US TV comedy bows out after 11 series

Wednesday's two-hour finale on US network ABC began with a documentary and concluded with a two-part episode.

The show, which follows three different branches of the same family, has been a huge success with viewers and critics since its debut in 2009.

However, viewing figures have dropped in recent years.

After the finale aired on Wednesday, the show's fans took to social media to bid farewell.

Ellen DeGeneres tweeted: "Thank you to every single member of the cast and crew of Modern Family for consistently making us laugh and cry for 11 seasons. You've been a huge part of all of our lives and we miss you already."

"Congrats to all my Modern Family friends on the completion of their 11-year journey. So honoured to have been a small part of such a wonderful series and so sad to see this incredible family leave us," added actor Josh Gad, who has previously appeared on the show as a guest star.

Modern Family reached its peak popularity in 2013 and 2014, when it would generally attract an audience of at least 14 million viewers every week.

But as streaming services became more popular, the show struggled to maintain its popularity, dropping to about four million viewers per week in its later seasons.

At the peak of its popularity, the show won several major awards, including a Golden Globe for best comedy series in 2012.

The show also won the Emmy for outstanding comedy series in each of its first five years.

When it won five awards in a single night at the 2011 Emmys, ceremony host Jane Lynch famously joked after a commercial break: "Welcome back to the Modern Family Awards."

The finale of Modern Family was unaffected by coronavirus as it had already been filmed before the outbreak and subsequent worldwide lockdown.

Many other TV shows have been cancelled or delayed while still in production.

The popular US series Empire, for example, was not able to shoot the last episodes of its final season before filming ceased.