Modern Family

"Modern Family" star Sarah Hyland just got a temporary restraining order against her ex-BF -- claiming the guy choked her, pushed her and threatened her life ... and her TV mom witnessed some of the abuse.

TMZ has obtained court docs filed by Hyland -- who plays Haley Dunphy -- in which she claims her ex Matthew Prokop terrorized her both verbally and physically during the last 4 years of their relationship.

According to the docs, Prokop -- an actor who once appeared on "Modern Family" -- pinned Hyland against a car during an argument about her outfit back in May and unleashed hell ... calling her "c**t, c**t, c**t" and choking her.

Hyland says in the docs, "His grip was so tight that I could not breathe or speak. I was scared and in fear for my life."

Sarah says she suffered injuries to her voice -- and had a "very sore throat following this event."

In the docs, Hyland says she knew she was in an abusive relationship -- and asked her TV mom Julie Bowen to come to her house to help "peacefully end the relationship."

Hyland says she had purchased a plane ticket to send Matthew back to his home in Texas -- but when Matthew arrived to the home and saw Julie (along with others), he freaked out ... "ran outside into the backyard and began screaming."

Hyland says Prokop threw a lighter at her -- and that's when Julie stepped in and told Sarah to get out of the house because she wasn't safe around Prokop.

In the docs, Hyland says Prokop also threatened to set one of her homes on fire -- and threatened that she would never see her dog again.

After Hyland broke up with Prokop, she claims he "relentlessly bombarded me with vile, threatening and emotionally disturbing texts and voice mails including his own suicide threats."

Hyland says Prokop entered a rehab facility in August -- but he got out on Sept. 21st ... and claims the director of the facility contacted her and told her it would be in her best interest to get a restraining order against him due to his mental state and attitude against her.

Hyland took his advice -- and an L.A. judge granted a temporary restraining order ... requiring Prokop to stay at least 100 yards away from Sarah and her dog at all times.

We reached out to Prokop and his people for comment -- so far no word back.

Sofia Vergara and her significantly younger new man Joe Manganiello are officially out of the cage.

The 37-year-old "True Blood" star was out and about this weekend in Studio City showing off his prize catch ... five years his senior.

This is nothing new for Sofia, who's just coming off a similar situation with boy toy Nick Loeb ... they were together for almost 4 years, got engaged and split up last May.

We're not worried about Joe, of course ... if anyone can keep a cougar at bay, it's wolf man.

Happy hunting, Joe.

The Kiss vs. Eric Stonetreet (and his mother) beef is over ... so says Paul Stanley, who has even extended an invite to a Kiss concert as a show of friendship.

The social media battle between the "Modern Family" star and the makeup-clad rockers began when Stonestreet felt Stanley and Gene Simmons were rude to his mother on a flight from Los Angeles to Kansas City. Stanley and Simmons said the whole thing was a misunderstanding and Stonestreet calmed down.

This morning at LAX, Stanley reiterated that point and had nothing but nice things to say about Stonestreet and his mother ... but carefully danced around saying he was sorry about any of it.

"Modern Family" star Eric Stonestreet called out Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley for being rude to his mother on a flight yesterday, but Stanley claims the whole thing was a misunderstanding.

Stonestreet ripped the rockers on Instagram, claiming Simmons tried to "bully" his mom out of her seat and then mocked her by asking for her autograph -- and even threw in an old lady jab, calling her ... "Aunt Bee."

But Simmons fired back ... claiming the whole thing was made up, and he "would never be mean, especially to mothers."

Stanley also tweeted that the whole mess was just a "misunderstanding of joking."

Stonestreet accepted the sort-of-apology with a white flag tweet, "Thank u for that. She did tell me you let her go first. I will tape my glow in the dark KISS posters back together now."

"Modern Family" star Ariel Winter broke down in tears in court just moments ago ... after her mom played a schmaltzy home video of Ariel's childhood memories.

Chrystal Workman played the video for the courtroom as a weird last ditch effort to get her daughter to change her mind about living with her older sister Shanelle ... instead of with her mom.

Chrystal told the court she would relinquish her bid to reclaim her parental rights over Ariel -- after a judge stripped her of custody in 2012 -- if Ariel agreed to watch the video ... which she did.

The home video contained piano instrumentals and pictures from Ariel's childhood -- as a baby, from school, of the whole family together, and more.

Ariel, Shanelle, Chrystal, and several other members of the Workman family were in tears as the video played -- but Ariel didn't change her mind ... and the judge signed off on Shanelle's permanent guardianship.

"Modern Family" creator Steve Levitan is being dragged into Ariel Winter's gnarly custody battle ... and it's all because Steve allegedly wrote a letter to authorities saying she should be free -- ON "MODERN FAMILY" LETTERHEAD!

Ariel's mom Chrystal Workman filed court docs claiming Levitan recently wrote an emancipation letter to dependency court on her daughter's behalf -- and claims he had the nerve to write it on the show's stationery.

Workman says she wants to grill him in court for sticking his nose in family business.

Unlike most 16-year-olds -- who scrape together money from their part time job to go halfsies with their parents on a used Ford Taurus -- "Modern Family" star Ariel Winter just picked up a brand new Mercedes ... and paid for it in full.

Winter hit up her local Mercedes dealer recently and scored a fully loaded C350, blacked out with the AMG package. We're told Ariel and her sister went in with the idea of getting something nice, but also responsible and safe.

