History Main / WrittenInInfirmity

* ''Film/{{Mandalay}}'': Lyle Talbot (aka LoveInterest Dr. Burton) had an accident before the film's production began, so the writers had to tweak an InUniverse reason for his head bandage. In the film, his character does that to himself because he's an {{Alcoholic}}.

[[folder:Film]]

* A [[ShowWithinAShow Film Within A Film]] example: In ''La nuit américaine'' by François Truffaut there is a scene where the film crew overviews footage and then they suddenly realize that the (previously unnoticed) pregnancy of an actress will become more and more visible as the shooting progresses. Then they decide to make the character pregnant as well, although some of them complain that the viewers could make some unfortunate assumptions about who is the father of the child.

->'''Fan on Twitter:''' [[https://twitter.com/haydenpanettier/status/585989050764492800 I'm so glad they wrote in Hayden's pregnancy in the storyline cuz they couldn't of hid it]]\\

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}}'' Season 3 addressed Jim's voice change to Creator/EmileHirsch (due to Creator/AntonYelchin's passing) by having him inhale a magical powder and coughing from it.

* When Creator/MattLeBlanc had a sling on his arm, it was turned into a very effective joke in ''Series/{{Friends}}'' about Joey having a bed-jumping mishap.

* While Creator/HaydenPanettiere played a pregnant Juliette Barnes on ''Series/{{Nashville}}'' at the same time as her real-life pregnancy, this could count as a subversion as [[http://www.celebuzz.com/2014-08-26/nashville-creator-callie-khouri-talks-season-3-premiere-hayden-panettiere-s-pregnancy/ the writers had already intended for Juliette to become pregnant.]] Because the producers had filmed scenes with her before she went to have her child, the AbsenteeActor trope was averted for the episodes filmed while Hayden wasn't on set (except for "That's The Way Love Goes").

* Jamie was added to ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' due to Lois' actress being pregnant in real life. Lois also went to stay with her sister so Creator/JaneKaczmarek could have maternity leave.
* ''Series/MidnightCaller'': Devon announces she is pregnant at the end of the second season after actress Wendy Kilbourne became pregnant.

* Baby Jamie on ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' came to be as a result of Jane Kaczmarek's real-life pregnancy in Season 4.

* Music/WhitneyHouston proudly showed off her pregnancy in "I'm Every Woman", since the song and video are a celebration of womanhood. Her previous video, "I Will Always Love You", hid her stomach by only filming her from the chest up, but with "I'm Every Woman" she was much further along, so they couldn't hide it even if they wanted to.

* During the second season of ''Series/{{Grimm}}'', Russell Hornsby (Hank Griffin) injured his ankle. The show had Hank take a vacation with his ex-wife and suffer the same injury while rock climbing.

* ''Series/AllCreaturesGreatAndSmall'' had lead character Creator/JamesHerriot confined to the vet's surgery for a while after actor Christopher Timothy injured his leg. Conveniently, Herriot had something similar happen to him in the original books after an especially uncooperative carthorse punted him halfway across a farmyard.

* Anne Ramsey was suffering from throat cancer when she played Momma in ''Film/ThrowMommaFromTheTrain''. The character's slurred speech was the result of Ramsey's treatments and oral surgery.

* In ''Film/BendItLikeBeckham'', main character Jess has a huge scar on her right thigh that's visible whenever she's wearing her football shorts. Parminder Nagra accidentally set the right leg of her pants (which were made of polyester) on fire as a child while helping her mother prepare dinner. Her uncle put out the flames and placed her in the bathtub to begin dousing the injury with cold water (which was good), but then made the mistake of taking her pants off (which was bad). Most of the skin of her thigh came with them, resulting in a substantial scar. The film's director Gurinder Chadha decided not to even try and mask it, instead making it part of Jess's backstory as well, pretty much unchanged except changing the uncle to Jess' big sister and main character Pink.

* ''Series/BreakingBad'': RJ Mitte, who plays Walt Jr, has Cerebral Palsy as does his character. However, Mitte's palsy is far less severe so he had to alter his speech and learn to walk with crutches.

* Constance Marie's wrist injury was written into the latter half of ''Series/SwitchedAtBirth'''s first season. In-universe, the injury was caused by signing so much combined with hairstyling and caused conflict between Regina and Daphne because Regina was unable to UsefulNotes/{{sign|ed language}}.

