imagined her to be from what I saw her on TV as. Like I was like, she parlayed right into like the version of her that I thought. Right. When I met you, I would, you were completely different to me. You were completely different. And now, I mean, I don't know you super well, but like, I've, having now seen you, like,

outside of your characters that you play, I think it, you are very different from these, like, women that you play, which is. Really impressive because I was convinced you were... An old whore. Exactly. I was convinced you were an old whore. Some crusty old broad that drives an IROC. Right.

Well, thank you. Thank you for saying that. That was a fun show, and I'm bummed now that I know you were a fan that we didn't get you in... When we resurrected it. This is what I was going to say next, is because... I know a lot of people who like work in Groundlings or Second City, their dream is to like maybe be on SNL or something. For me, my dream is always to be a guest on Reno 911.

I know. I am. This is killing my soul that we cannot make this happen. Well, maybe you'll resurrect it again. Who knows? That little thing just keeps popping up. Because it, I mean, you had, that had Reno 911, the first iteration of it, I think you did five seasons of it, right?

Yeah, I did five, they did six. And then it was gone for like a decade, right? Like 13, 15. Yeah. It went away. And then it came back for like a special run. For Quibi. For Quibi.

That's right. Quibby. Yeah. And they were just, talk about a moment. It literally was a moment. Like four months that it lasted. And I remember being on a moment. set when they told us, oh,

Quibi just folded. But we were still filming, so we just kept going. But not knowing where this was going to. Thinking, well, someone will pick up these episodes, and they did. Where did it end up? Instagram.

Roco. Roku. Roku. Is that right? Roku. Is that right? Roku. I think Roku took all the extra ones, and then we squeezed out two movies during that time, too. So if this ever comes back, You, I'm 100% advocating.

That's in my contract. Like, I shan't be back. Unless Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Anything. Shows up doing whatever the hell character he wants. Because I know you've thought about it. Oh. What would you want to do?

You got to drink from away. You came at the right time because I have to think about something that wouldn't just ask me. Perfect. Um, okay. We just not eating. She has another one. What you would go to? I'm eating.

He's eating. I'm legit. just having a cabuccina. Okay. It's okay. This is the first time this has ever happened and it's going to be a thing

that we're embracing. I have to eat several more times too. Several more time. Okay, I'm going to, I have been craving pepperoni pizza for a very long time. So I am going to do the pepperoni. Do you want to do any ranch or spicy ice?

Yes, I do. Both of them? Yes, absolutely ranch. Cool, cool. And could I also get a Caesar salad? Yes. So. Awesome.

Perfect. I'll be right back, guys. What would I want to do on Reno 911? Would you want to be a perp or a victim, first of all? I want to be a perp. Okay, okay. No, maybe, oh gosh, that's a great question. Is that, like, kind of the two categories? I mean, those are great jumping off points, but you could also be a witness.

That would be fun. Yeah. That would be fun. Like, what weird thing did you see and not get involved in? Right, right, right, right, right, right. You know? Who was the actor? Was it John Early?

Was John Early on the show? There was someone on roller skates. It was, like, constantly tweaked out. Terry, that was Nick Swarston. That's right. Yes, yes. I was obsessed with that character. Tweaked out on roller skates, like always with like a lollipop in their mouth.

Yeah. You know, he came onto the Goldbergs once, and he was selling fake cabbage patch kids out of the trunk of his car. It doesn't he came up with? No, they came up with it for him, but it was so funny because all I kept, I'm just looking at him thinking of him in shorts. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. And he's selling these fake cabbage patch kids called lettuce crop child. That's really funny.

It was funny. Lettice crop child. Oh, my God, I love that. But so, yeah, I... No, if it ever comes back, I'm 100% throwing myself in the situation. You have to. And you would be funny as a witness that saw everything, maybe threw a little fuel on the fire to keep it gullas.

