Do Modern Family, New Girl, & Brooklyn Nine-Nine Exist In A Shared Universe?
Television crossovers aren't exactly a new thing, but when the Los Angeles-based "New Girl" crossed over with "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," it was big enough for a two-parter. In 2016, the Fox sitcoms collided via a high school reunion storyline set in the Big Apple, confirming once and for all that the two shows are set in a shared timeline.
But back in L.A., "New Girl" also has some similarities to "Modern Family." In the ABC sitcom's Season 4 episode "Best Men," a bar scene is suspiciously set in the same neighborhood pub that Nick (Jake Johnson) and Cece (Hannah Simone) from "New Girl" work at and Nick later owns with Schmidt (Max Greenfield). On "New Girl" it's called The Griffin, but when "Modern Family" couple Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) turn up there, it is unnamed, yet totally recognizable with its dark paneled walls and red leather seats. Fans have noticed the similarities on Reddit, but the bar locale didn't spawn a crossover.
Still, there's more proof that the Pritchetts live in the same L.A. as the "New Girl" gang. Eagle-eyed sitcom fans noticed that preschools seen in both shows appear to be one and the same. "Modern Family" kid Joe Pritchett attended The Learnin' Barn, while Schmidt and Cece's daughter Ruth went to Triangles. But both schools had the same look — and livestock. In a Primetimer forum, user luna1122 noted that little Ruth's preschool "looked almost exactly like Joe's preschool on Modern Family, complete with chickens and dirt."
The New Girl bar is not just a Modern family hangout
Familiar television soundstages have always been a thing. For example, the house facade used on the classic sitcom "Bewitched" was also used on "I Dream of Jeannie" and "The Paul Lynde Show." And, yes, that was the "Brady Bunch" house spotted in two episodes of "Mannix" back in the day.
But the dark red and brown bar featured in "New Girl" and "Modern Family," as well as "Mad Men," "Criminal Minds," the movie "Chinatown," and more, is actually a real place. Named The Prince, the bar was built in 1927 and is located in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles, according to LA magazine.
As for why it has been used for scenes in so many TV shows and movies, not only does The Prince have "the look," but the bar's owners have always been happy to lend out their space at a bargain price. "They were willing to shut down for not a ton of money, which is harder and harder to find these days in Los Angeles — to buy out a bar that's that cool and does that kind of business," "New Girl" location manager Jesse Cole told Curbed Los Angeles in an interview. Cole added that many period bars have modernized their interiors in recent years, making The Prince even more of a gem for TV and film scenes set in L.A. — or not.