* Another unusual ''Star Trek'' example: on ''Series/StarTrekVoyager,'' when Roxann Dawson became pregnant, it was mostly camouflaged and her character B'Elanna Torres wasn't portrayed as pregnant. However, in the two-parter "The Killing Game," where the characters' memories are erased and they're forced to participate in a deadly World War II simulation, her character's ''character'' Brigitte is portrayed as pregnant.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'' had Alexandra Eames get pregnant at the same time Kathryn Erbe was. The storyline was that Eames was having a surrogate child for her sister. Another TemporarySubstitute, G. Lynn Bishop, was brought in, but unlike Beck, no attempt was made to give her any meaning. It almost seemed like they were writing her to intentionally be disliked, in part because Eames is Goren's LivingEmotionalCrutch; it was a plot point that he was missing her terribly.

* When ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'' actress Laurie Metcalf became pregnant, it was originally going to be covered up. Jackie's clothes got looser and looser (which was a huge tip-off as she usually wore form-fitting outfits) and she always seemed to show up carrying something in front of her. However, as Metcalf progressed she got so big it couldn't be hidden any longer. Her pregnancy was written into the show about halfway through her real one.

** Emilie de Ravin's pregnancy becomes a plot point in Season 5 when Belle and Rumple fear for the safety of their child. Belle gets put under a Sleeping Curse to allow them to make the passage of time vague so she could start appearing with the bump.
* Melissa Rauch became pregnant just before production of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory's'' eleventh season began, with the result being her character becoming pregnant as well. Like Claire Coffee on ''Series/{{Grimm}}'', her character had just had a baby the previous season, and the season premiere has her and her husband worrying about having to care for two children.

* Poppy Montgomery of ''Series/WithoutATrace'' was a trickier example than most since her character Sam not only was not in a relationship but was implied to be more or less MarriedToTheJob. Utterly fearless, the writers had Sam conceive from a one-night stand with a bartender, and for the last two seasons of the show, the plot was wrung for drama and ShipTease.

* In ''Film/MurderOnTheOrientExpress2017'' Creator/JudiDench is most often sitting down, and guided by Creator/OliviaColman, who plays her maid, when she does have to walk, due to her failing eyesight.

* ''Series/TheRookie2018'': Angela's {{surprise pregnancy}} occurred because actress Creator/AlyssaDiaz really was pregnant. This ended up fueling much drama as Angela's [[ImperiledInPregnancy kidnapped by drug trafficker]] La Fiera, with designs on her baby.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Creator/JamesMarsters has a scar on his left eyebrow from a mugging. This was written into canon, with his character Spike getting cut in the same spot while fighting a Chinese Slayer during the Boxer Rebellion. The ExpandedUniverse explanation for why the scar persisted when vampires normally have a Healing Factor is that the sword she used was blessed by a dragon.

* RJ Mitte, who plays Walt Jr on ''Series/BreakingBad'', has Cerebral Palsy as does his character. However, Mitte's palsy is far less severe so he had to alter his speech and learn to walk with crutches.
* Creator/JamesMarsters has a scar on his left eyebrow from a mugging. This was written into ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' canon when his character Spike gets cut in the same spot while fighting a Chinese Slayer during the Boxer Rebellion. The ExpandedUniverse explanation for why the scar persisted when vampires normally have a Healing Factor is that the sword she used was blessed by a dragon.
* Creator/ErikEstrada was in a motorcycle accident during one season of ''Series/{{CHiPs}}'', so the same thing happened to Ponch. After the accident, Estrada literally shot scenes from his hospital bed.

* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'': Creator/MichaelTrucco suffered a major spinal injury in a car crash, resulting in Sam Anders's bullet to the head in mid-late Season 4 and spending the rest of the series in either a hospital bed or a Hybrid tub. Trucco went on to make a near-miraculous full recovery and so Anders was able to become an ActionHero again in the post-series movie ''[[Recap/BattlestarGalactica2003ThePlan The Plan]]''. For the record, his injury was very similar to that of Creator/ChristopherReeve, who didn't recover.

* Creator/JamesMarsters has a scar on his left eyebrow from a mugging. This was written into ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' canon when his character Spike gets cut in the same spot while fighting a Chinese Slayer during the Boxer Rebellion.

* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'': Creator/MichaelTrucco suffered a major spinal injury in a car crash, resulting in Anders's bullet to the head in mid-late Season 4 and spending the rest of the series in either a hospital bed or a Hybrid tub. Trucco went on to make a near-miraculous full recovery and so Anders was able to become an ActionHero again in the post-series movie ''[[Recap/BattlestarGalactica2003ThePlan The Plan]]''. For the record, his injury was very similar to that of Creator/ChristopherReeve, who didn't recover.

* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'': Creator/MichaelTrucco suffered a major spinal injury in a car crash, resulting in Anders's bullet to the head and spending the rest of the series in either a hospital bed or a Hybrid tub. Trucco went on to make a near-miraculous full recovery and so Anders was able to become an ActionHero again in the post-series movie ''[[Recap/BattlestarGalactica2003ThePlan The Plan]]''. For the record, his injury was very similar to that of Creator/ChristopherReeve, who didn't recover.

* Ander's coma/hybridization in the last half-season of ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' was written in after the actor was involved in a car accident so serious that it was initially unclear whether he'd walk again.

* While filming a chase scene in ''Film/{{Se7en}}'', Creator/BradPitt severed a tendon in his hand and had to wear a cast. A scene was added to the film showing Mills broke his arm while pursuing John Doe.

* In ''Film/BendItLikeBeckham'', main character Jess has a huge scar on her right thigh that's visible whenever she's wearing her football shorts. Parminder Nagra accidentally set the right leg of her pants (which were made of polyester) on fire as a child while helping her mother prepare dinner. Her uncle put out the flames and placed her in the bathtub to begin dousing the injury with cold water (which was good), but then made the mistake of taking her pants off (which was bad). Most of the skin of her thigh came with them, resulting in a substantial scar. The film's director Gurinder Chadha decided not to even try and mask it, instead making it part of Jess's backstory as well, pretty much unchanged except changing the uncle to Jess big sister and main character Pink.

* When Creator/StephenColbert broke his wrist before an episode of ''Series/TheColbertReport'', the next few weeks were full of wrist jokes like Colbert starting [=WristStrong=], which raises awareness for wrist injuries. Colbert's character also became addicted to painkillers and started doing things like filling the empty bottle with water to make "pill juice", and crushing pills and putting the dust in his eyeballs. He even had his cast removed on air and sold it for charity. It raised $17,200. The [=WristStrong=] campaign included selling red rubber bracelets, parodying Lance Armstrong's [=LiveStrong=] bracelets. As of January 2008, [=WristStrong=] raised [[http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2008-01-24-colbert_N.htm $171,525 for the Yellow Ribbon Fund.]]

* The only Franchise/{{Power Ranger|s}} that has ever been killed off on the show is Kendrix Morgan, after actress Valerie Vernon collapsed on the set of ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy'' and was diagnosed with leukemia. (It ''seems'' insensitive, but the series takes place on a space station, and there are no [[PutOnABus Peace Conferences]] in the Lost Galaxy. And she dies with an epic HeroicSacrifice.) Her character returns to life in the GrandFinale and, fortunately, the actress recovered — in time to film the ReunionShow, even.

* ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' featured a case of a ''new'' disabled character being written for an existing actor. Kenneth Mitchell, who had guest starred in several roles in the first and second seasons, was later diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and began to use a wheelchair. To be able to retain his talents, the producers wrote a wheelchair-using (well, hoverchair-using) character for him in the third season. [[spoiler:He wouldn't have been able to reprise his original roles anyway, since all his characters were denizens of the 23rd century and were left behind when ''Discovery'' jumped forward in time to the 32nd. Oh, and two of them were dead anyway. ]]

** Similarly, when he lost his voice during ''Film/TheGoodSon'' review he did the entire review with subtitles for the footage and TalkingWithSigns for himself.

* Creator/MeredithBaxter's pregnancy was written into ''Series/FamilyTies'' but she still had to take several episodes off. The excuse provided for Elyse's mysterious absence was her doctor had ordered to stay off her feet. The producers tried several approaches for distracting viewers from her absence, including bringing on [[http://www.agonybooth.com/agonizer/Family_Ties/Help_Wanted.aspx Geena Davis]] for a two-episode run.

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' had an odd example with Creator/AlysonHannigan's second pregnancy. It wasn't hidden, but only because her character Lily was already pregnant. A couple seasons earlier the show had gone to great lengths to hide her first pregnancy.

* In ''Series/TheOfficeUS'', Creator/JennaFischer's pregnancy was written into the eighth season for her character Pam. It wasn't a big deal since at that point she was already married with one child; she and Jim just decided to have another kid. Ironically, Angela becomes pregnant during the same season as well, but her actress, Angela Kinsey, wasn't actually pregnant in real life. This makes Angela's dig at how Pam's pregnancy is bigger than her's more hilarious, considering Kinsey was only using a prop pillow, while Fischer was already several months pregnant by the season premiere.

* Emily Deschanel of ''Series/{{Bones}}'' became pregnant during the production of the sixth season. The pregnancy was written into the end of the season as the result of a one-night stand between Booth and Brennan, answering the on-going WillTheyOrWontThey. Deschanel was visibly pregnant for the early part of the seventh season and it played a significant role in the personal storylines for the season.

