# Sitcoms: Creative ways of hiding actor's pregnancy?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [July 12, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421 "2010-07-12T17:11:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421/21 "2010-07-13T01:25:00Z")
Kathryn Erbe on Law & Order: Criminal Intent character became a surrogate for her sister when she was pregnant.
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421/22 "2010-07-13T22:13:45Z")
I believe it was Phylicia Rashad who told the story that when she was pregnant during the _Cosby Show_ the producers tried to hide it by shooting her standing behind the kitchen counter. The only problem was that as she got bigger, her baby bump was visible above the counter. According to Rashad, if you watch the shows in order, you’ll see the kitchen counter get higher, then drop back to its original height.
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### Author:  [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421/23 "2010-07-13T22:41:21Z")
> [@Pushkin](#):
>
> I thought of that too, there was a brief scene where she was shown being inflated by aliens, wasn’t there? 😕
Right after Scully was abducted, she was shown lying on a medical-type table with some sort of pump-looking device over her navel. It looked as if the flat belly of a non-pregnant woman was being inflated to nearly-nine-months pregnant size.
The one I came in to mention was Susan St. James on Kate & Alley. The character broke her leg and was shown in bed with a hospital table across her lap.
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### Author:  [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421/24 "2010-07-13T22:47:08Z")
> [@Lamia](#):
>
> When the actress who played Meris on _Frasier_ was pregnant, they hid it by having her remain off-camera. 😉
There she is! No, that’s a coat rack with a purse hanging off of it.
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### Author:  [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2010, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421/25 "2010-07-14T10:37:45Z")
Susan Lucci “All My Children” said once when she was pregnant, they had her character Erica Kane in a hospital bed for several months. As her belly grew and the sheets got higher this was explained away as “Erica feels depressed about being here so she’s eating lots of bon-bons”.
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2010, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421/26 "2010-07-14T11:43:43Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#):
>
> Yep, Keiko O’Brien suffered an accident that and Dr Bashir saved both of them by transferring the fetus into Kira Nerys’s womb. Nana Visitor was pregnant in real life, but he producers didn’t want to saddle Maj. Kira with a baby.
_Voyager_ also handled the pregnancy of the actress playing Chief Engineer by at one point having her trapped in a holodeck simulation with a “simulated pregnancy” as part of the program.
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### Author:  [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2010, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421/27 "2010-07-14T11:48:05Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#):
>
> Yep, Keiko O’Brien suffered an accident that and Dr Bashir saved both of them by transferring the fetus into Kira Nerys’s womb. Nana Visitor was pregnant in real life, but he producers didn’t want to saddle Maj. Kira with a baby.
Yes and later they have Kira say to the Doctor “_YOU_ did this to me!” as a wink to the fact that the real life father was the actor who plays Bashir.
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### Author:  [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2010, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421/28 "2010-07-14T11:51:52Z")
Tamsin Greig was pregnant for the series one filming of **Black Books** , but they didn’t do much to hide it apart from having her wear a lot of scarves that dangled down across her body. She’s a rather slim build and really only showed in the belly, which you can only pick up when you know to look for it.
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### Author:  [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2010, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421/29 "2010-07-14T11:57:03Z")
Nobody mentioned King of Queens yet, where Leah Remini was pregnant and they just had her wear baggy clothes (dammit!) and stand in positions that would not show her belly as much. She was never pregnant in the plot of the show.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421/30 "2010-07-14T13:33:26Z")
> [@Sampiro](#):
>
> One of the funniest was on _The Nanny_. When the actress who played CC became pregnant her character (assistant to a Broadway producer named Maxwell Sheffield for those not familiar) went to see her boss to tell him the actress in their play was pregnant and they began to brainstorm ways to hide it. “You can have her carry in a box I suppose, or put her behind the chair… or carry around a sign…” and of course for each brainstorming the actress playing CC was doing just that.
> I can’t remember what play they were producing but it’s a real play- let’s pretend it was _The Miracle Worker_. CC suggests working it into the plot and Maxwell says “No, we can’t have a pregnant Annie Sullivan, it spoils everything if that character is pregnant!” Finally they said something to the effect of “I guess we’ll just have to conceal it some way or other and hope the audience goes along with it”, which of course got a huge applause. Thereafter she’s usually seen behind a sofa or otherwise one of the usual ways of hiding it.
They actually referenced her pregnancy on the first show of that season. She comes in wearing a huge oversized coat and carrying a huge oversized bag. She says something like “I was just watching a erun of Seinfeld when Elaine was…I don’t know…about 28 montha pregnant. They had her hiding being things like that fools anyone.” She then turned around, switching her bag in the process, clearly showing her pregnancy. Before she walked out the door, she picked up a huge spider plant, faced the audicence while holding it in front of her baby bump and said “Oh, I better water this plant.”
Later she came in carrying a framed window card and held in front of her bump, saying “Where should I hang this?” It from from the real Broadway musical BABY.
When CC found out Max and Fran were getting married, she deeloped an eating disorder, went crazy, and was put in a mental institution.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421/31 "2010-07-14T13:55:57Z")
When Katy Segal got pregnant IRL, they had Peg Bundy (and Marcy Rhodes) get pregnant on the show. When Segal miscarried, the pregnancy was written off as a dream of Al’s.
