HEAD OF THE CLASS

‘Modern Family’ looks to rosy future beyond graduation-themed finale

IT’S perfect timing for the eighth season finale of “Modern Family,” and for its co-creator Steven Levitan. The ABC hit has been renewed for two more years and Levitan has a new series, “LA to Vegas,” premiering this fall on Fox. Obviously, the networks like doing business with the genial comedy legend, whose ability to mine his own life (and those of his writers) for material has struck a chord with audiences. This week, “Modern Family” shows the Pritchett and Dunphy families facing empty nest syndrome following the highschool graduations of Manny (Rico Rodriguez) and Luke (Nolan Gould), respectively. The Pritchetts’s party plans change when Manny’s biological father, Javier Delgado (Benjamin Bratt), blows into town and decides to take his son to a strip club as a celebration of his manhood. Levitan spoke to The Post about the episode, which he also directed, and his next venture, which stars Dylan McDermott. Manny and Luke are moving on to a new stage of life. How does this affect next season? We have an idea of what we’re going to do. It’s one of the challenges of doing live-action shows with kids in [them]. They must age. It forces us to change. Which is scary. Will Rico and Nolan still be series regulars? They will. Luke will take a gap year to figure out his life. Rico will very liklikelyl go tto a university that is close by. You have said that your writ-

ers’ draw on their own experiences. Are you experiencing the empty nest syndrome?

I certainly am. One of the good things about the evolution of the show is that our lives are changing with it. My kids are two girls and a boy, like Haley (Sarah Hyland), Alex (Ariel Winter) and Luke on the show, and all three of my kids are out of the house. My youngest son, Griffin, is in college.

What is the plot of your new show, “LA to Vegas”?

It’s about these people who fly from LA to Vegas on Fridays and back on Sunday. Most of the comedy takes place on an airplane. I came aboard as a producer and director. I’ve been involved with it for several months. The network has been very happy with it since we started shooting.

DoD you have stories for two morem seasons of “Modern Family”?F

Every time you start a season, you think there’s nothing left to say. Now we know this is likely our ending. We can plan forf that.

AreA you going to duke it out withw “The Big Bang Theory” to see which show lasts longer?

I don’t plan on that. If we can get 10 seasons and finish strong, that’s a very happy ending.