Jim and Pam are having a baby this week on The Office and, unfortunately that's been one of those TV conventions that tends to send shows on a downward spiral. The Office has already barely survived the marriage of two leads (another frequent show killer), so to now add a baby to the mix is just asking for shark-jumping trouble. While a drama like Friday Night Lights, which is built around familial struggles, or a series like Friends, where characters mostly forget about their kids, can sustain their quality levels postpartum, plenty of other programs haven't fared as well after the stork dropped off its little bundle (or two) of joy. Here's a look back at some of the unwelcome arrivals that put a damper on once-successful shows.
Full House
This show may have launched the infamous Olsen twins, but those babies weren't at fault for taking this sitcom from cutesy family sitcom to a painful-to-watch shadow of its former self. That honor belongs to the introduction of a second set of twins, the product of former ladies man Uncle Jesse and his wife Aunt Becky. Those twin boys were just annoying and clearly a desperate attempt by producers to maintain the show's "aww" quotient once the Olsens had outgrown their toddler years.
Murphy Brown
She may have started a battle against the then Vice President Dan Quayle (who may or may not have understood that this was a fictional TV show) by being a professional single woman who decided to have a baby on her own, but immediately after the birth of little Avery, this once edgy (for its time) show about an ambitious broadcast journalist changed for the worse. Suddenly, it became focused on Murphy's personal life instead of her career, which was originally what made the series compelling. Don't even get us started on when Avery grew up and became Haley Joel Osment. We see a dead series.
Beverly Hills, 90210
It didn't kill the show, but it sure killed a character when former virgin Andrea got pregnant in her freshman year of college and decided to keep the baby. This soapy drama went from being about self-involved high school students to focusing way too much time one a failing marriage and childcare problems. We weren't sad at all when Ms. Zuckerman packed up and moved to the East Coast.
Mad About You
It was inevitable for a show that centered around a married couple that the subject of a baby would come up. But the funny bickering between Paul and Jamie had already started to get tiresome by the time they brought a daughter on to the show. They made matters worse by saddling that girl with the name Mabel. Poor girl. Poor viewers.
Growing Pains
It was bad enough that this show felt the need to add an infant to a family that already had three children, but it was downright awful when that child had rapid aging syndrome and went from diapers to second grade overnight (or over the summer hiatus). Did they think no one would notice?
7th Heaven
Not that this show was ever particularly good, but when they started adding babies all the time, it really got to be too much. Not one set of twins, but two sets of twins by different members of the family at the same time? Not only annoying, but downright unbelievable. They should have taken a lesson from a classic TV show and learned that seven (or eight) is enough.
Family Ties
Similar to other classic sitcoms, Family Ties tried to keep the cuteness factor going when the youngest child got too old. So they added a tiny new member to the family in the form of Andrew. While we liked Alex's (Michael J. Fox) interaction with his suddenly post-toddler-aged brother, the addition just seemed so unnecessary since the show was all about teens anyway.
Angel
Talk about kid bring a show down, the arrival of Connor (the rare offspring of two vampires) dragged this series straight to hell, literally. This baby was nothing but trouble and was abducted to another dimension only to return as an obnoxious teenager. It took two seasons of Mad Men before we finally forgave Vincent Kartheiser for his involvement in this mess.
Roseanne
When actresses get pregnant, it isn't always wise to write that into the show's storyline. In fact, while we laugh at women hiding behind gigantic purses or houseplants to hide baby bumps, that's far better than adding an unnecessary character to a show. Roseanne decided to add a fourth kid to its household and to name him, of all things, Jerry Garcia (after the legendary Grateful Dead front man). We were already getting disenchanted with this show at that point, but the arrival of little Jerry (who was supposed to be a girl and then changed to match Roseanne's real-life child) sped up the show's demise - which is saying a lot considering they used to change the actress playing Becky back and forth without any repercussions.
Dexter
We thought that John Lithgow was the new addition that was going to annoy us during the last season of Dexter, but we were wrong. Instead, it was the arrival of Harrison that got under our skin -- or rather, Rita's increased nagging, which was brought on by having the baby. Thankfully, the producers seem to have found a way to solve this problem, so hopefully everything will be back on track for next season.
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While I agree that Family Ties went downhill when Andrew was introduced, I don't think it was because the youngest kid didn't bring the cute anymore. She was never really a classic sit-com "cute kid" - she was always a prickly tomboy. I'm pretty sure she was intended to be yet another example of the premise of the show - we are aging hippies who somehow gave birth to children who are totally different from us.
