Rue McClanahan Explores Geriatric Pregnancy in Baby of the Bride

When last we met, dear reader, we were enjoying the emotional highs and lows of Children of the Bride (1990), in which Rue McClanahan’s offspring squabble against the backdrop of her wedding to a younger man. Baby of the Bride (1991) picks up shortly thereafter, as Margret (McClanahan) and John Hix (Ted Shackelford) return from their honeymoon, but instantly we see things have changed.

The camera lingers on a recreation of the wedding photo from Children. Patrick Duffy has been replaced by his Dallas castmate Shackelford. Dennis, the son who can’t keep his pants zipped, is now played by John Wesley Shipp in place of the more lighthearted Jack Coleman. Their faces are curiously free from bruises, reminding us that the centerpiece of the first film was a kooky brawl the night before the wedding that left a mark on several characters.

Baby‘s most jarring departure from Children is the tone: a lighthearted romp this is not. John is no longer boyish and saintly (Shackelford’s appearance is that of a man squarely in middle age); in this go-round he usurps even Margret’s emotionally volatile alcoholic daughter, Anne (Anne Bobby), as the resident jerk.

At issue is Margret’s unexpected pregnancy. She is 53 and John is 39 (the actors are 57 and 45), and she still ovulates on occasion, but neither grasped the basics of human reproduction. I am a woman who only has sex with other women and I’d be less shocked than John to be involved in an unplanned pregnancy. Distressingly, he repeatedly blames their predicament on Margret by accusing her of manipulating him, and no one—neither Margret nor her many kids—calls him on it.

“I’m worried about you. I’m worried about us. This is going to change our lives,” he tells Margret, later adding “I think we need to know each other as husband and wife before we know each other as daddy and mommy.” Then it’s “Look, you ignored how I felt about being a father,” and a sob story about his childhood, as if he wasn’t a willing, active participant in the conception of their child and couldn’t have prevented this series of events himself.

This ill-conceived (no pun intended) plot addresses one of the bigger faults with Children of the Bride, which was its focus on Margret’s titular spawn. Their problems continue here, including the pregnancy of former nun Mary (Kristy McNichol) and the custody woes of Conor O’Farrell’s underachieving Andy. But it’s McClanahan who gets the prime storyline, nonsensical as it is.

Once Margret has spent her pregnancy estranged from this prince of a guy, why are we supposed to want them to reunite? (Other half-baked subplots, like feral Anne finding love with a cop who pulled her over, and the continued adventures of Denny’s wandering penis, inspire similar frustrations.) And whose ludicrous idea was it for that schmuck John to lector at the Christmas Eve Mass attended by his fractured family?

Baby of the Bride (still to be followed by Mother of the Bride, which we’ll tackle next) is more competently assembled than Children of the Bride; it was one of Bill Bixby’s final directing credits (preceding The Woman Who Loved Elvis and many episodes of Blossom). Without Yanni on the scene it also boasts a better score. But its plots go nowhere and McNichol, one of the brighter spots of the previous installment, is given almost nothing to do, while Shackelford’s handed too much. The greatest gift it gives us doesn’t involve babies or family but rather McClanahan’s wig, which looks particularly perky in her post-delivery scenes.

Programming Note: Mother’s Day Marathon

This review is part of our 2022 Mother’s Day Marathon feature. We’ll add more films throughout the week and you can click here for more information.

Streaming and DVD availability

Baby of the Bride is currently out-of-print on DVD but can be purchased used. You can also stream it free with ads at Amazon via IMDb TV.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

… But wait, there’s more!

No, there’s not. There is absolutely nothing here, unless we want to question why Margret’s name is suddenly spelled differently in this film. (I’m using its original styling.)

Here’s a screen cap of McClanahan and McNichol in Lamaze class. Use it to remember slightly better times, like when Barbara saved the gang from the Cheeseman in “Witness,” the 21st episode of the sixth season of The Golden Girls.