Sometimes actresses get pregnant, and writing it into the show is not always an option.
Instead, shows have to get creative and find ways to hide the pregnancies. This has been done numerous ways, from shooting only the neck up, having the actress mostly sitting, or plopping random objects in front of them.
Some of these shows legitimately tried to hide the pregnancies, while others opted to poke fun at the obvious baby bumps.
Check out our list of 17 of our favorite attempts to hide a pregnancy on TV!
1. Snow - Once Upon A Time
Is she trying to hide a baby or did she just shoplift a tv? OUaT decided to write in Ginnifer Goodwin's pregnancy, but that only applied to Storybrook. The baby bump still had to be concealed for Snow's scenes in the Enchanted Forest, and they figured enormous cloaks were the way to go.
2. Amy - Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Amy's usual pant suits were probably not the best way to hide a pregnancy, so Brooklyn Nine-Nine sent Jake and Amy on a cruise full of flowy Hawaiian shirts, giant purses, and hand rails to use to cover Melissa Fumero's growing baby bump!
3. Olivia - Scandal
Scandal came up with all kinds of ways to hide Kerry Washington's pregnancy including strategic use of lamps. Still, this one is funny because she's sitting on the floor when there's a perfectly comfortable couch right behind her. It is probably a good thing they ended the season early, because they were clearly running out of ideas!
4. Leslie - Parks and Recreation
Not too many shows can say they used a time capsule to hide an actress's pregnancy, but Parks and Rec can! Leslie is holding all kinds of stuff in this picture, but was she supposed to be holding it a little lower? It's not exactly effective in hiding the bump.
5. Claire - Modern Family
Julie Bowen was pregnant with twins when shooting the pilot for Modern Family, so producers had to get creative - hiding her belly behind laundry, blankets, etc. Apparently her family even made a drinking game out of watching the pilot and drank every time they did something to hide it!
6. Meredith/Lexie/Arizona - Grey's Anatomy
Grey's had to go through this a few times. They shipped Arizona off to Africa for a couple of months, made Lexie "stress eat" and comment on the weight she was gaining, and had Meredith donate a portion of her liver to her father. At least Grey's can get away with baggy scrubs and large lab coats.