Yeah. And you're gonna dine out on this story for the rest of your life. Yes, yes. You know? My God, I love that. I love that. Okay, we're making this happen. My favorite scene, and this is not unusual, it's like many people's favorite snippet of,

Reno 911, and it shows up all the time on like TikTok and Instagram, is you pulling over the drunk driver and making him do, it starts off with just like doing some steps, and then you start doing choreography. doing choreography. Right, right. And it has shown up. People have thought it was real. Yes, and they still send it to me saying, have you seen this? This should be a scene on Reno 911.

Yes, I've seen it. I have seen it many, many times. And yeah, I am scared that people, not enough people know that it's fake. Yeah. I don't know. Very interesting that you said that one and not the one where Clemmy was baptized with nothing under her robe.

Oh, that's also a classic. But that's also a classic. What was the... Was there an audition process for that show? There was. And for my audition, it was way different than the others because they had done the thing for Fox. Okay.

It sat around for two years, And the rights reverted back to them. Okay. And they could shop it around again. So by that time, they needed one other person. That's where I came in. But it was the weirdest audition in the world because, first of all, I was so frustrated with the business. I was ready to just throw my head shots in the ocean and say goodbye.

But I thought, no, I'll go to this damn thing. I won't get it. But I'll just go. Whatever. Someone saw me in a show and said, you. I said you should know at the groundlings. Of the ground Cia. And called me in.

So I should just go because that's nice of them to do that. And the walls were very thin. So I could hear everything that everybody was doing. Yeah. For the audience at home watching this, that is not ideal necessarily to be able to hear what's going on with everyone. But since it was improv, I thought, okay, well, this is good because now I know what not to do. Because that's not funny.

Yeah. And they wanted like a sexy cop. I don't I can't play that but I can play someone who thinks she's sexy so that's what I'm gonna do That to me is funnier really so I went in and I just Did my thing. It seemed to work out. They called me back But when I watched the original pilot I thought oh This sucks like this isn't that funny really and the girl that I was replacing

Hardly did anything so I thought oh Is that all I get to do right? Right. I Now for a quick break, but don't go away. When we come back, Wendy tells me about how she made Inns meet while Reno 911 was first taking off. And I tell Wendy an embarrassing story involving pimple patches. Okay, be right back. Okay, be honest. You know that thing you've been saying you're going to do for years?

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No money. Because it was cable. It was cable. It was basic cable And it was like This thing? This little arts and crabs bullshit thing? Yeah. Oh, sorry.

Can I swear? We embrace all of it. Good. I had an office job Until I got the Goldbergs. People are like, oh my God. You must be rolling in it. No.

You needed the office job. I needed the office job to support this little this little show. I'm on. I'm not making any money. And it's never been off the air. That's the thing. Is there, is there a syndication deal or anything? No. Again, no one knew what it was. And basic cable was still kind of new. And yeah, we just got screwed. Yeah, it was the wrong time. The wrong time. Now, no one knew what it was going to be. No one knew that it would not be off the air in 25 years.

So when it came back, the negotiations went a little differently. I was going to say when it happened again, I'm sure. You're like, we got to make up for some lost time people. Exactly. Yeah. That's a poor gift in the kitchen. Thank you. Oh, my goodness.

Barada with blood orange. Oh, my garb. Enjoy it. Oh, that looks delicious. Okay, I might have a little bit of that. Right. I mean, I was, I do think that, and just because I'm such a consumer of things. and I love watching television and specifically comedy.

Like, I don't know what I would do if I didn't have shows like Reno 911 to watch when I was a kid. Like, they gave me, they inspired me so much. But also, like, we watched them now and they, they, they're such a comfort for me. And at a time, at a time when, like, it's so important for me to be comforted because there's so much noise. You know, and that's. Kind of what I want to put out there are these comfort shows that you can tuck into at any time and they will make you feel better. Like at our house, the Golden Girls is on all the time. All the time.

