modern family

It's that time of the year again. Seasonal snow is on its way and the holiday lights are making their big debut, but most importantly, it's time for Barbara Walters to unveil her annual 10 Most Fascinating People list.

And it looks like the first family of reality TV -- the Kardashians -- made the cut. The 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians' stars Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian and sisters Kourtney and Khloe all made Walters' list.

After raking in a reported $65 million in 2010, launching a new clothing line for Sears, airing a four-hour wedding special, having one of the most talked about divorce scandals of the year and making headlines on a daily basis, it looks like the Kardashians not only fascinate Walters, but they also fascinate the public.

The Kardashians will have a bit of reality TV company. Music mogul and 'The X Factor' judge Simon Cowell made the list, as well as businessman -- and 'The Apprentice' star -- Donald Trump.

While it's never been brought up directly, the Pritchetts are a rather cynical and dour bunch. The sight of Jay, Mitchell and Claire standing on the sidelines as the "dreamers" of their extended family attempted to "chunk" a punkin' through a goal post illustrated that divide beautifully on this week's 'Modern Family' (Wed., 9PM ET on ABC).

Not that their practicality is all bad. It's helped them all become successful people, and they do work to balance out the wilder sides of their partners. But it keeps them from experiencing the joys of life more regularly, and they've sucked at least one member of the next generation into their way of thinking.

Eric Stonestreet plays Cam on 'Modern Family,' and does such a good job in the role that many viewers are convinced he's gay in real life, too. But that's not the case. Stonestreet told 'The View' (weekdays, syndicated on ABC) the last time he was on that he was "openly straight," and as it turns out, that line helped him meet his current girlfriend.

Stonestreet updated the ladies on his relationship status when he stopped by on Friday. "I didn't know it at the time, but one of the people watching that show that day was my now-girlfriend, and when I met her she was doing a show on Broadway called 'Rock of Ages,'" he explained. "I kinda always felt like I had to dig myself out of a bit of a hole, and tell girls know that I'm actually straight. But she was like, "Oh, I was watching 'The View' and saw that you weren't gay!' And we're still together."

Greg Kinnear is going to spend some time with the Dunphys. According to EW, Kinnear will guest star as Tad, Phil's new business partner.

In his first sitcom gig since 'Friends,' Kinnear's Tad is described as a "successful" and "athletic" real estate broker. Phil is impressed by his new friend, but Claire is ... well, Claire.

No airdate has been set.

In other casting news ...

The relationship between Phil and Jay has always been one of the best on 'Modern Family' (Wed., 9PM ET on ABC). Phil is so eager to please Jay that he actually winds up pushing his father-in-law away. Which is why it was absolutely horrifying when in a moment of relief and bliss, Jay uttered the three words he never wanted to say in front of Phil.

"I love you." It's important to note that Jay only said he didn't want to say these words in front of Phil. There was no indication that he doesn't love his son-in-law, he just finds him incredibly difficult to have a normal relationship with -- which is very understandable under the circumstances.

Cameron thought that he had so much game that he could pick up women if he wanted to, but Mitchell wasn't buying it for a second on 'Modern Family' (Wed., 9PM ET on ABC). Quite frankly, he didn't believe Cam could even convince a woman he was straight first and challenged him to go and get a phone number from guest star Leslie Mann.

Cam got the number, and while he thought it was because of his heterosexual masculinity, he ultimately found out that she knew he was gay from the moment he approached her -- she was simply excited to have a potential gay friend. The problem was, that meant Mitchell was right, and Cam would never hear the end of it.

A zany family comedy set in the White House could be coming to NBC. According to The Wrap, the network has ordered a put pilot commitment for a show titled '1600 Penn,' written by Jon Lovett, a former speechwriter for President Obama.

'1600 Penn' reportedly focuses on a fictionalized, "dysfunctional" first-family and will be shot as a single-camera show. It's co-produced by 'The Book of Mormon' star Josh Gad and 'Modern Family' writer Jason Winer.

Lovett left the Obama administration in September to take his writing talents to Hollywood. His first-hand experience working in the government is similar to that of Lawrence O'Donnell, who worked as a legislative aid for Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan before becoming a writer on 'The West Wing.'

Halloween is just a week away, and the stars of your favorite TV shows are all dressed up and ready to go!

We've already given you some fun how-tos for TV-inspired costumes, but your favorite TV characters have a few more clever tricks and treats to feast your eyes on.

From 'Community' to 'Modern Family,' 'The Simpsons' to 'Happy Endings,' 'The Middle,' 'The Office' and more, click through this spooktacular gallery for some awesome Halloween episode teases.

