Nathan Lane Will Return to “Modern Family”

Nathan Lane was truly hilarious as Cameron and Mitchell’s party throwing pal Pepper during the earthquake episode on ABC’s Modern Family last fall.

So it is such great news that he will returning for an encore guest spot this spring, according to TV Guide’s William Keck.

This time, “Mitch [Jesse Tyler Ferguson] and Cam [Eric Stonestreet] go out for a boys night with Pepper and a bunch of their other gay friends,” Modern Family executive producer Steve Levitan told Keck at Saturday’s Producers Guild Awards, just before going on stage to accept the award for Best Comedy Series.

The plot twist: “Jay [Ed O'Neil] stumbles in to the party,” teased Levitan. “We’re having a lot of fun playing with Nathan and this will be a very funny use of him.”

“Modern Family” Guest Star James Marsden in a Hot Tub with Cam and Mitchell!

Just what any gay couple needs: an incredibly gorgeous guy moving in nearby, stripping down, and climbing into your hot tub without asking permission.

This is how Cam and Mitchell (Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson) first encounter their new neighbor in next week’s episode of Modern Family.

The neighbor is played by the smokin’ hot James Marsden of Enchanted, 27 Dresses and Hairspray fame. Marsden's character is straight, but we can let Cam and Mitchell enjoy themselves, can't they?

Anyway, here’s a funny preview of what is to come on Modern Family:

James Marsden Stars as a Shirtless Neighbor Who Distracts Cam and Mitchell on Modern Family

James Marden wearing clothes would be distracting enough!

The handsome star of such films as Enchantment, 27 Dresses, Hairspray, The Box and this year’s Death at a Funeral has been cast in a guest spot on Modern Family as a hunky neighbor of Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Fergerson).

According to TV Guide’s William Keck, Marsden’s “presence causes the boys’ temperatures to rise every time he whips off his shirt (think Matthew McConaughey in every paparazzi photo.) Wouldn’t it be fun if this eye candy role ended up being recurring?”

Marsden is a terrific actor who happens to be straight and is very appreciative of his gay fan base.

He played gay in the indie flicks Heights as a guy engaged to a women but having an affair with a gay man played by Jesse Bradford; and in the very intense The 24th Day opposite Scott Speedman. He played a guy who infected Speedman with the HIV virus during a one-night stand.

Modern Family's Gay Kiss Has Been Filmed

After much fan pressure to have "Modern Family's" adorable gay couple share a kiss, one-half of the hilarious twosome confirms it's in the can.

"Yes, we filmed the kiss episode," Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who plays Mitchell, told E!Online's Marc Malkin. "It's a very organic kiss. People are going to be very surprised when they see it."

More than 13,000 fans took to Facebook asking the show's producers to let Cam and Mitchell share a kissing scene. In response to the movement, producers issued a statement.

It read: "Cameron and Mitchell are a loving, grounded, committed, and demonstrably affectionate couple and have been from the beginning of the series. It happens that we have an episode in the works that addresses Mitchell's slight discomfort with public displays of affection. It will air in the fall and until then, as Phil Dunphy would say, everyone please chillax."

Now that the scene has been shot, Ferguson says he's also pretty sure he delivered Eric Stonestreet's (the straight but convincingly gay Cam on the show) first man-on-man smacker saying, "I'll be shocked and offended if I wasn't."

Either way, we're sure it'll be one scene Eric and the show's fans will never forget.

Emmys Have a Mad, Modern Night

One old favorite and one new kid on the block took top Emmy honors.

Mad Men won the outstanding drama series for the third consecutive year on Sunday night, while Modern Family was named outstanding comedy series.

A 14-time nominee, ABC's ensemble comedy netted an early win for supporting actor Eric Stonestreet, who plays the loveable Cameron Tucker.

"All I wanted to be was a clown in the circus when I was a kid growing up," the first-time winner, who called the gig "the most amazing job ever," said onstage.

Another freshman series, Glee, collected an award for director Ryan Murphy and Jane Lynch, who won outstanding supporting actress in a comedy for her role as the scheming Sue Sylvester.

In a shout-out to the ensemble cast, she joked, "I love you. You're young and you're wonderful. You're fresh-faced, and when I'm not seething with jealousy, I'm so proud of you."