** Garak suffered from acute claustrophobia. This is because Creator/AndrewJRobinson suffered from the condition to such a degree that even wearing the Cardassian make-up could be a trial for him. In one two-part episode, Garak spends much of the plot inside a cramped space: unsurprisingly, it's also the episode that reveals he suffers from claustrophobia (although the condition had been hinted at earlier points in the show).

* On ''Series/HouseOfCardsUS'', Frank Underwood being scalded by coffee (and the subsequent "I despise children" line) was written in after Ceator/KevinSpacey accidentally burned his hand during a promotional photoshoot, in which he had to hold a burning American flag.

* Drew Carey taped several episodes of ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' in Season 37 right after receiving foot surgery. He spent these episodes walking with a cane, also coming up with various methods to keep himself off that foot whenever possible (such as the models carrying him out on the first Item Up for Bids, and/or handling props on the pricing games so he doesn't have to walk over to them). In Season 40, shoulder surgery led to him spending several episodes in a sling.

* Jose Ferrer has a cast on his right hand in ''Film/TheCaineMutiny,'' from a real-life injury, which is only referenced in the film when his character is forced to shake hands left-handed.

* In the film version of ''Theatre/YouCantTakeItWithYou'', Creator/LionelBarrymore's arthritis had worsened to the point that he performed his role on crutches. Director Creator/FrankCapra added a few lines of dialogue to explain that the character had sprained his ankle sliding down a banister. In later film roles, Barrymore performed from a wheelchair.

* Tim Meadows broke his wrist shortly before filming ''Film/MeanGirls''. His cast is explained as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, treatment for which often involves wearing a wrist brace for support when doing repetitive actions such as typing. Many people just forget to take them off sometimes.

* Chico Marx was in a car crash that shattered his kneecap, during the filming of ''Film/HorseFeathers''. One scene, shot shortly after, has Harpo, trying to kidnap two football players and getting beat up, while Chico sits in a chair and directs him.

* ''Film/TheThreeStooges'' faced such a situation when they were about to film ''You Nazty Spy!'' when Larry Fine injured his foot just before shooting and had to walk with a noticeable limp. Fortunately, this was perfect for his role as a parody of Josef Goebbels, who himself walked with a limp due to a clubfoot.
* [[BigBad Doyle Lonnegan's]] characteristic limp in ''Film/TheSting'' was the result of actor Creator/RobertShaw spraining his ankle during rehearsal.

* In ''Film/YoungGunsII'', Chavez gets stabbed in the arm because his actor, Lou Diamond Phillips, had a broken arm from an equestrian stunt gone wrong.

** In the second season episode "[[{{Recap/BabylonFiveS02E03TheGeometryOfShadows}} The Geometry of Shadows]]", Claudia Christian's real-life broken foot was explained by having her character getting caught in the middle of an alien melee. Contrary to myth, she didn't break it on set; her [[EnforcedMethodActing very real cry of pain]] during that scene was caused by her landing awkwardly on her already-injured foot[[note]]Yes, that means she was walking around on a broken foot during the scene leading up to the fight[[/note]]. The following episode, "A Distant Star", managed to work her injury into a minor plot point.
** Very naturally used in the third season. While filming a fight scene for "[[{{Recap/BabylonFiveS03E10SeveredDreams}} Severed Dreams]]" actor Jerry Doyle broke his wrist. His character, Michael Garibaldi, was originally supposed to end up with an injured ''leg'' from that fight. This was quickly changed to match the actor's real-life injury (and in fact, due to the shooting schedule, he does briefly appear with a "leg injury"). To give him more time to heal, he was written completely out of "[[{{Recap/BabylonFiveS03E12SicTransitVir}} Sic Transit Vir]]", which wouldn't have given him a lot of screen time anyway. This, in turn, allowed [[AscendedExtra Zack Allan]], Garibaldi's lieutenant, to be fleshed out some.

* RJ Mitte who plays Walt Jr on ''Series/BreakingBad'' has Cerebral Palsy as does his character. However, Mitte's palsy is far less severe so he had to alter his speech and learn to walk with crutches.

* Erik Estrada was in a motorcycle accident during one season of ''Series/{{CHiPs}}'', so the same thing happened to Ponch. After the accident, Estrada literally shot scenes from his hospital bed.

* The first chief medical examiner on ''Series/TheCloser'', Dr. Crippen, made several appearances in a wheelchair when actor James Avery injured his foot.

* An unusual reversal of this trope happened in British soap opera ''Series/CoronationStreet''. The character Sally Webster had a storyline where she battles breast cancer. Turns out that the actress who plays her, Sally Whittaker, ''discovered she had breast cancer as a result of researching the storyline for the role''. She says that she would never have noticed if the storyline hadn't been given to her, so the show effectively saved her life.

