Television Reviews : ‘Maybe Baby’ Chortles at Middle-Age Parenthood

With Dabney Coleman and Jane Curtin as prospective parents, the makers of “Maybe Baby” (Channel 4, 36 and 39 at 9 tonight) didn’t have to go the extra mile to get laughs. Just imagining these two as middle-age careerists who suddenly face parenthood together is likely to bring a smile to the face of anyone who ever watched Coleman as Slap Maxwell or Curtin in “Kate & Allie.”

But writer Janet Kovalcik and director Tom Moore didn’t let the packagers (including executive producers Perry Lafferty and Frank von Zerneck) do all the work. Despite its basic predictability, especially apparent in the opening frames, “Maybe Baby” is a witty piece of work, dotted with clever little segues and sight gags that adroitly illustrate the position of these late arrivals at the baby derby.

Curtin plays a big city mayor’s harried administrative assistant, who suddenly hears her biological clock ticking very loudly at age 39. Her 10-year marriage to a 57-year-old almost-retired executive (Coleman) may not survive her sudden yearning to have it all. Her husband feels he already has it all--including two grown children, one of whom (Julia Duffy) has kids of her own.

The script is occasionally too subtle for its own good. We miss the big scene when Curtin finally confronts Coleman with the news that she’s expecting. Kovalcik also scanted the earlier moment when Coleman pretends to agree to Curtin’s pregnancy plans.

Still, better a TV movie that omits a scene or two than one that spells everything out. For most of its length, “Maybe Baby” is a considerable step above the standard TV-movie comedy.