King of the Hill. Seinfeld. It's always on. Yeah. Because they always take you to that good place of feeling like, all right, everything's going to be okay. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, especially right now when, listen, I love social.

media, but it is killing us. It's rotting our souls. Yeah. All right? Yeah. It is rotting our souls. I was on my Instagram the other day and I was like, why am I still looking at this? I was like, this is bad. And then I saw something else that drew me in. And I stayed on social media for another 15 minutes. It's terrible. And at the end of the week, does your phone give you the thing about, oh, this is how long you've been on? This is your average for the day. I throw my phone across the room when I see that alert come on. Oh, I'm ashamed. Don't tell me. I'm ashamed. Don't tell me. I'm ashamed. Yeah. It's bad.

I know. But all that to say. Modern family sure does make a lot of people happy and it's in syndication. It is on every day of the week. No, no, I know. And we love that. We love that very much. And it's so funny, I, you know, one of the perks of being someone who people have enjoyed on television is like you'll be out at a restaurant.

It's something like this will happen. Food will be brought out to you, compliments of the chef for whatever. And I was sitting with a friend of mine who, who. who, you know, has just, it doesn't have an accident job. It's not part of the entertainment business. And, um, and was like,

I mean, you could afford to buy all these things. Like, it's just crazy that, like, someone who can afford these things is having things brought to them. And,

and I was like, I was like, well, I'm sorry. I gave joy to America for 11 years. I was like, I'm going to accept the free bread

that was brought out. But yes, I think it is crazy that like, you know. It's so sweet. Yeah, it is sweet. But you don't expect it. Exactly.

You don't expect it. Exactly. You gave and you gave and you gave for 11 years. You had nothing left. And I have seen people that I've admired in restaurants, and I have sent things to their table because I don't want to bother them. Right. And but I do want it to like, be like, you know,

I want them to know that their work meant something to me. That's classy. And it always comes off, like, it goes over great. It goes over great. That is so chic and class. I love that you do that. Yeah, I try. I should eat other places than El Pollo Loco,

and maybe I would see someone that I love. I would buy you a taco at El Pollo Loco. I would. Has anyone ever come up to you, and, I mean, most of the time, fans are very sweet, but has anyone come up to you and said something really out of pocket? Yeah. The thing I've gotten a lot is, like, oh, you look so much better in person.

Which I know in the moment They're like, you look Like they're shocked That you look so good in person And I was like Well, I'm glad today That you think I looked out But like I also have been

Working on television for 11 years So all those years You think I look like shit on TV What is wrong with people? What is wrong with people? Have you gotten anything crazy? Yeah, things like that Yeah, I'm about your parents are like, God

You're not as fat as I thought you'd be Oh, Jesus, cool. Christ. Like, I don't even have a comeback. I still can't think of a comeback for that. No, but that face, holding that face for 30 seconds seems like it says it all. Okay. Thanks. Oh. And if someone wants a picture, I always say yes and I shouldn't. Because now there's some ugly pictures of me floating around where my mustache is clearly visible. Or, you know.

Like when I'm running errands, I'm running errands and nothing stops me. Did I spill my El Pollo logo down the front of me? Doesn't matter. I'm going. I got stuff to do. Yeah. And I'm stupid because my voice gives me away. There.

And then, oh, can I take a picture? I always say yes. But then I look like an unmade bed, always. Whatever. It is what it is. Have you ever seen those patches? Yes. So I embrace them.

Okay. I was wearing a few in my face one day. I forgot I had them on. Went out into the world. Had a full day. Oh, God. Met people. Took pictures with people.

I had this a lovely conversation with a woman at the grocery store. It was like, my son came out, and we talked about modern family. Like, that showman. Like, like, moment. I had moments with people. I get home around 4 p.m. that day. And Jessica goes, what's in her face? I was like, no.

I knew exactly what it was the minute he said it. Looked at myself in the mirror. I had, let me tell you, they weren't just like the stars, the star patches. Yeah. They were a special brand. I don't know where I got this from, but they were Sesame Street characters. No, hold on. Hold on, hold on.

You, okay. So this whole time. You know, a cookie monster, a big bird. Oh my God. Okay, so this whole time, I'm thinking you're just wearing the sheer ones that. No, no. That blend in, sort of, but you can still see them. No.

