When Sitcoms Go On Holiday
Modern Family is coming to Australia! Let’s take a look back at some of the all time best and worst sitcom vacations.
Yesterday it was confirmed that Modern Family is coming to Australia. The cast and crew of the hit comedy series will arrive in the country later this year to film an episode thanks to Qantas, who have very nicely agreed to fund their whole trip.
We don’t know too much yet. The Great Barrier Reef and Sydney have been suggested as possible filming locations – possibly because these are the only two Australian places that Americans have ever heard of — and the episode won’t involve the wedding of Mitch and Cam: “The wedding episode will not be [in Australia], I guarantee you that,” Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Mitch) said on TEN, when alluding to the trip last year. “We could do it in New Zealand though. Sounds like I just laid down the challenge. Come on Australia, pull it together.”
Currently in its fifth season, the sharply-written Modern Family is one of that very rare breed of sitcoms to earn both critical respect and massive ratings success. The show already has a strong track record when it comes to very special vacation episodes, like the family’s Hawaiian trip back in Season 1, so their Australian jaunt ought to provide ample opportunity for comic gold.
Somewhere in Los Angeles, Ty Burrell is practicing his broadest Aussie accent.
In honour of Modern Family’s imminent arrival, we decided to take a look back at five other memorable TV vacations. Will their Australian episode live up to these classics?
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Friends
Episode: ‘The One With Ross’s Wedding, Parts 1 & 2’
Location: London
How it went down: This double episode, from the end of Friends’ fourth season, is the gold standard by which all overseas TV vacations are judged. Joey and Chandler explore the city to the strains of The Clash! Chandler and Monica hook up for the very first time! Ross says the wrong name at the altar!
Vulture recently ran a fascinating behind-the-scenes piece on filming the episode in London, and deciding to pair off another couple of characters.
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Sex & The City
Episode: ‘An American Girl In Paris, Parts Une & Deux’
Location: Paris
How it went down: Not very well. People romanticise Paris, only to get there and find that it can be a pretty stinky and awful place. Don’t just take my word for it – Paris Syndrome is the name of a real psychiatric disorder, which afflicts up to 20 Japanese tourists every year.
Carrie suffers her own version of Paris Syndrome when she steps in a steaming pile of dog poop and humiliates herself at Dior. At least Big shows up to save her from her snooty artist boyfriend.
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Parks & Recreation
Episode: ‘London, Parts 1 & 2’
Location: London
How it went down: While Parks & Rec has arguably struggled creatively in its later seasons, this London episode proved to be a shot in the arm. Andy meets his British counterpart in a goofy toff played by Peter Serafinowicz; Ron has a religious experience at a remote whiskey distillery; while Leslie, who is being honoured at a big awards ceremony, begins to suspect that her beloved home town might actually be a pile of garbage.
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Veep
Episode: ‘Helsinki’
Location: Finland
How it went down: This one may be a bit of a cheat, as I’m not sure how much of the episode was actually shot in Helsinki, if any… It’s on the list purely because it’s one of the funniest ‘vacation’ episodes of all time, with Julia Louis Dreyfus’s Selina trying to keep a lid on an embarrassing international incident while in icy Finland.
She matches wits with the deadpan Finnish Prime Minister (Sally Phillips), and has her tit groped by the country’s vile first husband (Dave Foley). All in all, not a great trip.
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Scrubs
Episode: ‘My Soul On Fire, Parts 1 & 2’
Location: The Bahamas
How it went down: The Janitor sends out invitations to a fake wedding in the Bahamas, thinking nobody at the hospital will come; when the staff at Sacred Heart show up, he needs to assemble a wedding on the fly.
Scrubs experienced a huge return to form in its final stretch, and this Season 8 episode is one of the funniest — even if it did kick-start the ‘twee acoustic covers of pop songs’ meme with Ted’s rendition of ‘Hey Ya’.