Gilles Marini stopped by 'Modern Family' (Wed., 9PM ET on ABC), where apparently everyone thought he was gay. We loved that his reply was, "I'm not gay. I'm French." As if that explains the mix-up.

When Claire got a rare night to herself, she wanted to tap into her high school wild child, and this French gay guy proved to be just the ticket when Cam and Mitchell were revealed to be old ladies who wanted to be home and in bed before 10 o'clock.

But when she went to drop off Luke's retainer where he was spending the night, she was caught by the other moms she'd ditched to go and be wild. It didn't help that her not-gay companion for the night came running up as she was trying to talk her way out of it.

Recipe to Riches - Wednesday October 19, 9 PM ET/PT, Food Network Canada

Hosted by 'Bachelor' Jesse Palmer, this new series has 21 home-cook contestants competing to create a recipe that can be mass produced, preserved and sold in grocery stores. Instead of conducting their R&D in labs or test kitchens or what-have-you, Jane's Family Foods is doing it on TV, offering a $250,000 prize to the winner, and reaping millions of dollars in promotional opportunities. In fact, you'll be able to taste the recipes in your local Loblaw, and Galen Weston will be stopping in as a guest judge to make sure his company gets plenty of air time too.

Poor Gloria. She feels like no one ever wants her to help with anything, which is weird because she has all the answers. She certainly has some of the best stories, as she proved with her beauty pageant tale to inspire Claire this week on 'Modern Family' (Wed., 9PM ET on ABC).

Doing so helped her out as well, as Claire turned around and advised Jay to give Gloria a shot at helping him out with his problem at work. The problem is that he's having trouble getting a new young hotshot CEO into his closet design. The guy wants to be wowed without having any idea what that means. Meanwhile, Jay works in the real world.

After letting Jay's dog Stella out accidentally with the gate open, Gloria enlisted an eager Cam to help find her on 'Modern Family' (Wed., 9PM ET on ABC). Meanwhile, Jay was trying to teach Manny how to be a salesman by unloading fundraising wrapping paper.

Cam was just happy to be out of the apartment so he wouldn't have to clean up the mess he'd made that morning. Plus, he'd discovered that he was simply fabulous in a white t-shirt yelling, "Stella!"

When they found the dog, the little girl who'd found her tried to extort Gloria out of $200. She clearly didn't know a thing about Gloria, who didn't even consider it. When the girl tried screaming to accuse Gloria of stealing her dog, Gloria and Cam simply screamed back at her.

Leslie Mann has booked a guest role on 'Modern Family' as ... Cam's love interest!?

According to TV Guide Magazine, Mann will play a bar patron whom Cam (Eric Stonestreet) flirts with.

There's no trouble in paradise for Mitch and Cam, the flirtation is all part of a bet the couple make. It seems Mitch doesn't think Cam can pass for straight and get a hot girl's number, that's where Mann's character comes in.

Look for the 'Knocked Up' actress to appear during November sweeps.

Kevin Hart will also guest star on the hit ABC comedy. EW reports Hart will play Andre, Phil's (Ty Burrell) new physician neighbor.

In other casting news ...

Gloria was feeling a little jealous this week on 'Modern Family' (Wed., 9PM ET on ABC). But it wasn't another woman that was stoking the fires, but rather a dog. The dog was in bed with them, and even in the shower with Jay at one point.

To make matters worse, she caught the dog chewing on her shoes at one point, so in an attempt to get Jay mad at the dog, she tried to convince it to chew up one of his shoes. Only the dog wasn't going for it, so Gloria got down on her knees to show the pooch how it's done.

At this point, of course, Jay and Manny showed up in the doorway. Gloria's face after Jay said, "Drop it," and she did obediently, was one of the funniest moments in the entire episode.

'The X Factor' is Fox's biggest fall series debut in five years, but it wasn't exactly a ratings hit.

The network says the reality singing competition premiered to 12.5 million viewers, 4.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic. Comparatively, January's 'American Idol' Season 10 premiere -- the first without Simon Cowell -- was watched by 26.2 million viewers and had a 9.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic.

In the 9PM hour, 'The X Factor' was bested by ABC's one-hour Season 3 premiere of 'Modern Family,' which had a 6 rating in the 18-49 demo and a total of 14.3 million viewers. Helped by the buzz after multiple Emmy wins, the series even outperformed CBS's stalwart 'Criminal Minds.'

'Modern Family' co-creator Steve Levitan took to Twitter to share his joy about the ratings news.

"It's extremely gratifying that a scripted comedy finally beat an overhyped karaoke contest," he said. "Thank you, #ModernFamily fans!"