You had, like, characters. on your feet. I had characters. Bless your heart. But what I'm shocked at is that no one I ran into is like, no one even like, I mean, maybe they were. You know what, though? A lot of people, I do see a lot of people just wearing them around. So maybe it's socially acceptable now. Yeah, no, all the time.

Oh. I mean, not, it wasn't ideal. Oh, my God. Yeah. Now let's take a quick break, but don't go away. When we return, Wendy opens up about the long road it took for her parents to truly understand her comedy career. And then we dive into her news show, the NBC sitcom, St. Dennis Medical. Okay, be right back.

Ali and Tom, and we're getting married. After finding love on Love Island, we are now navigating real life and wedding planning. On Nearly Wedds, we share the honest highs, lows and the chaos of getting hitched. From budgets to guest lists, to family dramas and the things no one. prepares you for. We'll have new episodes every Tuesday, so make sure to subscribe to Nellyweds on YouTube. And listen wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back with more dinners on me. Okay, at the tender age of 17, I lived with my parents until I got married, so you moved out to New York. New York. I mean, a big part of it was I was so desperate to

get out of New Mexico. Yeah. I didn't have an easy time growing up, so I was like, I want to go. like, first of all, I love Broadway. Yeah. Ooh, look at that. I like that you're invested in, like, enjoying the, you know, the presentation. That is... That is... That is...

Could I get another one of the ears, please? Thank you. That looks like a cheesy pillow. Yeah. That is beautiful. He wasn't lying. I want to take a centerpiece. You're going to...

I have a... no qualms about eating in front of you. Do it. Yeah. I know you've talked about, and I certainly relate to it a little bit. I mean, I had a big break at age 21, and then I had nothing for a while. And, you know, I know you've talked a lot about just the grind and like, how long am I going to do this before I call it quits?

Uh-huh. Because you're, it's still astonishing, because I consider Reno 911 to be a very big deal. And I guess that could be considered your big break. But at the same time, like we're just talking about, you were not making any money off of it. You're probably shooting for a very little about a very few weeks during a year. And then like just months and months of like what next, what next. Yeah. I kind of can't believe that the Goldberg was like your first like big.

I mean, I know you did other things, but like that was your first like, regular. steady job. Yeah. Yeah. And again, I did other things. I made a lot of movies, most of them terrible. Yeah. I'd done other series.

But I never felt like, well, the thing is, is that no one breaks it down for you the financial part of it. Like, if they say you're getting $10,000 for something, might as well chop that in half immediately. You're not keeping 10,000. You're maybe keeping 4,000 once you pay everybody out and pay your taxes. So with that in mind, it's like I really worry when I see people that get one big job and then they buy a house or they buy a ridiculous car or something. Because I think, oh, honey, you just screwed the pooch.

You're not going to work enough to keep that going at that level. Or I hope you do, but you're probably not. Yeah. It's not always going to come in like this. So luckily, you know, I had my little job. Greg had his work and it was fine, but yeah. Did Greg, like, was he, I imagine at times probably like supporting both of you. Yeah.

You know, in those lean months. And that is why Greg got to retire at 45 and now he does not have to do anything he doesn't want to do. because he carried it for so long. And then it's like, I got you. I mean, that must mean so much that he had that. Did he ever? He was the only one who believed in me. Like, for real.

For real. Your parents, were they supportive? No, they thought it was so weird. Yeah. They were so embarrassed. Well, now they're fine with it. Now it's like, okay, you're not crazy. Clearly we were wrong.

You were right. Yeah. But, you know, I don't. I don't want to get, I don't want to whinge about them too much because look I did something that was outside of everybody's comfort zone

of course they had no road roadmap for this they just didn't want to be supporting me forever which is valid right you know but they could not understand a way forward because they'd never seen it it was just outside of their realm of experience so they thought

oh you know you'll have maybe three kids and wouldn't a stewardess job be good for you and that's what it was back then it was stewardess it wasn't flight attendant so wouldn't that be nice for you and then you could get us free tickets to go places and it you know we'll all work out you'll live a very nice life but I was always like I think I think I got something more and I tried like hell to do anything else but this kept calling me back and calling me back and when I started getting traction first of all the They hated Rina.

