NBC Took One of Diane Keaton’s Best Movies and Failed It as This Forgotten Sitcom

NBC Took One of Diane Keaton’s Best Movies and Failed It as This Forgotten Sitcom Diane Keaton in Baby BoomImage via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. By  Amanda M. Castro Published 48 minutes ago

Amanda M. Castro is a Network TV writer at Collider and a journalist based in New York. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Amanda is a bilingual Latina who graduated from the University of New Haven with a degree in Communication, Film, and Media Studies. She covers the world of network television, focusing on sharp, thoughtful analysis of the shows and characters that keep audiences tuning in week after week. At Collider, Amanda dives into the evolving landscape of network TV — from long-running procedural favorites to ambitious new dramas — exploring why these stories matter and how they connect with viewers on a cultural level.

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Baby Boom was released in 1987, and it was a film not positioned within a new genre of comedy but rather embraced the absurdity of its premise. With Diane Keaton playing an enjoyable and frantic version of herself once again, the film did not try to take comedy to another level it simply capitalized on what made the story absurd. Diane's character, J.C. Wiatt, is a workaholic from New York City who works in corporate consulting. Her life consists of power suits, long hours in the office, and a level of intimidation that clears the office when she walks in. All of this changed for her when out of the blue she is given a two-year-old child by a distant relative, now she has to figure out how to deal with that child as well as go to meetings, deal with diaper changes and now recognizes she is on a treadmill in her work life and does not have a clear vision of what she wants from life.

While the movie is absolutely unrealistic about how the protagonist feels about raising a child, it embraces this craziness. It provides great humor as a woman navigates the corporate jungle, only to find she can't change a diaper without duct tape. Keaton's comedic performance reflects the 1980s culture of “success” and shows how ridiculous it was. The film was a moderate box-office success, with many Golden Globe nominations, and has spawned a television series over time. That kind of momentum should have made a sitcom version an easy win. But NBC’s series Baby Boom ended up being the kind of project that disappears almost as soon as it premieres — and for good reason.

The 'Baby Boom' Sitcom Tried to Capture Lightning Twice — Without the Spark

NBC

NBC’s Baby Boom, premiering in fall 1988, kept the broad setup from the film. J.C. Wiatt — now played by Kate Jackson — is still a brilliant, tightly wound professional, suddenly raising a young child after inheriting her late relative’s daughter. The series even brought back Sam Wanamaker and the Kennedy twins in their roles. But everything else, from the supporting cast to the tone, was reimagined.

And that’s where the trouble began. The film worked because Keaton brought a palpable sense of mania to J.C.’s unraveling — she played a woman who wasn’t built to slow down and who, for the first time, had to. Jackson, a talented performer in her own right, was given a far more conventional sitcom protagonist: Less prickly, less unpredictable, and far less fun. Instead of watching a high-powered New Yorker spectacularly fail and then rebuild her life, the show gave viewers something flatter and safer. It didn’t help that the series leaned more heavily on workplace complications than the personal transformation that made the movie memorable.

Creators Nancy Meyers and Charles Shyer insisted the show be produced without a laugh track — a bold choice in the late ’80s — but it wasn’t matched by equally bold storytelling. Tonally, it sat in an awkward middle space between single-camera domestic comedy and network-friendly family fare. The result: a sitcom that felt strangely muted, unsure whether it wanted to be grounded or zany.

NBC’s Schedule Didn’t Help — but the Real Problem Was Identity

Barbara Billingsley, Jane Wyatt Kate Jackson in Baby BoomImage via NBC/courtesy Everett Collection

To be fair, the network didn’t set the show up for success. After launching in September 1988, it quickly faltered in the ratings. By December, NBC pulled it off the schedule entirely, announcing a hiatus and promising “creative changes.” That’s rarely a good sign — and in this case, it was fatal. Only one leftover episode aired the following summer, with additional episodes trickling out before the show quietly vanished. Thirteen were produced; five never made it on air during the original run.

But even with a smoother rollout, it’s hard to imagine Baby Boom surviving in the long term. The series couldn’t recapture the film’s balancing act of satire and sincerity. Where the movie embraced its absurdity — a high-powered executive stumbling through parenthood as her Wall Street world crumbles — the show tried to play it straighter, as if ironing out the edges would make it more appealing. Instead, it lost its bite.

And without Keaton’s frantic comedic energy, the premise wasn’t as funny. The movie thrived on watching a woman who could close million-dollar deals but couldn’t survive five minutes with a toddler. The sitcom turned that chaos into mild workplace humor and low-stakes domestic scenarios. In other words, the very thing that made the movie work was the thing the series sanitized.

Why the Baby Boom Movie Endures While the Series Doesn’t

Diane Keaton holding a baby in Baby BoomImage via MGM

Keaton's performance in Baby Boom is today considered one of her defining late 80s roles; the film's combination of social satire and romantic comedy feels true, allowing for sincere character growth. The subsequent television adaptation serves only as a footnote to Baby Boom, highlighting how difficult it is to translate the chemistry seen in movies to television.

While recognition of the Baby Boom brand may have sparked initial viewer interest, without Keaton's manic energy and the film's sharpness, NBC's adaptation was destined to fail.

Baby Boom Comedy Release Date 1988 - 1988 Network NBC Directors Bruce A. Block, Charles Shyer, Jeffrey D. Brown, Mary Kay Place

Genres Comedy Powered by Expand Collapse

• TV Features
• Diane Keaton
• NBC

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