Modern Family is entering its tenth season, so what's left to do with the Pritchett and Dunphy clans? Kill one of them, apparently. Yes, death is coming to Modern Family. 
 
 The ABC sitcom returns on Wednesday, Sept. 26 and this season somebody kicks the bucket. 
 
 "We're handling some bigger life events in this season," co-creator Christopher Lloyd told EW. "We do deal with a death, which is certainly a topic that families have to deal with, and on television, it's not easy to do because that's a heavy subject. But at the same time, it would seem unusual for a family not to go through it." 
 
 And not just any death, Lloyd said it's a "significant character on the series," and the death will be a "moving event" and ripple effects will be felt for several episodes. 

 Bad news, Dunphy fans: One of your favorite Modern Family characters won’t be making it out of season 10 alive. 
 
 Just weeks ahead of the season premiere this month, co-creator Christopher Lloyd told Entertainment Weekly that a “significant character on the series” will die. 
 
 “We’re handling some bigger life events in this season,” he explained. “We do deal with a death, which is certainly a topic that families have to deal with, and on television, it’s not easy to do because that’s a heavy subject. But at the same time, it would seem unusual for a family not to go through it.” 
 
 While Lloyd didn’t offer any more hints as to the identity of the character, he shared that their death “will be a moving event… that has repercussions across several episodes.” 
 
 Nolan Gould, Sarah Hyland, Ty Burrell, Julie Bowen, Steven Levitan, Ariel Winter, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet Amanda Edwards/Getty 
 
 RELATED: Modern Family Co-Creators Say ABC Series Will Likely End After Season 10 
 
 Lloyd also said that while he hopes the long-running series will get picked up for another year, season 10 would serve as a fitting send-off. 
 
 “From our standpoint creatively we’ve gotten excited writing this season and changing the lives of the characters — some in a significant way — and it’s made us think, ‘Wow, there’s a lot to explore in the lives of these characters,’ ” he said, adding that “they’re in many ways such different characters than they were five or 10 years ago when we started.” 
 
 “So our standpoint was, ‘Well, if we can do another season, we may as well,’ ” he said, adding that “if it winds up that we tried and just couldn’t make it work, we will have a great final season for sure.” 
 
 RELATED VIDEO: Sarah Hyland Reveals Her Modern Family Character Is Bisexual 
 
 Earlier this year, Lloyd and fellow co-creator Steve Levitan told The Hollywood Reporter that the series likely wouldn’t be continuing after season 10. 
 
 “Our plan is to end it at 10,” Levitan said. “If we can leave with most of our audience wanting more, I think that’s the right way to do it.” 
 
 Although Levitan admitted that the decision to wrap up the series hadn’t been set in stone, he went on to say, “I just can’t imagine that we’d go past that.” 
 
 Modern Family stars Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ariel Winter, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, Sarah Hyland and Ed O’Neill. 
 
 Season 10 of Modern Family premieres Sept. 26 at 9 p.m. on ABC.
– Jay? Phil? Claire? Maybe Gloria? The co-creator of Modern Family tells Entertainment Weekly that a "significant character" will die in the upcoming 10th season of the ABC sitcom. But that's about the only hint Christopher Lloyd is giving. "We do deal with a death ... and on television, it's not easy to do because that's a heavy subject," he says. "But at the same time, it would seem unusual for a family not to go through it." He said the death will have repercussions over several episodes. The oldest member of the cast, 72-year-old Ed O'Neill, plays patriarch Jay Pritchett, but EW floats the possibility that the death could be that of a major side character such as his ex, played by Shelley Long. Something else up in the air: whether the show will return for an 11th season, notes People.