The sitcom juggernaut that is Modern Family is no stranger product placement – this is, after all, the show that has based entire episodes around trips to Target and attempts to finagle elusive iPads.
Next week, however, they’ll be pushing that concept to its limit, with an entire episode shot on mobile and laptop devices – specifically on Apple ones. The episode is set to air on February 25 in the U.S., and is based around a fairly novel concept. Per the plot description:
The episode, titled “Connection Lost,” follows Claire (Julie Bowen)’s digital communication with her family while she’s away from home and can’t get a hold of her daughter, Haley (Sarah Hyland). The plot unfolds within the confines of a MacBook Pro screen and relies heavily on the iPhone, FaceTime, iMessage, Safari and other Apple creations.
Though Modern Family‘s iPad-themed episode drew criticism, producer Steven Levitan swears that no money changed hands between the show and Apple then, and nor did it this time.
“This just came from life, and it made sense,” he told Hollywood Reporter in a recent interview, adding “I’m super geeky with all that stuff and I love the latest things.”
That said, when Modern Family informed Apple that they’d be doing the episode, they did receive multiple iPads, iPhones and a MacPro for free, so make of that whatever you want.
Modern Family still manages to pull out the odd, innovative episode now and then – witness recent ones like Las Vegas and The Day We Almost Died – so we actually have reasonably high hopes for this one.
If nothing else, it will certainly be a wink to the amount of TV that we already consume on mobile and laptop screens.