I don't know about anyone else, but I honestly don't think Baby Halpert is going to play that big of a role in the plot of the show. I think the "idea" that Jim/Pam are parents will ... but the baby itself will mostly be referenced off-camera ... just my prediction.
I don't agree with the assessment of Dexter at all, and labelling Rita as "nagging" is just disgusting. Even if she was (which she wasn't), so what? She can't have hopes and desires and expectations too? God forbid she's anything but a ray of sunshine. Them uppity wimmins!
Am I the only one who DIDN'T hate Rita on Dexter? And I liked seeing a different side of Dexter when they had Harrison. The theme of family was great this season.
Ah, okay apparently I'm not the only one.
Plus Harrison is one of the cutest babies ever! (Without giving rise to annoying cutesy poo storylines). He integrates nicely with Dexter and we can't help but wonder - does he also carry the serial killer gene?
Murphy Brown still had a few good years after the baby was born.
But yeah, the baby did kill Andrea the character on 90210. She wasn't the most fun or interesting of the girls, but she was a nice counter-balance to them. In hind-sight, the should've written around the actresses pregnancy...
I didn't have a problem with the baby on Growing Pains, I just didn't get the need to rapidly age her...
I can't tell you how happy I am that the HIMYM writers were smart enough not to write Aly Hannigan's pregnancy into the storyline.
Charmed also got ruined by baby. As soon as Wyatt came around it was more about who was going to go after the baby/can Phoebe find someone to knock her up as her biological clock is ticking away and less about strong female character growth.
Classy as always, folks. To boil down an eye-popping heartrending end to a season of a great television show as necessary to burn off Julie Benz (who did a nice job as Rita) and who you folks should remember fondly for her turn as Darla on Angel (in spite of the Connor associations) is...well, it's both silly and insulting.
Sam's baby on Without a Trace. The least maternal character on television becomes a single mom during a one night stand. Yeesh!
Baby Connor was adorable and it was cute to see Angel get all baby crazy. It was when that obnoxious little snit (who, for having 2 hot parents didn't seem to pick up the hot gene) came back as an oedipal teenager that I started wishing they had never gone down that road. God I hated able to talk (and sulk) Connor!!
So, yeah.. i hate babies, RL and on TV. they are the ultimate jump the shark and don't add anything to a story.
too bad Rita & the whole fam of hers didn't get off'ed on Dexter (c'mon that Astor girl was getting to be pain, too!) baby included...THEN we would see some unleashed Dexter really trying to fight his dark passenger. and before you get all horrified we're talking about a TV SHOW! Like Criminal Minds peeps this stuff ain't real.
Marriages alone will sometimes do it, and often if they have characters get married they run straight to babies. It is as though there can be nothing else to write about after marrying off two characters. Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (two of my favorite preteen/teen year shows) were both killed by marriages and baby carriages. My parents favorite show of the '90s, The Nanny, went down the same way. X-Files, too, although there were other problems by the end.
I loved everything about season four of Dexter. It's by far the best one. And I'm still sad that Rita's dead.
I know this show was never recapped on TWoP, but if you want to see a show that suffered from a baby addition look no further than Xena Warrior Princess. The story drug on and on and then to get rid of the baby they leap 25 years into the future.
To see how it's done right for a sitcom, look no further than Friends.
She was annoying, plain and simple. When you tune into a show about a serial killer, you don't want to hear his wife about running the kids around and being overwhelmed.
Well honestly, I think some people get adding babies to the show mixed up with a show that's dying already. I don't think babies make any show worse because most of these shows were circling the drain at this time anyways. Mad About You, Charmed, Beverly Hills (they didn't handle college really well), Growing Pains, Family Ties, Fresh Prince, etc. Take your pick. Shows staying on the air too long kills shows more than babies every could.
Actually, the first 2 years of 90210 when they were in college were still awesome (Andrea's story in season 2 aside), and the last 2 years were hit or miss...it wasn't till they graduated from college that I started thinking "Why is this still on?"
I hated the baby on Angel- given that all Angel did was coo at the infant. But teenage Connor - who came back and sunk his vampire daddy to the bottom of the ocean for 3 months - I liked him.
I liked Connor too. The way he came back and just started effing up the Angel team hooked me. Anyone who can spawn the line "Peter Pan is kicking our ass" is alright with me. Plus the show continued after his arrival and got better.
Baby Halpert is not the infant killing The Office. That would be one Michael Gary Scott.
