'Modern Family' co-creator explains iPad use

"Modern Family" co-creator Christopher Lloyd told THR that the show's heavy use of Apple's iPad wasn't paid product placement and explained how the episode came about.

Said Lloyd:

"In fact, there was no product placement. This was widely assumed, and everybody was wrong.  We wanted to do a show about Phil getting very excited about a new product and it seemed the perfect one to use, since it was debuting [April 3]. We approached Apple about getting their cooperation (using the product, for example, and they are notoriously secretive about their products prior to their being launched) and they agreed and gave us a few other small concessions. But there were no stipulations as with normal product placement, i.e. we give you X dollars and you have to feature our product such-and-such a way and say such-and-such nice things about it. We are not angels -- we have made those agreements with other companies. But that was not the deal with Apple. It was all story-driven."

So there you have it.

In a completely unrelated note, Disney just announced an ABC Player app where you can watch its TV shows on the iPad -- the first hand-held device to support the network's full episode player. Which means you can watch the "Modern Family" iPad episode ... on the iPad!