CFL on Modern Family: five more shows it could crack

If things keep going this way, the CFL may become ubiquitous on American television. Many of the actual games are being shown on NFL Network this year, with the rest available live on the web, mobile devices and Xbox via ESPN3. References to the CFL have gone beyond just the games too, with a hilarious Marc Trestman-signed Montreal Alouettes' poster reference on NBC's 30 Rock last year, footage of a Toronto Argonauts - Hamilton Tiger-Cats' game on FX's The League earlier this year (seen at right below) and Jay on ABC's Modern Family watching the Tiger-Cats and quarterback Quinton Porter in Wednesday's episode (to the degree that he was completely tuning out his daughter). So, what's coming next? Here are five more shows the CFL would be a great fit on (call me, Hollywood!).

1. Hawaii Five-0:

The rebooted CBS crime drama has already had several plots involving sports, including a volleyball coach's murder and a mixed martial arts fighter connected to a crime ring, so why not bring in Toronto Argonauts' star receiver/kick returner Chad "The Flyin' Hawaiian" Owens as a guest star playing a local break-in artist? As a guy who not only was born in Honolulu but also played his college football at the University of Hawaii, Owens certainly has a solid knowledge of the local area, and as the only man in professional football to ever post 3,000 combined yards in back to back seasons, he's got the speed to be quite convincing in attempts to evade the law.

2. Community: Sure, the brilliant comedy may be in trouble following NBC's decision to leave it off the midseason schedule, but the CFL could be just what it needs for a ratings boost! Who wouldn't enjoy Pierce bringing in pro football passing yards leader Anthony Calvillo as a private coach for Troy in a diabolic attempt to set him back on the path to football stardom and cut him lose from Abed?

3. Sons of Anarchy: Toronto Argonauts' offensive lineman Rob Murphy has tweeted before that he's a fan of the FX drama, so why not have him make a cameo? At 6'5'' and 310 pounds with plenty of tattoos, Murphy would be a perfect biker gang member, sure to intimidate whoever he ran into.

4. Parks and Recreation: NBC's excellent comedy focuses on small-town Indiana, so why not bring in a guy like the Hamilton Tiger-Cats' Marcus Thigpen, who played his college football at Indiana University in Bloomington? Sure, Entertainment 720 may have gone under, so they can't bring him in to help out Detlef Schrempf and Roy Hibbert, but Thigpen studied social and behavioral science and criminal justice at IU, so maybe he'd make a good police officer?

5. How I Met Your Mother: CBS's comedy has had plenty of athletic moments, including cameos by the Yankees' Nick Swisher and football and golf announcer Jim Nantz and shoutouts to players like the Vancouver Canucks' Mason Raymond, so the CFL would seem to be a natural fit. Perhaps token Canadian Robin Scherbatsky could take the gang to the Grey Cup, or be the only person to recognize CFL commissioner Mark Cohon in a New York bar?

Have more suggestions for CFL references on U.S. TV? Leave them in the comments, or send them to myself or the blog account on Twitter.