They were so embarrassed. Because it was... Because I was playing a character that was not... Oversexualized and, yeah. And they were so, like, we did not raise you to be like this. And I said, but this is a fictitious person. I'm not playing this from experience. Right.

You know? Right. But they finally figure it. You know, they... Oh, my God. Whatever. Yeah. It's all good.

Mm-hmm. Thank you. This is for you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Did you, you're a lot younger than me, but did you ever watch fame when you were a kid? I did watch fame and I'm not that much younger than you. Really?

Yeah. Not that much younger. Like the TV show fame? The TV show fame I watched, yeah. Did you just think, okay, well this is going to be my life now? It's going to be just like this. That was based off of Juilliard, really. Or no, LaGuardia, high school.

Yes. And, yeah, like people dancing on the cars and stuff. So for me, Juilliard was the college version of that, that like, if you could get into Juilliard, you've made it already before even, like, finishing the program. And that was the school I was so intimidated by. And so for me, I was like, I really was, I was looking to not, like, make it big. I just wanted to live in the city and make a living. Be a working actor.

You're working actor. Like, I will be in the ensemble of a show. I will do whatever. I would, it doesn't matter. I'll understudy, I'll be a swing, like, just anything. I just want to be near that community. And people don't understand, like, until you're right in the thick of it, how special that life really is.

Like, once you, and I wish I could do more theater. That's my dream, is I want to do more theater. But being backstage is so magical. Being in the dressing room and that nervous feeling, your stomach before the curtain goes up and maybe looking outside to see. Yes, I always peek. I always have to peek because if there's something distracting, I got to see it before I go on stage. I don't want to see it on.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But and then the adrenaline you feel after you've done a good show. I know. I've never, I can't get that feeling anywhere else. Yeah. It's like the best drug in the world and it makes you say, I don't care if I ever get rich.

I don't care if I have a house full of nice furniture. That's not my life. This is my life. This is the greatest fucking thing in the world. And I miss that feeling. It's so special. How do you put yourself out there, like saying I would love to do more theater? I have.

But then other things pop up. So, like, I got an offer to do a play in April. And then I read it. And then it was like, I don't think I can do this. New York. And I've never had that. experience of living in New York for any amount of time. And I really was excited.

It was off, off Broadway. Like, who cares? But I read it and I was just like, I don't know that anyone can make this work. But I'm still holding out hope for something. No, you want it to be the right thing. It's got to be the right thing. Absolutely. Well, now you're, I mean, you're busy.

St. Dennis is going to go on for how long. Who knows? It's so good, by the way. Oh, thanks. I really love it. Thank you. Kain Kim is a friend of mine. She is a kick in the pants.

She is. And she is so damn funny. Yeah. I love her. Ridicously funny. She has such an interesting story. She has a very interesting story. And I love when she has, when she goes back to Korea and she shows like her parents watching her show or something like that.

It's like, oh, this is so sweet. I know. I met her in Ireland. We were both in Cocaine Bear together. Oh, my God. Yes! And I was like, who is this Wackadoo? I am obsessed with her.

Yeah. She and my husband Justin actually really hit it off. And they would go, like when I was working, like they would go and like go sightseeing and Ireland together. I love. And I hardly ever have scenes with her. Yeah. But I think she's just such an interesting spice in the rack. Yeah.

Yeah, I love her character. I love it so much. We lucked out with this. It's really. ask because no one does like chemistry testing anymore. There was no chemistry. I was going to ask if there was any sort of testing or chemistry reads. No, this was like, I mean, we filmed, I had just finished the Goldbergs and was still doing my

farewell tour of the last 10 years of my life. And we had to hurry and do this pilot before the strikes. So there was no time to like, oh, what about what happens when these two people get together? Like, just make it work. And it did. It did work. We lucked out. I mean, it's incredible, too, that you, like, parlayed from one job right into the other.