Our sources tells us Winter's dad -- who only recently began siding with Ariel and her sister in their battle against Ariel's mom -- was there to help her sign the papers. Once the deal was closed, Ariel wired the full payment ... just north of $50,000. APR financing is for suckers!

And get this ... the guy in the photo, who sold Ariel the car, is former soap star/current car salesman Matt Borlenghi. The funny part is ... Ariel's mom sued him for defamation in 2012.

Probably not a coincidence.

"Modern Family" star Ariel Winter says she will never have a relationship again with her mom and her older brother ... this according to one of her text messages.

The text -- obtained by TMZ -- was filed in Ariel's guardianship case. She was texting her older brother Jimmy who has sided with their mother in the battle over Ariel.

Ariel, who is now under the guardianship of her sister, wrote, "How dare you say you miss me ... if you really wanted to see anyone and cared, you'd do a 180."

And then she goes in for the kill: "I'm sorry, what we've been through can't be fixed."

Ariel's mom filed the document, trying to prove Ariel suffers from PAS -- Parental Alienation Syndrome -- and their family is being destroyed as a result of the guardianship.

Julie Bowen's beauty is a modern miracle!

Here's the then 26-year-old babe in the golf comedy "Happy Gilmore" back in 1996 (left) -- and 18 years later, the 43-year-old "Modern Family" mom earlier in the year in Sydney, Australia (right).

The perv fan who groped "Modern Family" star Sarah Hyland's chest in Australia this week has been charged with assault with an act of indecency, TMZ has learned.

The 29-year-old man was arrested Tuesday outside a "Modern Family" after-party in Sydney. Hyland was posing with fans when he allegedly grabbed her breast.

23-year-old Hyland immediately left the event in tears while her security handled the creep.

Hyland was remorseful about bailing on the event, saying sorry to all the fans she, "didn't get to say hi to but I had to leave due to an inappropriate touch of a fan."

Ariel Winter's mom wants to drag the entire cast of "Modern Family" into a custody war ... trying to force them on the stand and tell the judge she's not a terrible mother.

Chrystal Workman wants a small village of witnesses to testify, including Ed O'Neill, Julie Bowen, Sofia Vergara, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Angela Gould and Diane Rodriguez.

Workman also wants ABC Network Prez Paul Lee and show producer Steve Levitan.

In all, Workman wants to call 83 witnesses.

And get this ... she doesn't have a lawyer so she would be grilling them herself.

"Modern Family" star Sarah Hyland has been makin' BANK since she was 5 years old ... but the actress tells TMZ she's not an IDIOT when it comes to saving her cash.

FYI -- Hyland's first acting gig was playing Howard Stern's daughter in "Private Parts" ... and the money train's been rolling strong ever since.

But Hyland says she's making damn sure she doesn't end up broke ass broke ... like Hammer or Lindsay Lohan.

We're thinkin' the chick who plays Lily on Sarah's show should take notes.

"Modern Family" star Ariel Winter's mother got caught with her hand in the cookie jar ... allegedly breaking a court order by handling thousands of dollars worth of paychecks intended for her daughter.

Ariel's father Glenn Workman filed court docs claiming Chrystal Workman cashed one of Ariel's residual checks for $4,266.79 -- but here's the thing ... he's NOT accusing her of stealing the money.

According to the docs, Chrystal immediately deposited the money into an account for Ariel's production company. However, Ariel's dad says the 2012 agreement that gave him sole control of Ariel's finances prevents Chrystal from having anything to do with their daughter's earnings.

Glenn's worried Chrystal might have even fatter checks in her possession -- such as Ariel's "Modern Family" cheddar.

He's asking the court for a cease and desist order ... forcing her to hand over all checks, and blocking her from doing it again.

A surprise lesbian wedding broke out at a Utah bar co-owned by "Modern Family" star Ty Burrell ... but the actor didn't just stand around and watch, Ty actually PARTICIPATED in the ceremony, TMZ has learned.

Ty (who plays Phil Dunphy on the show) was hangin' out at Bar X in Salt Lake City on Friday where a group of pro-gay marriage supporters were celebrating the striking down of an anti-same sex marriage law.

During the party, one lesbian couple decided they were so excited ... they were going to GET MARRIED RIGHT THERE IN THE BAR ... and asked Ty if he would sign the marriage certificate as an official witness.

Of course, Ty obliged ... and the women -- one of whom posed for a pic with Ty (see above) -- took the plunge right there in the bar.

The sad part ... Ty was NOT ALLOWED to buy the couple a celebratory drink (employees in the bar tell us it's illegal for bar staff to buy patrons a drink in Utah).

"Modern Family" star Ariel Winter now says her father is taking HER side -- opposing her mother, Chrystal Workman, in the battle over Ariel.

Ariel says in court docs -- obtained by TMZ -- daddy Glenn is happy that her big sis Shanelle is Ariel's guardian. Up to this point Glenn sided with his estranged wife.

Ariel doesn't say why her dad has flip-flopped, but it's interesting ... he's not asking to become the responsible parent. He's happy that Shanelle has assumed that role.

There was a hearing today ... nothing set in stone, but the judge said when everyone goes to court to fight it out over who gets custody of Ariel ... his inclination is that Ariel should NOT be forced to testify, because she's a 15-year-old girl and forcing her on the stand could be psychologically detrimental.

It's a Colombian face-off!

Here's 41-year-old Colombian born and "Modern Family" star Sofia Vergara posing in a little black dress (left) -- and 25-year-old second generation Colombian and "Spy Kids" actress Alexa Vega in an equally little and equally black dress (right).