In TV Tradition, Duffy Delivers on ‘Newhart’

It’s been a busy season for Julia Duffy: Her real-life son was born in August and her fictional child arrives on CBS’ “Newhart” Monday.

Daniel was the second child for Duffy, the petite blonde actress who plays self-absorbed Stephanie Vanderkellen-Harris on the comedy series.

The birth Monday will be the first for Stephanie and her husband, Michael Harris, played by Peter Scolari.

“I’ve never had a baby before on a show,” said Duffy. In the next several weeks, she’ll have two: on “Newhart” and in a CBS movie, “The Love Boat: A Valentine Voyage,” on Feb. 11.

“I guess I’m typecast,” she said.

The entire “Newhart” show is built around the birth. “When I go into labor Michael tries to tape the birth with his video camera. I get mad and throw him out of the delivery room,” she said.

Michael does everything in excess. Duffy explains: “He shows up with a 15-man news crew, all scrubbed down and wearing green surgical gowns.”

Duffy declined to give any details about the child, saying, “If you want to know the sex of the baby, tune in.” The baby, however, will be on view briefly in the next week’s episode. The focus of the show goes back to Bob Newhart and those at the Stratford Inn in Norwich, Vt.

It’ll be the second birth on a CBS comedy show this year. Charlene Frazier Stillfield, played by Jean Smart, had a daughter on a special one-hour episode of “Designing Women” this past Monday. On the show, she’s married to Doug Barr, but in real life she’s married to Richard Gilliland. They had a son, Connor Douglas, in October.

Combining pregnancies, real and fictional, is nothing new for television. On NBC’s “Cheers,” Carla (Rhea Perlman) has had three births. Jane Carr of NBC’s “Dear John” and Anne Schedeen of NBC’s “ALF” also have had babies on their shows to coincide with real births.

The most famous birth of all was that of Little Ricky on “I Love Lucy” on Jan. 19, 1953. That same night Lucille Ball gave birth to Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV. The event nearly knocked the inauguration of President Eisenhower off Page One the next day.