At the Emmy Awards ceremony last week, Aziz Ansari, funnyman of “Parks and Recreation” fame, suggested an award category seriously missing from the Emmy ballot: “Outstanding Baby in a Drama or Miniseries.” Well, why not?
It takes skill and sacrifice to be a baby on TV. A TV baby’s life transforms from the happy-go-lucky ordinary schedule of a non-famous baby, as he or she must add “starring on TV” and “being held and cooed at by actors” to the ordinary tasks of sleeping, learning to crawl, soiling diapers and eating. The ethical work hour limits for babies are why, surprise surprise, babies are usually played by identical twin actors. Here are some of the candidates for “Outstanding Baby in a TV Show.”
Holly on “Breaking Bad”
We can credit this nomination to Ansari. Baby Holly, like most babies, has to look cute a lot. She also has to accompany Mama Skyler on all her infamous adventures with adultery and money laundering, because despite the family’s windfall of cash, they don’t like to hire babysitters. Luckily she spends less time with Papa Walter White, and mostly just shows up on occasion to accentuate the corrupt and fascinating predicament of family man Heisenberg.
Hope on “Raising Hope”
“Raising Hope” is one of the most underrated and under-marketed shows on TV – but somehow it has made it to its third season! Baby Hope is the titular character, born to a serial killer who is given the death penalty. She is raised by a haphazard family: her slightly slow but well-intentioned father Jimmy Chance, a wacky grandma and grandpa with an extremely low IQ, along with Hope’s great-great-grandmother who is in a deep stage of dementia. Now, this might sound like a sad life, but somehow Hope makes the best of it, because in every episode, hilarity ensues!
CeCe on “The Office”
The comfort of baby CeCe (and her new baby brother Philip) is that she doesn’t overstay her welcome. Now clearly, we love babies, but sometimes they can detract from a show like “The Office,” because let’s face it: Dunder Mifflin just isn’t the most appropriate place to raise a child. Jim and Pam are freaking awesome, so they know they should keep their baby away from their freaky (but lovable) coworkers as much as possible.
Michelle on “Full House”
We can’t talk about babies on TV without paying homage to the iconic show of the late ’80s and early ’90s. Aside from John Stamos as Uncle Jesse (swoon), Michelle was clearly the best character. She started out as just a cute little baby, but before long she was walking around, being cute, saying things like, “You got it, dude!” and “You’ve got a bad attitude!” Not to mention, Michelle turned out MK and Ashley as well as a litany of GIFs.
Pebbles on “The Flintstones”
Aww. She’s a drawing, and the actress who played her mother, Wilma, also voiced baby Pebbles. Commentary on mother-daughter vicarious relationships if nothing else! But nevertheless, Pebbles was a cutie, and she was named through a viewer-wide naming contest that clearly benefited Fruity Pebbles somehow. Cross-marketing, whatup!