That just doesn't ever happen. Especially when you're kind of known, I mean, people see you do one thing for 10 years, for a decade. And it's really hard to get them to think of you as something else. Yeah. But luckily, the industry pretty much ignored the Goldbergs. So it was fun. interesting because I felt like it was on, well, it was on for a very long time. And I know so many people who loved it, but you felt like it was sort of something

that sort of flew into the radar a bit? Within the industry. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, we got no recognition ever, and yet it was, fans liked it. So that's really what the most important thing is. Yeah. And it's, you know, it's still airs. But, you know, it was like the most fun I've ever had for the most part.

There were some hiccups there. But, like, that crew I'm still so attached to. And I miss them every day. It's like I troll everybody's Instagram accounts just to make sure. I like the ears. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, yeah, so I lucked out because, like, The day I found out we weren't coming back was the day I got the offer for this.

So it. Or at least just to read the script or whatever. So it was I was lucky because that was a shitty year, as we know, because we started striking. Yeah. Yeah. You know, it was like I didn't want downtime at all. I wanted to just go into the next thing. But I ended up with downtime as we all did.

I mean, modern family ended and then we had a pandemic. You know? I was like, I was so excited for this next chapter of my life. And then it was like, and everyone go inside. And I felt, and then during that time, there was like, they were brewing this idea of maybe doing a modern family spin-off with Eric and I, which I was interested in, but I was also supposed to do this play in New York. And it sort of felt like as I, as the reality of maybe the spinoff was actually going to happen,

I literally felt like, I was like, oh my God, like I want to date other people is what I felt like. I was like, I have to like feel like what it's like to not do that. Right. Too soon. Too soon. Yeah. Anyway, it ended up not working out. But like, yeah, I certainly know, you know, that was... But it will come back. What you think? Modern family will come back. Do you? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, no. Yeah. After a little bit more time, it'll come back. And it'll be the right time because enough time will have happened for new ideas to germinate. Yeah. And you'll all want to do it by that time. You know what I mean? I feel that way about bridesmaids. I think that there'll be like another bridesmaids movie. Do you think?

I do. I know I've heard stories about like, you know, Krista didn't want to do it. But I do think with time, it was so, it was such a beloved movie and that cast is so incredible. I just, I don't know,

maybe you haven't said information that I don't have. I have no information. I don't see how, with time, those people would not want to come together and do another another movie. In the realm of what is possible, you know, it could happen. That movie was such a moment.

Yeah, it was. It was such a huge moment. I'm glad you got a kick out of it. I'm not the only one. Thank you for doing this. I really adore you. I adore you. It's been a really long time. Will you come and do St. Dennis? Oh, my God.

I would love to. Okay. I'm going to float that in front of them. Yeah. I would absolutely. This show is great. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you so much for having me. I adore you. All right. This episode of Dinners on Me was recorded at Delano in downtown L.A.'s Arts District. Next week on Dinner's On Me, you know him from Scandal and The Comeback, which is now back for a third season. It's Dan Bukutinsky.

We'll talk about queer acceptance and his journey from acting to producing alongside Lisa Kudrow and coming back after a decade for the final season of the comeback. And if you don't want to wait until next week to listen, you can download that episode right now by subscribing to Dinners On Me Plus. As a subscriber, not only do you get access to new episodes one week early, you'll also be able to listen completely ad free. Just click Try Free at the top of the Dinners On Me show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial today. Dinner's On Me is a production of Sony music entertainment and a kid named Beckett Productions. It's hosted by me, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. It's executive produced by me and Jonathan Hirsch.

Our showrunner is Joanna Clay. Our associate producer is Alyssa Midcalf. Sam Bear engineered this episode. Hans Dale She composed our theme music. Our head of production is Sammy Allison. Special thanks to Tamika Balance Kalasni and Justin Makita. I'm Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Join me next week.