Popular TV shows that suffered from adding a baby

[caj]

What the thread title says.

What are some popular shows where the quality went downhill after a main character had a baby?

[achilles]

What the thread title says.

What are some popular shows where the quality went downhill after a main character had a baby?

But did these shows, whatever they are, suffer FROM adding a baby, or was adding a baby one symptom of a show that was already suffering? There is a saying about how you tell when a show has jumped the shark, which is when they have weddings, funerals, or births. Don't know how true it is, but it is there.

[caj]

But did these shows, whatever they are, suffer FROM adding a baby, or was adding a baby one symptom of a show that was already suffering? There is a saying about how you tell when a show has jumped the shark, which is when they have weddings, funerals, or births. Don't know how true it is, but it is there.

My example would be Jackie Harris from Roseanne. Jackie was one of the most entertaining and funny characters on the show and actress Laurie Metcalf had won 3 Emmys. But once Jackie had a baby, it was like she lost her brain. She was never the same afterwards.

But I will say there were other problems with the show so it was more than just the baby. But it was a BIG part of the show's decline IMO.

[Deathstroke]

Mad About You

[mortari]

Mork and Mindy went off the rails in the best possible way when they added Johnathan Winters as their new born baby.

[babyblob]

Married with Children was pretty bad the season they had Seven in it. But luckily that did not last long.

[caj]

The Jeffersons went downhill after Lionel and Jenny had Jessica. Too many episodes were of the grandparents mooning over baby Jessica.

[Captain Craig]

I see Married with Children has been mentioned.
I was grade school/middle school in the mid-80s but I recall Growing Pains adding a baby a few years into it's run and I think Family Ties also?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer S5 when the added Dawn through some mystical means.

[James Cameron]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer S5 when the added Dawn through some mystical means.

I wasn't the biggest fan of Season 5 but Dawn was definitely the highlight for me. I loved that character.

Conversely though, Angel flopped with their introduction of Connor. The main characters pushing around a baby carriage seriously undercut the serious tone they had cultivated by that point, but it got even worse when they aged him up. One of the absolute worst characters ever, Buffy never got that bad. No disrespect to Vincent Kartheiser.

[j9ac9k]

"Family Ties" - nobody needed that kid there.

[Frontier]

The Devil is a Part-Timer.

[Jim Kelly]

They all suffered for adding a baby. It's jumping the baby shark.

[Captain Craig]

I wasn't the biggest fan of Season 5 but Dawn was definitely the highlight for me. I loved that character.

Conversely though, Angel flopped with their introduction of Connor. The main characters pushing around a baby carriage seriously undercut the serious tone they had cultivated by that point, but it got even worse when they aged him up. One of the absolute worst characters ever, Buffy never got that bad. No disrespect to Vincent Kartheiser.

Shooooot. I forgot all about Connor. Yeah, that was a mess.

[LoganAlpha30X33]

And then the less said about Cordy and Conner having sex later on in the rewrites...the better...

[Android 17]

Is it bad that I'm one of the few people who liked Angel Season 4 better than Season 5?

Granted, I hate what both seasons did to Cordelia, but Connor didn't bug me as much lol.