10. Everyone Wants The Baby
20th Century FoxWorking an actors real-life pregnancy into a TV show isnt a sci-fi idea - its been around since the days of I Love Lucy but futuristic or paranormal trappings make it easy, and all-too-tempting, to work the newborn into your show. Alien gestations can be as speedy or as protracted as fits your shooting schedule and any after-effects can be ignored because its not a human baby. The only problem is what to do with the little tyke once its born having an infant around is one thing, but do you really want to introduce a regular child character and risk being responsible for the next Wesley Crusher? Generally, this means that pretty much every baby conceived in science-fiction is going to be both special and also big news on supervillain social media. The main characters will be pursued by religious zealots, shadowy government organisations or a maniacal alien whos convinced that the babys DNA will go lovely with a glass of pinot. As the writer, youve got your reset button the child can either be captured, be sent to live off-camera where theyll be safe, or turn into some sort of ultra-wise glowy space being once youre done with it. Weve seen so many super-powered foetuses in sci-fi that the dramas worn away. The audience doesnt automatically share the characters attachment to the baby because youve been treating it like a plot device rather than a person. In an age where even episodic TV can make copious use of CGI, showrunners should work around a pregnancy instead of treating it like a coupon for free drama that is, unless theyre prepared to deal with the long-term upheaval that real children bring.