EW.com's Michael Ausiello posted this blind item yesterday: "A major female character on a popular and highly rated hour-long drama series will learn that she's pregnant next month."Other tidbits: The expectant character isn't thrilled to be pregnant. The timing, both personally and professionally, is really bad. The baby daddy's going through some stuff. And the bun in her oven may have company.
Ok, let's speculate here. My first thought is that it's Meredith Grey on Grey's Anatomy, since her real-life alter-ego Ellen Pompeo actually IS pregnant. But the timing isn't all that bad. She and Derek are getting married. They can use a distraction with Izzie's cancer taking center stage. And although he's had some issues, Derek seems to have pulled it together.
My next idea is that maybe it's Cristina Yang. It would be a horrible time for her, since she's so driven to claw her way up the medical ladder at Seattle Grace. Plus, if the baby daddy is Owen Hunt, he's seriously messed up after trying to choke Cristina, and he's seeing a therapist.
Some other ideas:
Izzie Stevens, Grey's Anatomy. The timing couldn't be worse, what with her struggling with cancer. Then again, if she survives long enough to have the baby, it could take the series in a whole new direction.
Bree Hodge, Desperate Housewives. She shunned Orson's ridiculous request to shut down her business, so she's full-steam ahead there. And things really aren't all that great with Orson. She should have kicked him out long ago, but he's been playing the "I went to prison for you" card long enough.
Cuddy, House. She and House have been playing cat and mouse since the series started, and it would make for a really interesting storyline if House ended up being a dad. Heck, it might even make him seem human again.
Kate, Lost. She and Jack hooked up right before they got on Flight 316. And everyone is always messed up on that show, not to mention everything is always bad timing, no matter what.
Melinda, Ghost Whisperer. With Jim's memories merging back into Jim 2.0/Sam, a baby is a real possibility here. And because of Jim dying and his memories coming back to Sam, it's pretty messed up with Melinda, in general.
So what do you think? Any of my ideas viable? Share your own thoughts in the comments.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-25-2009 @ 9:48AM
Edano said...
Hello, Very interesting post. Thanks for the post.
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4-25-2009 @ 10:00AM
Tim said...
My guess is Lexie Grey, simply because she kept eating all the last episode...
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4-25-2009 @ 10:14AM
Dorv said...
Jane, I think there's also a very important part of Ausiello's post you might have missed:
"Of course, there's an added wrinkle I have yet to mention. The bun in her oven? It may have company. "
Which either implies twins (Which I doubt), or that another character on the show might be pregnant.
My guesses: Christina Yang as the main (Hunt needing the fixing mentioned), and Lexi as the secondary possibility.
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4-25-2009 @ 11:12AM
AL said...
Assuming that the show being referred to is Grey's:
They had decided long ago that they weren't going to write in CL's pregnancy. KMK said in interviews that Owen and Cristina were going to be thrown a huge "curveball" before the end of the season that'll be both "good and bad", so people have been speculating that it's a pregnancy for a long time. However, this was before EP announced her real-life pregnancy, so nothing says that something like this couldn't or wouldn't call for script rewrites. Two pregnant main characters on the show would be too many, and if they decide that hiding two pregnancies is too much of a hassle, they may decide to rewrite what was originally supposed to be Cristina's pregnancy into Meredith's.
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4-25-2009 @ 11:54AM
Kris said...
Based on last night's episode, Melinda from Ghost Whisperer is pregnant. The baby's daddy, Jim/Sam, is obviously going through stuff right now, although they did figure out that she became pregnant before Jim became Sam. Also, with Ghost Whisperer, who knows who else could be keeping the baby company. Maybe the unborn child of someone who died while pregnant.
That being said, I'm probably completely off base. Also, wasn't there a rumor of someone being pregnant on Fringe at the end of this season?
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5-01-2009 @ 10:35PM
Annabel said...
As soon as I realized Kate and Jack were going to sleep together before the big flight, I thought "Oh my God! Kate's going to get pregnant!"
Desmond's mother did say that the conditions had to be as similar to the first crash as possible so having a pregnant woman on board would definitely help with that!
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5-01-2009 @ 6:02PM
mandy said...
omg!!
when they said that the conditions of the flight must be the same, i was thinking (after the crash but before we knew what happened to frank and sun and all them) there must have been a prego woman on 316!! IT WAS KATE!!!!!
4-25-2009 @ 1:49PM
Adam Bezark said...
Kate being pregnant on LOST is certainly an interesting possibility. Pregnancy and the island are a big sub-plot, and Kate's got a big "mommy hole" since she gave up Aaron.
The other interesting LOST possibility is Juliet. She's a maternity specialist who knows the dangers of getting pregnant on the island. And she's currently shacking up with Sawyer, who pretty much defines the word "issues."
And having BOTH women pregnant would be REALLY interesting for the Kate/Jack/Sawyer/Juliet "Quadrangle."
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4-25-2009 @ 1:17PM
shadowracer said...
Yang would be super pissed off if she was pregnant.
And Hunt has some pretty serious issues.
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4-25-2009 @ 5:51PM
bruce said...
Of course it's Meredith Grey. Unless Shonda Rhimes ties down Ellen Pompeo and forces her to get an abortion, they'll have no choice but to write her pregnancy into the show.
