Here’s our list of the best and the worst pregnancies/babies to hit the small screen.
Worst: Lori & Rick (The Walking Dead)
Oh boy. Laurie’s pregnancy was met with a frustrated groan from the audience during the already boring Season 2 of The Walking Dead, and it just got worse from there. Little Judy’s only positive addition to the show was giving the writers an excuse to kill Laurie off. Sorry sweetie, the fans just hated you. Plain and simple.
Best: Lily & Marshall (How I Met Your Mother)
Some people might wonder why it took so long for Lily to get pregnant, but I think it came at just the right time, when Marshall had finished dealing with the grief of losing his father. After almost a full season of navigating silly pregnancy plots, Lily finally gave birth to Marvin Wait-For-It Erickson. Best. Name. Ever.
Best: Meredith & Derek (Grey’s Anatomy)
After finding out she was practically infertile, Meredith and Derek decided to adopt, and we got Zola! And then surprise, surprise, Meredith conceived a baby boy. Her pregnancy worked well in the show with just the right amount of tension and danger, and I’ll never forget the adorable way Meredith told Derek she was pregnant.
Worst: Hayley & Klaus (The Originals)
As cute as Baby Hope is, I have to dole out some harsh truths. Babies and vampires just don’t mix, Twilight taught us that. Hayley’s pregnancy dragged on forever, and then they ultimately had to send the baby offscreen while they figured out what to do with her. Now, the decision to bring her back as a magical messiah might have been overdoing it a bit.
Best: Rachel & Ross (Friends)
Rachel’s pregnancy provided for some of the best laugh-out-loud moments on Friends, and Emma was around just enough to be cute and kept away just enough to avoid being annoying. More importantly, an entire generation of TV viewers now know that condoms are only 97% effective. Important life lessons being learned here.
Worst: Brennan & Booth (Bones)
Procedurals have a hard time with pregnancy, mainly because as much as the audience loves the main characters, they’re mainly there for the murder mystery, not to see their favorite crime fighters discover the miracle of life. Booth and Brennan navigating the waters of parenthood doesn’t exactly mesh too well with their constant hunt for serial killers.
Best: Lola & Francis (Reign)
Lola’s pregnancy caused lots of drama among the royals, with Francis and Mary happily married while Lola carried his bastard child. Oh, the intrigue! Reign has done a good job of keeping this love triangle ambiguous, but Francis’ son might just be pushing him closer to Lola and further from Mary.
Worst: Sydney & Vaughn (Alias)
The best thing about watching Alias every week was seeing Sydney Bristow tackle terrorists and jump out of moving trains. Pregnant Sydney pretty much just sat around the office all day. Worse, she was replaced by a far less intimidating and charismatic blonde, Rachel. There’s a reason this show did not survive past Season 5.
Best: Mellie & Fitz (Scandal)
This one almost made the worst pregnancies list because it was a totally fake fix-it pregnancy to boost Mellie and Fitz’s marriage and thus his presidency. Plus, little Teddy has rarely made appearances on the show. But it stays a winner because it’s further proof of just how FAR Mellie is willing to go to succeed politically. We need more women like her on TV.
Worst: Amber & Ryan (Parenthood)
This tiny tot only gets a bad grade because of how wildly unfit Amber was to be a parent. The support of a loving family doesn’t change the fact that Amber was an unemployed 20-year-old and Ryan was dealing with a pill dependency and some sort of PTSD. Naming him after Grandpa Zeek sure was cute though.
Best: Maleficent (Once Upon a Time)
The details of Maleficent’s pregnancy are still a little mysterious, but I’m loving what I see so far. Her history with King Stefan brought a whole new dimension to her character, and the heartbroken little shake of her unborn child’s rattle gets me every time. Poor Maleficent.
Worst: Cyrus & James (Scandal)
Yes, I know it’s an adoption, but it still counts! I’m a huge fan of James and Cyrus adopting their baby girl together, and how much Cyrus came to love her. But, um, where the heck has this kid been the last six months? Have we even seen her? Has Cyrus mentioned her at all? Someone call child protective services, pronto!
Best: Juliette & Avery (Nashville)
First we thought the daddy was Jeff, then we thought Avery and Juliette would never speak to each other again, then we got a surprise wedding that stunned us all. Now these two artists are more dedicated to each other than ever, and we’re all waiting for Juliette to welcome her baby girl to the world!
Worst: Piper & Leo (Charmed)
Wyatt was adorable, don’t get me wrong. But he fell victim to “Magical-Baby-Syndrome” as most supernatural pregnancies do. Wyatt was not only all powerful (and sometimes all knowing), he was also the victim of kidnapping at least two or three time a season. We get it. Your baby is awesome. Can we get back to the good stuff now?
Best: Gloria & Jay (Modern Family)
No one can forget the hilarity of Gloria’s pregnancy, or the hijinks that ensued because of it. It’s impossible to pick a favorite moment, whether its her pregnancy brain or wrapping up her practice baby like a burrito. Not to mention, she totally rocked those non-maternity clothes.
Worst: Angel & Darla (Angel)
I’ll say it again: babies and vampires don’t mix. Aging baby Connor (via a hell dimension time portal) was a good choice with a poor execution. Teenage Connor was just as annoying as Baby Connor, and eventually the show ended up getting rid of him all together.
Best: April & Jackson (Grey’s Anatomy)
Devastating as it was, April’s pregnancy was handled perfectly on this season of Grey’s Anatomy. We got to feel the excitement, the anxiety, and ultimately the heartbreak that April and Jackson felt along the way. The tragedy of little Samuel’s death brought most of us to tears, and that’s when you know you’ve succeeding in creating a great story.
Worst: Mac & Will (The Newsroom)
This was less of a storyline and more of an announcement in the Newsroom series finale, but I’d still argue it was a misstep. The idea that Mac, a happily married woman with a great career in her mid-40s, needed a pregnancy to wrap up the show is a little insulting. Some women can have their happily ever after without ever popping one out, you know?
Best: Anne & Aramis (The Musketeers)
I can’t decide what the best part of this baby storyline is. The way we got to skip over the entire pregnancy between seasons, or how long Anne and Aramis have acutally been able to keep the secret that the Prince of France is an illegitimate love child. Probably the love child thing.
Worst: Snow & Charming (Once Upon a Time)
I was ecstatic when I heard that the Charmings would be welcoming a new member to the royal family, but since then, my enthusiasm has waned. Baby Neal pretty much just sits around burping all day – as most babies do. When there are high-stakes battles between the forces of good and evil waging every week, I kind of resent having to account for an infant’s whereabouts all the time.
Best: Amy & Rory (Doctor Who)
If you’re going to do a sci-fi baby, this is how you do it. We didn’t have to deal with typical pregnancy setbacks like Amy being out of commission for 9 months, or everyone toting a baby around the Tardis. And in the end, we got River Song. Who could ever ask for more?