Most of these are true. But I guess it just depends on what you're going to do with the baby. I love Modern Family, because it focuses on a lot of Lily's expressions, and those are just hilarious. An adorable, adorable, adorable baby--and a super hilarious one, too. I love that show!
Don't forget Married with Children - that show did it twice when Peg got pregnant (then doubly killed itself when the whole thing turned out to be a dream after Katey Sagal lost her baby), and also with the addition of Peg's nephew Seven, who came to live with them after his parents abandoned him and then mysteriously disappeared when the writers realized no one liked him.
I'll say it too: I found Rita naggy and annoying. Saying this doesn't mean I'm chauvinistic or a misogynist. It just means that she was grating.
WOW! Angie
REPLY
While I agree that Family Ties went downhill... see very first post.
You nailed it on the dot to bad that dot was a blurred memory of 2 different shows rolled into 1.
Family ties = hippy parents and a new boy.
growing pains = none hippy parents, tom boy girl, which did not fit the mold of the family!.
but really growing pains went down him when they took in I horrible actor as a homeless teen who can only play 1 part in every thing he has ever been in. Poor kid who fights back!.
Baby Halpert will likely be just like the babies on Scrubs. They gave the characters some depth but they weren't main characters because the show wasn't focusing on home life.
Rita was an annoying, but necessary character. I loved how much her involvement with Dexter added to the story line and I'm stoked to see how Dexter's relationship with the kids changes in season 5.
Hello? Scrappy Doo.
Baby Halpert will likely be just like the babies on Scrubs. They gave the characters some depth but they weren't main characters because the show wasn't focusing on home life.
Add Ghost Whisperer to the list. Although it jumped the shark when Jim got killed/became Sam, the addition of a baby didn't help. And then they aged the kid five years and yeah... it's pretty much crap now. I'll be surprised if it comes back next season.
Add me to the folks who liked Dexters family and didn't think Rita was doing anythin really annoying, I thought Dexter's family so compelling sicne he attributed all of his interpersonal problems to being a serial killer not realising that a lot of it are the same things everyone deals with and many struggle with.
Anyways I agree those of you who say it's not really the baby it's just many show add babies as a last dicth effort to add something new into the show and it always fails since the babie doesn't really have thier own personlity so it's just the same stale charactors changing dipears or they ignore that there is a baby and make the charactors look like bad parents.
OMG i love the show Dexter but hated rita, she was by far the most annoying girl. Noone should be that naggy to their husband for no reason, i was so happy when she got killed off. And it will be interesting to see how Dexter juggles life and murdering!
Amen! That was the most ridiculous thing I ever saw. And you could see the death of that show coming a mile away.
The problem I had with the baby on Angel is that the writers could never think up a logical/believable explanation for it. And then they just went OTT when Cordy got pregnant and went all evil. Talk about babies killing that show!
The babies are a 'jump the shark' gimmick for TV shows that are already slipping. They are an effect not a cause.
I loved Cordy's evil pregnancy! And I loved the character Connor, who was so matter of fact about wanting to kill his father and screw his mother figure (Cordy). And how they worked him into the final season after Angel had everyone's memories tampered with. And I also loved Rita on Dexter. She seemed very real to me, although the whole kissed the neighbor subplot was beyond annoying. I was sad to see her go. Poor Julie Benz seems to die a miserable death on every series she's on. I can only imagine what tragic end she will meet on Desperate Housewives.
There was an old Godzilla cartoon back in the day and they ruined it with a baby as well... Godzooky or some such thing. I hated Scrappy... was hoping someone would run him over with the Mystery Machine or something.
@Akelly75
But on Modern Family the baby has been there from the start vs. the writers looking for something to spice up the characters with a la BRO&SIS Scotty/Kevin.
Fresh Prince. Little Nicky was awful.
I agree about Ghost Whisperer... I dealt with the death of Jim who jumped into Sam but once they skipped ahead 5 years after she had Aiden I was done. I still watch, but I don't care if it comes back or not.
You forgot The X-Files - that was just a disaster. I'd still like to slap Chris Carter.
You forgot about Alias and how a series based around Lead Girl kissing ass and jumping from buildings just doesn't really work when said girl gets pregnant and can't do that no more. :(
I watch tv as escape from the crushing grind of my life, and watching people have babies on tv reminds me of the crushing grind of my life
LOL.. You do realise that Alex was a boy on Family Ties and the Kid in the Blank Check, he is in prison now for drugs