BellaOnline Forums Relationships Married No Kids TV & Movies and representing the CF

Excellent post, Greenblue and Elise.

Yes, I've noticed this, too. And it's depressing, because t.v. writers can be really creative. And it amazes me that the only way they can end something is with a wedding or baby.

It makes sense that CFs aren't shown on tv too much, because women and minorities haven't been very well represented on t.v. historically. We must be a minority, because I only know three women that don't have kids!

I'm familiar with "jump the shark," but didn't know that they had a special section on people having babies. It makes sense, though.

I completely agree that having a baby temporarily gains women lots of attention. I think it might be their motiviation for having another baby when their "cute" kids get older. I can't imagine being that powerless that the only way I can get acknowledgement is by having a baby. But, yeah, it rings true for some of the lame women I know.

We just rented and watched the Lost series. The main character Kate is CF...though you never know if she'll remain that way. I hope so.

The show has some interesting themes about pregnancy. One of the main characters, Claire, is pregnant and has a baby on the island. Her situation is one of my fears about having a baby...that something goes wrong, like a natural disaster, terrorist attack, or whatever, and trying to survive without basic necessities...and having a baby to care of at the same time. In the show, Claire puts up a pretty good front and never complains about it, but that is really scary to me. It is such a helpless position to be in, to need someone else to support you.

My favorite CF couple was Kari and Doug on King of Queens. They did toss around the idea of having a baby but decided not to. I always enjoyed that show.I can't think of many CF characters on sitcoms. Now drama shows such as CSI many of those characters do not have children. It seems like if TV shows show the characters at home, they tend to have kids. If it revolves around their work, kids are rarely involved. I mean think about it, Law and Order...how many of the characters have kids? Or like I said CSI. Boston Legal? No kids, it takes place at the office.

You know, it is terrible that being CF and attractive would be a liability for someone. I was listening to the Wendy Williams radio show a few months back and she mentioned that she felt Tyra Banks would complete the "circle of life" and get married and have children. Thus, making her more of a role model than Oprah Winfrey, in her opinion. I didn't realize not having children was something that could make or break your career. But, outside of Brad Pitt, no one really goes into this as it relates to men.
"Jump the shark" (for those that don't know) refers to when Fonzie jumped over a row of sharks on Happy Days. Most feel that this is the moment Happy Days became unbelievable and not as good.
But, most tv shows do indeed "jump the shark" when they add pregnancy/babies. To me, it is an unwelcome sign that the show has run its course and no longer has anymore story lines worth watching.

Well my TiVo just jumped the shark. As I'm sitting here reading this I turned it on to see what it was up to. How ironic...

It is currently suggesting the movie "9 Months".

I DON'T think so!

Hi everybody - I'm glad I could open up such an interesting discussion. You all have made great points. I will say that we do watch Lost and are more into it now than ever (we've watched since the night the first episode premiered) and the pregnancy themes on it are very interesting. I do realize that Kate is CF, but I have to wonder where it's all going, since the inability to carry children to term when impregnated on the island is a theme.

Also, I was a long-time fan of King of Queens, and I loved that Doug & Carrie didn't automatically go the baby route - however, I watched the series finale when it aired last month, and although it was a cute finale, they did end up with kids - an adopted one, and a surprise pregnancy as well. It showed them in their own special kind of hell at the end, with two very young babies and also Carrie's father moving back into their house....it was crazy. I loved Mad About You, as well as Frasier, Friends, etc., but you're right in that there was some copping out by the writers when they decided to give characters on those shows storylines revolving around having children.

There is a Web site called "Jump the Shark", started by Jon Hein, who is now affiliated with the news team for Howard Stern's Sirius radio channels (DH and I are avid Howard Stern fans - say what you will, but he's a great interviewer and there is a lot of common sense talk on there, as well as very funny stuff in addition to all the oddballs that are on there as well) - anyway, the Jump the Shark site was recently purchased by TVGuide. It is truly interesting reading to see where others have thought beloved shows have "Jumped the Shark" - especially where pregnancy and babies are concerned.

It's an interesting point to bring up Diane Sawyer as one of the CF - I forgot about the fact that she never had children. It's a darn shame about that other anchor being too "CF and attractive" for The Today Show.

Thanks for the book recommendations, by the way. I'm not sure if they'd be for me b/c I'm not the world's biggest Sci-Fi fan, but I do like some Sci-Fi stuff....

I don't know what made me think of this, but there is a CF couple in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. It's one of my favorite movies of all time.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and her yuppy guy live next to the Griswolds, and their immaculate house gets destroyed continuously by their proximity. It's another example of what we talk about here a lot - CFs getting punished by default, when at the movies, restaurants, etc.s

dst lady, thanks for explaining about jump the shark!

Cindy, Emerald Wednesday and jmb glad to know I'm not the only sci-fi, McCaffery, and Star Trek TNG here! I also love, love Harry Potter (and enjoy the movies - usually if I have read the book the movie doesn't do it for me). You know, I think I need to put the STTNG DVD's on my list. That would be so cool to have at a moment's notice ... hmmm ... perhaps it would even spur me to work out. I gave up on paying gym fees that I'd go to for only a few months, and instead invested in a treadmill. So having the DVD;s would actually contribute to my health, right?

Jeannette, I think you make an excellent point about work-based vs. at-home based television. Perhaps a show like CSI that shows interesting and absorbing work, along with some kind of home life that could portray different lifestyle choices, would be really interesting. Let's say, a story line about a CF woman whose annoying colleagues pester her at work ...

Andie


Andie

There's a few e.g.s of singles who don't have kids - e.g. the characters in Seinfeld - (correct me if I'm wrong!) and Sex in the City (most don't have)
but I don't know of any couples.
Except something I watched (on DVD) last night:
Hart to Hart!
Mega bucks, exciting lives (solving crime) good looking, very much in love, happily married, great sex life and NO KIDS!
As I said on a different thread I was annoyed in "Charmed" - which I otherwise LOVE!! - that ALL the women ended up with kids (except for the one who died) and one of them even had two when they were fighting "demons" and a fake baby got burned up by one!
It's like, lady, you're lifestyle does NOT go with kids! DON'T HAVE EM!
I know of "Jump the Shark" and like it but I gotta find this baby thread!
Teen movies don't usually feature the kiddie thing but some are better than others!
I don't mind some movies about families or with kids as the leads or even a select few kids movies (although a lot of them I HATE!) but it would be VERY nice and refreshing to have some you know childfree characters!

Athena_Marina you're right... I loved Hart to Hart but had forgotten about that show. Jonathan and Jennifer were so good looking and so rich AND so childfree. They sure wouldn't have had time for chasing down crime if they had had kids!

Andie - I love Harry Potter too, books 1 & 3 in particular. I've already reserved my copy of book 7. I think that some of them are a little dark/nasty for kids though... I wish she had kept the series slightly lighter.