Kathryn Erbe on Law & Order: Criminal Intent character became a surrogate for her sister when she was pregnant.
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.
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.
There she is! No, that’s a coat rack with a purse hanging off of it.
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”.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.”
