'Modern Family' to vacation Down Under
Sydney (AFP) - An executive producer behind the award-winning US television comedy Modern Family announced Thursday a vacation episode will be filmed in Australia in February featuring "a kangaroo, a koala and a boomerang".
Steven Levitan said the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning series had reached a deal with the Qantas airline to fly the entire cast to Australia for filming, with locales to reportedly include Sydney and the Great Barrier Reef.
"We are so excited about our trip Down Under and promise not to do any 'down under' jokes. We look forward to a fantastic shoot in many exotic locations," Levitan said, describing it as the show's "most ambitious" family vacation episode yet, after trips to Wyoming and Hawaii.
"We promise to feature a kangaroo, a koala and a boomerang. I'm sure there will be lots more, but so far that's all we know about Australia -- our American school system is a disaster."
Qantas chief Alan Joyce said it was a major coup for Australian tourism, building on specials filmed by talk show stars Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres in recent years, with the episode set to reach an estimated 25 million viewers when it airs later this season.
Producers from the show will travel to Australia to scout potential locations and storylines later this month.