First-Time Winners

It was a recurring theme during the three-hour telecast from L.A.'s Nokia Theatre: Many first-time nominees were rewarded with Emmys, especially on the dramatic front, where a fleet of new faces won.

Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul nabbed outstanding supporting actor in a drama, while The Good Wife's Archie Panjabi picked up outstanding supporting actress in a drama. And The Closer's Kyra Sedgwick won outstanding leading actress in a drama after four previous nominations.

One exception: Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston, who took home the outstanding actor in a drama trophy for the third consecutive year. Noting his esteemed fellow nominees, he expressed his gratitude, saying, "I'm so humbled and amazed to be in your company."

Edie Falco claimed outstanding actress in a comedy for Nurse Jackie and Jim Parsons won outstanding actor in a comedy for The Big Bang Theory.

Kate Dances ... Again

Emmy host Jimmy Fallon kicked things off with little help from Glee and Kate Gosselin, who laced up her dancing shoes once again after a less-than-lauded turn on Dancing with the Stars.

In addition, the host recruited an A-list team – including Tina Fey, Kate Gosselin, Jane Lynch, Randy Jackson, Jon Hamm and Betty White – for a zippy musical number. The group performed Bruce Springsteen's propulsive hit "Born to Run" after a short skit in which the Glee kids said they couldn't afford tickets to the awards show.

Gosselin, who famously earned low marks on Dancing with the Stars, poked fun at herself, teasing with Fallon and his crew, "I can help [with the performance]; I'm a great dancer."

Here's a list of all the winners from last night's telecast:

Outstanding Comedy Series: Modern Family
Outstanding Drama Series: Mad Men
Lead Actress in a Comedy: Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Lead Actor in a Comedy: Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Supporting Actress in a Comedy: Jane Lynch, Glee
Supporting Actor in a Comedy: Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
Lead Actress in a Drama: Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
Lead Actor in a Drama: Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Supporting Actor in a Drama: Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
Supporting Actress in a Drama: Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife
Reality-Competition Program: Top Chef
Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program: Jeff Probst, Survivor

Modern Family's Gay Couple Cam and Mitchell to Kiss After All

Television's most prominent homosexual couple are set to share an on-screen kiss.

Modern Family's co-creator and writer Steve Levitan has revealed that producers are preparing a 'public display of affection' episode for the program's married gay couple, Cam and Mitchell.

In fact, Levitan insists the scene was going to happen all along even before fans started to lobby for the kiss publicly, notably on a Facebook campaign.

'We've had an episode planned for a long time that dealt with that subject,' he told E! news.

'So it almost bothers us that there was a little bit of controversy about it. Because we don't want to appear that we're answering the criticism.'

In the show's breakout first season, Cam (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) did everything from adopt an adorable daughter to travel on the extended family's Hawaiian vacation.

But they've never expressed obvious affection for each other on camera.

The controversy came to a light-hearted boil when Cam and Mitch had a dramatic airport reunion in the Hawaiian episode. While the show's straight couple smooched at the airport, Cam and Mitchell gave each other a tepid hug.

The floodgates opened as fans assumed the show's producers were blocking a kiss. Facebook campaigners set up a special page: 'Let Cam & Mitchell kiss on Modern Family.'

While the campaign never reached the giddy heights of the Facebook campaign to recruit Betty White to host Saturday Night Live, the Cam and Mitchell kiss page did make a splash with 13,465 supporters.

'Sure enough, we're dealing with public displays of affection and the power of the kiss,' said Levitan.

The actors preparing for the public display of affection didn't give details about the upcoming scene. 'But we're all proceeding and progressing and moving forward,' said Ferguson. 'There'll be lots of everything.'

Nathan Lane to Guest Star on “Modern Family”

Eric Stonestreet shared with reporters at TV Critics Association Press Tour in Beverly Hills that Tony winner Nathan Lane is set to guest star on Modern Family.

Nathan will play the role of Pepper who is a flamboyant friend of the show’s gay couple Mitch and Cam [Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson].

Apparently it was Lane who approached producers about wanting to guest and the episode will air early in the new season.

He is currently starring on Broadway with Bebe Neuwirth in The Addams Family. He is a Tony winner for The Producers and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.