New "Alias": Mommy

As if trying to take down Survivor wasn't tough enough, super-agent Sidney Bristow will have to carry out her mission while in the family way.

Alias star Jennifer Garner's pregnancy will be written into the upcoming season of the Thursday night-bound spy series, an ABC executive said Tuesday.

"There are some very, very big changes that take place very early on in the season," ABC Primetime Entertainment president Stephen McPherson told a gathering of TV critics in Beverly Hills.

The biggest change: Bristow's expanding waistline. On screen, the role of expectant father likely will be played by Michael Vartan, Garner's real-life ex-boyfriend and Bristow's on-again, off-again love interest. Off screen, the role of expectant father is being played by Ben Affleck, Garner's real-life husband as of June.

Production on the new season of Alias--its fifth--is due to begin Friday. Garner is due to deliver her and Affleck's coproduction as soon as November.

"We are going to embrace the fact that she's pregnant," McPherson remarked.

That said, the network and producers are also going to proceed with caution. The with-child Bristow, seen parachuting in last May's season finale, will be grounded. "Less bathing suits," "less running," McPherson said, adding that the character won't be put in "situations where she's endangering herself and the baby."

And should the pregnant Bristow be viewed as less desirable, at least by network execs, McPherson promised new characters, including a younger female agent who will serve as Bristow's protégée. "You'll be able to get some of that sex appeal, if you will, in different place," the exec said.

According to E! Online TV columnist Kristin Veitch, the new sex appeal will be supplied by Rachel Nichols, late of Fox's The Inside. Veitch is also reporting that a "main, major, integral character" will depart the series early in the season.

Long a cult and critical favorite, Alias is coming off its most watched season ever. But insiders have suspected that its fifth year would be its last. Certainly, the move to Thursday nights at 8 p.m., opposite CBS' Survivor, couldn't have inspired confidence. From Joanie Loves Chachi to Fall Guy, ABC has been sending veteran shows to die there for more than 20 years. The network's last scripted success in the 8 p.m., Thursday time slot: Mork & Mindy, back in 1978. And when it hit, it was moved to Sundays. And when it was ready to pass on, it was returned to, yes, Thursdays.

As a midseason launch of the 2004-05 TV year, Alias aired in the Wednesday, 9-10 p.m. hour, and benefited from its Lost lead in. But even then, an average of 6 million viewers tuned out each week as creator J.J. Abrams' castaway series ended, and Abrams' spy series began.

While the baby-on-board story line might sound like something destined to boost interest in the show, history suggests otherwise. "Anytime you introduce a baby--I don't care what the show is--the show is destined to jump the shark," said Jon Hein, who knows such things. He is the Jump the Shark author and Webmaster.

In Hein's parlance, jumping the shark is the precise moment when a TV series runs its course. On his site, JumpTheShark.com, babies have been blamed for contributing to the artistic demises of Mad About You, Murphy Brown, Family Ties and even The Flintstones. At least those series, Hein said, are home or work-based sitcoms, not globe-trotting, high-flying action adventures, a la Alias.

"I don't know how they're going to pull it off," Hein said of the show's addition plans. "Unless the baby is either a super baby or the baby from V, where you're not sure if it's an alien."

On the other hand, babies don't necessarily kill ratings. Shows such as The Flintstones and Family Ties ran for several seasons following their blessed events.

As long as Syd steers clear of Cousin Oliver, she just might make it.