The veteran sitcom creators Steve Levitan (“Just Shoot Me”) and Christopher Lloyd (“Frasier”), reasoning they’d find more Hollywood success together than apart, came together expressly to make a network sitcom. They scored a hit out of the gate in 2009 with their story of the extended clan of Claire and Phil Dunphy — only to have their differing sensibilities lead to a falling out by the second season.
But instead of acrimoniously ending things, they agreed to split custody of the ABC show, alternating which episodes each oversaw. “Modern Family” went on to became one of the biggest television phenomena of the current age.