When Susan St. James got pregnant, Kate (Kate & Ally) fell down the stairs and hurt her back, so she had to remain in bed.
The basic ways of dealing with the situation are:
A. Hiding it (large clothes and bags, standing beind furniture, etc.)
B. A storyline hiding it (weight gain, bed rest, etc.)
C. Got the character pregnant.
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### Author:  [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421/32 "2010-07-14T13:57:48Z")
I remember on _Cheers_, when Shelly Long was pregnant, before they sent her on a trip they had her get stuck in a vent in the floor. So you could hear the voice but not see her.
On _Kate And Allie_, when Susan Saint James got too heavy they had her slip and fall and put her in a hospital bed, where they could cover her up. When she still got too big for that, they did a flashback episode and padded up Jane Curtain to match Saint James about a time in the past when the ladies where both expecting.
On _Dick Van Dyke_, Millie was pregnant for a bunch of episodes. They just never even mentioned it. You see her wearing a maternity smock but no mention of it is made, except the writers also made a flashback episode where Laura was pregnant, and Millie was also pregnant. Rob says “How’s that gonna look, one expectant mother driving another to the hospital.”
On the flip side I wonder how many shows had a baby written into the show when the actress became pregnant. “I Love Lucy,” and “Family Ties.” come to mind. I think “Too Close For Comfort” may also have done that but I’m not sure.
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421/33 "2010-07-14T14:24:27Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#):
>
> _Voyager_ also handled the pregnancy of the actress playing Chief Engineer by at one point having her trapped in a holodeck simulation with a “simulated pregnancy” as part of the program.
They also gave B’ellana a baggy engineering lab coat to hold her tools, probably the only time a young Star Trek woman has _ever_ worn anything baggy.
In later seasons she married Tom Paris and had a baby on the show; I don’t know if that was a well-timed real pregnancy or if they faked it, though.
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### Author:  [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421/34 "2010-07-14T15:50:22Z")
> [@Markxxx](#):
>
> On the flip side I wonder how many shows had a baby written into the show when the actress became pregnant.
On Upstairs, Downstairs, soon after the completion of a story arc about the former parlormaid Sarah having a baby by the son of the house (this baby was born dead), Pauline Collins, who played Sarah, was pregnant in real life. I believe they tried to hide it behind trays and tables for awhile, but eventually wrote the pregnancy into the series. So, less than a year after losing her first illegitemate baby, poor Sarah is knocked up again, this time by the chauffer–who was played by Pauline Collins’s real-life husband, John Alderton. The two were quickly married off and left the show.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421/35 "2010-07-14T16:00:56Z")
> [@friedo](#):
>
> They also gave B’ellana a baggy engineering lab coat to hold her tools, probably the only time a young Star Trek woman has _ever_ worn anything baggy…
When Gates McFadden, Dr. Beverly Crusher on ST:TNG, was pregnant, they gave her a baggy blue medical smock, as well. She spent a lot of time behind desks and operating tables but you can see her baby bump a couple of times if you look for it.
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### Author:  [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421/36 "2010-07-14T19:00:01Z")
> [@Miss\_Mapp](#):
>
> …So, less than a year after losing her first illegitemate baby, poor Sarah is knocked up again, this time by the chauffer–who was played by Pauline Collins’s real-life husband, John Alderton. The two were quickly married off and left the show.
IIRC that baby was stillborn too. Miscarriages & stillbirths were a recuring theme on **Upstairs, Downsairs**. Miss Elizabeth was the only character who didn’t have her baby die, and even the kid featured in one episode (where Sarah saves her from the elderly nanny).
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### Author:  [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421/37 "2010-07-14T21:56:59Z")
The commentaries for season 2 of Leverage discuss this a fair amount–Gina Bellman, who plays Sophie on the show, was pregnant. I don’t remember specific instances, but it boiled down to having strategically placed objects to hide her belly and figuring out ways to avoid shooting her from the belly down.
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### Author:  [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421/38 "2010-07-14T22:58:21Z")
> [@Uncommon\_Sense](#):
>
> Nobody mentioned King of Queens yet, where Leah Remini was pregnant and they just had her wear baggy clothes (dammit!) and stand in positions that would not show her belly as much. She was never pregnant in the plot of the show.
There were actually a few episodes that showed Doug and Carrie struggling with infertility, one that even featured a miscarriage…
Over the seasons, KoQ tried to have a few “serious” episodes, (divorce, infertility) but it never seemed to be a good fit.
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### Author:  [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2010, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421/39 "2010-07-14T23:23:35Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#):
>
> Kathryn Erbe on Law & Order: Criminal Intent character became a surrogate for her sister when she was pregnant.
Well, that’s not really _hiding_ the pregnancy, now is it? It’s _explaining_ the pregnancy.
I’d actually have liked it if they had simply had her get pregnant with no explanation. It’s not like Eames’ personal life was part of the story.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-creative-ways-of-hiding-actors-pregnancy/546421/40 "2010-07-15T00:18:55Z")
Yeah, and one time on Seinfeld, they had Elaine wearing a huge billowy sweater/frock.
Jerry sees her and says, “That’s what you’re wearing?”
Elaine says, “Uh, yeah!”
:pause:
Jerry, “OK.”
🙂
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