On TV Shows With Pregnant Actresses
Jan. 19th, 2014 11:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
teleen_fictionNote: There is a TON of other, far more important stuff going on in my life about which I may one day blog (it's all on Facebook, so if we're friends, friend me there, just send me a message so I know who you are, LOL), but this came up for the nth time tonight and I found that I just couldn't take it anymore...
Okay, so, NCIS: LA is the reason I'm blogging tonight, but this has annoyed me for a very long time, so I'm going to take each annoyance in general chronological order.
Newhart: The blonde woman's pregnancy, which I didn't know happened until after the fact because, as my dad noted, "They had her standing around with trays all the time." So, in that case, I guess you achieved your objective. You fooled a child.
Star Trek: DS9: Kira carrying Keiko and O'Brien's baby due to a shuttle accident causing Keiko to almost miscarry - EXCELLENT use of Sci-Fi to hide an actress' pregnancy, mostly because you DIDN'T TRY TO HIDE IT!!! This is the only one on the list that didn't actually annoy me, but it's so cool that I had to share it, LOL.
Star Trek: Voyager: Changing Torres' uniform and ONLY her uniform... Sigh, though I do give you points for writing the two-parter that took place in the holodeck where the bad aliens wiped her memory (along with the rest of the crew's) gave her a fake, holographic baby.
Frasier: Of all the ones on this list, Daphne's "weight gain," which necessitated her wearing a rather insulting fat suit and subsequent going to a weight-loss camp is bottom line, the WORST way of hiding a pregnancy ever written into any show I've watched. Literally the only good thing about it is when she's first away, Niles mentions that she's lost the exact weight of the actress' baby already. It was a fatphobic storyline that was simply, utterly crass.
Alias: The pregnancy was unplanned, so I give them kudos for eventually writing it in. Even so, the sight of Sydney holding a damn SCARF over her arm to hide her baby bump during a club scene is something I won't ever forget.
Law & Order SVU: Olivia wore a lot of big coats a lot of the time, then got stabbed, and then transferred to the computer section (something that they rarely mention even when it would be helpful/relevant). I spent less time watching the episodes and more time trying to spot the bump.
CSI: NY: *growl* Lindsay has to be a survivor of a horrific crime to hide her pregnancy? She goes back to Montana to testify. Also, more big coats. Crime shows really need to come up with something else, sigh.
Life: Reese was going to be kidnapped by another law enforcement agency, but the show was cancelled before they could insult us further.
The Mentalist: Grace Van Pelt hiding behind tables and desks for an entire season is more annoying than big coats and IS on par with Newhart, the difference between this and Newhart being that The Mentalist isn't for kids. She also went away to learn computers, but at least they're USING THAT NOW!!!
NCIS: LA - if you're going to go to the trouble of filming scenes for future episodes and putting Kensi in huge clothes (she was wearing a burqa for a little while tonight) and flak jackets, DON'T LET THE AUDIENCE SEE HER VERY OBVIOUS BABY BUMP WHEN SHE LEANS BACK AT THE END OF THE EPISODE!!! At least on the Mentalist, Grace was ALWAYS behind something, even in that ridiculous episode when she was rolling file boxes along...
So what's my point here? I'm not sure, only that I think in today's era of body/stunt doubles and green screen technology, there should be a better way of hiding a pregnancy than having the actresses stand behind a lot of plants or sit at desks. Oh, and you'll notice that I used the character's names rather than the actresses. My reasons were two-fold. One, laziness - I didn't feel like Googling. The other is that it totally throws me out of the story every. Damn. TIME!!!
Also, again, especially in the age of the internet, they aren't fooling anyone except those who are super unobservant who also life under pop culture rocks. It feels like the height of laziness to not find SOME way of dealing with it when an actress gets pregnant. In the non-Hollywood world, babies happen, planned and unplanned. It would be nice if shows wouldn't insult our intelligence while denying reality, sigh, though I suppose that last sentence is the DEFINITION of Hollywood, LOL.
Okay, so, NCIS: LA is the reason I'm blogging tonight, but this has annoyed me for a very long time, so I'm going to take each annoyance in general chronological order.
Newhart: The blonde woman's pregnancy, which I didn't know happened until after the fact because, as my dad noted, "They had her standing around with trays all the time." So, in that case, I guess you achieved your objective. You fooled a child.
Star Trek: DS9: Kira carrying Keiko and O'Brien's baby due to a shuttle accident causing Keiko to almost miscarry - EXCELLENT use of Sci-Fi to hide an actress' pregnancy, mostly because you DIDN'T TRY TO HIDE IT!!! This is the only one on the list that didn't actually annoy me, but it's so cool that I had to share it, LOL.
Star Trek: Voyager: Changing Torres' uniform and ONLY her uniform... Sigh, though I do give you points for writing the two-parter that took place in the holodeck where the bad aliens wiped her memory (along with the rest of the crew's) gave her a fake, holographic baby.
Frasier: Of all the ones on this list, Daphne's "weight gain," which necessitated her wearing a rather insulting fat suit and subsequent going to a weight-loss camp is bottom line, the WORST way of hiding a pregnancy ever written into any show I've watched. Literally the only good thing about it is when she's first away, Niles mentions that she's lost the exact weight of the actress' baby already. It was a fatphobic storyline that was simply, utterly crass.
Alias: The pregnancy was unplanned, so I give them kudos for eventually writing it in. Even so, the sight of Sydney holding a damn SCARF over her arm to hide her baby bump during a club scene is something I won't ever forget.
Law & Order SVU: Olivia wore a lot of big coats a lot of the time, then got stabbed, and then transferred to the computer section (something that they rarely mention even when it would be helpful/relevant). I spent less time watching the episodes and more time trying to spot the bump.
CSI: NY: *growl* Lindsay has to be a survivor of a horrific crime to hide her pregnancy? She goes back to Montana to testify. Also, more big coats. Crime shows really need to come up with something else, sigh.
Life: Reese was going to be kidnapped by another law enforcement agency, but the show was cancelled before they could insult us further.
The Mentalist: Grace Van Pelt hiding behind tables and desks for an entire season is more annoying than big coats and IS on par with Newhart, the difference between this and Newhart being that The Mentalist isn't for kids. She also went away to learn computers, but at least they're USING THAT NOW!!!
NCIS: LA - if you're going to go to the trouble of filming scenes for future episodes and putting Kensi in huge clothes (she was wearing a burqa for a little while tonight) and flak jackets, DON'T LET THE AUDIENCE SEE HER VERY OBVIOUS BABY BUMP WHEN SHE LEANS BACK AT THE END OF THE EPISODE!!! At least on the Mentalist, Grace was ALWAYS behind something, even in that ridiculous episode when she was rolling file boxes along...
So what's my point here? I'm not sure, only that I think in today's era of body/stunt doubles and green screen technology, there should be a better way of hiding a pregnancy than having the actresses stand behind a lot of plants or sit at desks. Oh, and you'll notice that I used the character's names rather than the actresses. My reasons were two-fold. One, laziness - I didn't feel like Googling. The other is that it totally throws me out of the story every. Damn. TIME!!!
Also, again, especially in the age of the internet, they aren't fooling anyone except those who are super unobservant who also life under pop culture rocks. It feels like the height of laziness to not find SOME way of dealing with it when an actress gets pregnant. In the non-Hollywood world, babies happen, planned and unplanned. It would be nice if shows wouldn't insult our intelligence while denying reality, sigh, though I suppose that last sentence is the DEFINITION of Hollywood, LOL.