As I was saying in another post, I find it horrible that lead actresses on TV shows are constantly getting pregnant, ruining the shows they (voluntarily) star in as main characters. It's their responsibility to NOT get pregnant, and if it's not in their contracts it sure should be. They'd never let Ellen Pompeo gain 200 pounts or get a big tattoo on her face, so why is it okay for her to get pregnant? So, unless she's done the responsible thing and had an abortion, her character will have to get pregnant. She's too much of a main character to shoot a whole season of nothing but face-shots. Even worse, I think the character of meredith gray would never want a child (at least not at this time in her life) and wouldn't hesitate two seconds to go get an abortion were she to get pregnant now. She'd probably have Christina do it for her during lunch in the on-call room. So not only will a Meredeth pregnancy be forced upon the writers, it won't be something even remotely within-character.
I think Ellen Pompeo should have to give back some of her huge $100k+/episode salary since she's thrown the writers/producers of the show a huge curveball that they won't be able to ameliorate. Why don't they require lead actresses to take birth control? If they want to have kids, wonderful, more power to them - just don't try out for and accept the part. Get another job.
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4-25-2009 @ 7:47PM
Dorv said...
Yes, after I've given it some time, and really thought about it, your opinion sounds just as ridiculous as it did before.
At the end of the day, why don't you just let the showrunners decide what to do with their shows instead of instead of trying to impose your ideas on them. Why don't we ask Rhimes, or Bays & Thomas from HIMYM, what they think? I'm sure you'd be very disappointed.
4-26-2009 @ 1:25AM
Jessica said...
Um, did you just advocate manditory birth control for television actresses? REALLY?! That is the single most ridiculous post I've ever seen on any blog....EVER! That's all I'm going to say about that, because you obviously posted this to get a reaction. And if this is what you truly believe, then you have other issues that should not be discussed in a public forum. *rolls eyes*
4-27-2009 @ 10:03AM
Sohrab Simani said...
STOP POSTING YOUR HATE!!
Take a cold shower or something.
4-25-2009 @ 6:25PM
Ned said...
Seeing as Izzie is on chemo, I don't think that getting pregnant is possible, at all.
In response to the "actresses shouldn't get pregnant" comment, I think that's a little ridiculous. She's been on the show for five seasons, she's 39 years old, the window to have a child is probably closing rapidly. Meredith isn't exactly a character who needs to be seen in full length. Scrubs hide things, medical charts hide things, sitting down looking at computers and xrays hide things. I don't see this being a major issue.
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4-26-2009 @ 1:55AM
Siddharth said...
Why not Juliet from Lost? She's shacking up with Sawyer...
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4-26-2009 @ 2:47AM
bruce said...
I'm not saying there should be a law requiring mandatory birth control for TV actresses, and for them to be thrown in prison if they violate it. I'm saying "Actress will not get pregnant" should be one of the most basic conditions of any actress's contract when she signs on to take a major recurring part in a TV series. The actress can determine on her own how she avoids pregnancy. Birth control, celibacy, contraception, or just having abortions all the time. Do you think it's ridiculous to require an actor in a major recurring part on a TV show to not significantly gain weight? We can't have Dr. House weighing 300 pounds all of a sudden because Hugh Laurie decides to become a competitive pie eater during his free time. Actresses getting pregnant is no different. Insofar as it only effects women, well that's just the nature of pregancy. If men got pregnant then the same contractual conditions should apply to them, too.
I can't imagine that "not getting pregnant" is not already a condition of actresses contracts for big parts on TV shows. To not put that in there would be a grossly negligent oversight on the part of the producers. The question is why they're not enforcing their contracts.
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4-26-2009 @ 2:52AM
bruce said...
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/TV+EXECS+TESTIFY+IN+TYLO+SUIT%3B+%60MELROSE'+ACTRESS+FIRED+FOR+BEING...-a083892443
There's an example of such a contract, which was breached and enforced by an actress who got pregnant. No "material change in appearance" (which includes pregnancy). I assure you EVERY contract for EVERY TV actor/actress in a significant, recurring part contains such a clause in it. Why are so many actresses getting pregnant in breach of their contracts, and why are they not getting their big pregnant asses sued for breach of contract? No writers should have to change the overall plot of a TV show or "write around" a problem because an actress got knocked up in breach of her contract.
If you think this is mean because children are so beautiful and pregnancy is so wonderful, then you need to grow up.
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4-26-2009 @ 10:21AM
Dorv said...
No, we think you're an idiot.
You wonder why a lawsuit like this hasn't been brought since?
4-26-2009 @ 11:42AM
bruce said...
I wonder why the "no material change in appearance" clauses in their contracts are not enforced against actresses like Ellen Pompeo who get pregnant.
Why don't you explain why you think I'm wrong instead of calling names like a 10 year old.
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4-26-2009 @ 6:22PM
Dorv said...
If I were twelve, I wouldn't know that 'idiot' isn't a name, it was used, in this situation, as an adjective (or possibly an adverb).
Why do you feel the need to enforce your moral structure on these showrunners? If they thought it was the 'right thing to do,' then they would have. Obviously they don't share your opinion.
Furthermore, you are wrong because of the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993. Employees, male or female, are allowed by law twelve (12) weeks of unpaid time for various reasons, but specifically including the birth of a child.
If your really wanted to throw that lawsuit in our face, perhaps a bit more research was in order. Tylo, after being fired, sued (in this case based on discrimination, not not specifically FMLA) the production company, and won to the tune of $4.8 million.