Who does Modern Family's Jesse Tyler Ferguson play in Elsbeth episode 3?

Elsbeth is back with two episodes this week, one of which guest stars Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Get a glimpse of the Modern Family star in this week’s entry!

It’s been a while since CBS premiered Elsbeth, February 29th, to be exact. Leap Day was a fitting day to showcase the new series where Carrie Preston reprised her Emmy-winning turn from The Good Wife/The Good Fight as brilliant and eccentric attorney Elsbeth Tascioni. The series has her moving to New York City, where the Department of Justice assigns her to oversee the NYPD on cases.

However, the loveable Elsbeth manages to work her way into murder cases where her quirky mind allows her to see through the killer. An interesting twist is that the show is a “howcatchem” where the audience knows from the start who the killer is. The plot is then all about how Elsbeth puts it together to bust them. 

The show rests on special guest stars, and the second of the two episodes this week has Jesse Tyler Ferguson. The Broadway veteran made his big splash in ABC’s long-running hit sitcom Modern Family. His turn as the tightly wound Mitchell provided some of the show’s best laughs and earned Ferguson five consecutive Emmy nominations. 

Since the show ended, Ferguson has kept busy, mostly on Broadway as he won a Tony Award for 2022’s play Take Me Out. He’s now making a welcome return to television and it looks like he’s having a good time. 

See a clip of Jesse Tyler Ferguson on Elsbeth

Episode 3, “Reality Shock,” has a cast member of a popular reality TV show, “Lavish Ladies,” suddenly showing up dead. Ferguson plays Skip Mason, the mercurial producer, and the implication is that he killed the woman himself just to create good TV. 

Ferguson goes back a ways with Robert and Michelle King, the creators of Elsbeth, as he made an appearance on The Good Fight. It’s no surprise they would call on an actor they’ve used before for this guest star role.

An official clip shows Elsbeth with the cops meeting Mason, who acts like this is the first he’s heard of the death. Elsbeth appears more interested in the glitter by his table. But as fans know, there’s a method to Elsbeth’s seeming madness, as this may be her first clue to Skip’s guilt. 

Ferguson is known for his good-natured roles like Mitchell, so seeing him as a killer should be an intriguing turn. It’s also going to be fun watching him and Preston matching up and how Elsbeth figures out his guilt. 

With Ferguson providing a more dramatic turn than usual, Elsbeth is ready to continue its fun run as a great new mystery show on TV. 

Elsbeth airs Thursdays at 9/8c on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.