Jane Kaczmarek, the Emmy-nominated matriarch of Fox's Malcolm in the Middle, says her real-life pregnancy is going to be written into the Fox series next season.
That's right, Malcolm's getting a new sibling.
"I've been told they're going to work the pregnancy into the show," Kaczmarek told her hometown newspaper, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "The plan is to do some episodes [with her character, Lois] not pregnant, and then some pregnant."
The 46-year-old actress and her West Wing costar hubby, Bradley Whitford, confirmed in May that they were expecting their third child, due around Thanksgiving. The pair, who were married in 1993, already have a 4-year-old daughter, Frances, and a 2-year-old son, George.
"We have been blessed with two extraordinary children and we anxiously await the arrival of our newest member," the couple said at the time.
Production on the Regency Television series begins August 5, and Fox reps refused to confirm or deny any plans for a pregnancy storyline. Sources, however, say it's likely the pregnancy will be incorporated into the series--but they're just not sure exactly when. (Of course, we presumably know how.)
Either way, it should make life a little easier for Kaczmarek's third time with child: While shooting her first season of Malcolm in 1999, the actress was pregnant with kid number two, so she was forced to hide her expanding tummy behind chairs, frying pans and refrigerator doors, she tells the Journal-Sentinel.
Kaczmarek, who picked up an Emmy nomination last week for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy, can also buy plenty of diapers with the new paycheck she's receiving for her work on Malcolm. Earlier this month, she signed a new deal giving her $100,000 per episode for the upcoming fourth season and $150,000 per episode for the 2003-04 season.