* ''Series/DesperateHousewives''

** Creator/WilliamHartnell again had to be written out of Episode Three of his final serial, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E2TheTenthPlanet The Tenth Planet]]", after he sent a telegram to the production team informing them that he was too ill to work. As a result, he collapses (a body double shot from behind) at the start of the episode and remains unconscious throughout. His dialogue was reassigned to other characters, chiefly companion Ben Jackson. It actually made sense in-universe as the First Doctor was supposed to be on his last legs, on the verge of regeneration, and indeed the First Doctor's onscreen frailties mirrored the real-life health problems that were forcing Hartnell to step down from the role. Thankfully, both Hartnell and (in-universe) the First Doctor managed to revive themselves for one last hurrah in Episode Four before regenerating.

* In the first season of the 2000s ''Series/HawaiiFive0'' reboot, a severe knee injury Scott Caan suffered while filming was written into the show to explain why his character was limping around and using a cane.

* ''Series/{{Highlander}}'': This often had to be avoided, as many of the characters were immortals. However, Joe Dawson, like his actor, had lost both legs. Oddly one never thought of Joe as handicapped, he simply had a peculiar walk. This turns into a PlotPoint in the Season 4 episode ''Brother in Arms'' when we discover that Joe lost his legs in Vietnam and was rescued by an Immortal, and he was then inducted into the Watchers. It gets raised in this episode because [[spoiler:the Immortal who rescued him faces off against Duncan's friend Charlie [=DeSalvo=]]].

* On ''Series/HouseOfCardsUS'', Frank Underwood being scalded by coffee (and the subsequent "I despise children" line) was written in after Kevin Spacey accidentally burned his hand during a promotional photoshoot, in which he had to hold a burning American flag.

* Due to Christian Kane's insistence on doing his own stunts whenever possible (and not always getting them right), his character on ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' occasionally has to explain away the actor's injuries. In some cases, they don't even bother explaining, such as in "The Inside Job" where he simply shows up with a band-aid on the bridge of his nose.

* Jamie was added to ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' due to Lois' actress being pregnant in real life. Lois also went to stay with her sister so Jane Kaczmarek could have maternity leave.

* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''
** A very humorous twist on the trope occurred during the first season when Creator/ChevyChase was hospitalized after an injury sustained during one of his pratfalls. Since that was a common running gag used to start the show, he called from his hospital bed and had Gilda Radner move the phone and push it over the desk, thereby completing a long-distance pratfall.
** In an early sketch in another episode Guest Host Buck Henry was injured when Creator/JohnBelushi accidentally hit him in the forehead with his sword during a Samurai sketch. During the commercial, Henry's wound was cleaned and bandaged. As an in-joke, all the other cast members from that point on sported similar bandages on their foreheads, and the incident was written into the "Weekend Update" sketch ("Up next: A deranged John Belushi attacks actor Buck Henry on live comedy program!")
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}''

** In another episode, the character Elaine screams at a barking dog all night. Creator/JuliaLouisDreyfus injured her voice filming that scene, so her character was given the same injury.

** Garak suffered from acute claustrophobia. This is because his actor Andrew J. Robinson suffered from the condition to such a degree that even wearing the Cardassian make-up could be a trial for him. In one two-part episode, Garak spends much of the plot inside a cramped space: unsurprisingly, it's also the episode that reveals he suffers from claustrophobia (although the condition had been hinted at earlier points in the show).

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''

** Another example from ''Series/TheWestWing'' comes from 2001 when Stockard Channing broke her ankle hiking. Her character was promptly given a similar injury to explain why she was wearing a cast.
** Creator/MartinSheen has limited movement in his left arm, which is why he puts on his suit coat with that characteristic flipping gesture. In the episode "Two Cathedrals," the younger Jed does it as well (the movement is used to link the two time periods).

* During filming of the climactic shooting gallery scene in ''Series/TheWildWildWest'''s "The Night of the Avaricious Actuary", Ross Martin broke his leg (which is why he's replaced with a very obvious double in most of said scene). The injury was written into the next episode to be filmed, "The Night of the Juggernaut" (Martin sports a walking cast in this and "The Night of the Kraken", the next episode made).

* In ''Series/{{Criminal Minds}}'' A.J Cook got pregnant and it was written into the show, with her real-life son playing her on-screen son Henry. When she became pregnant again and Jennifer Love Hewitt was also pregnant, both were written in, though Jennifer left the show because of it.

* Lisa Lackey on ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' got pregnant during filming of the first season. The first person she told was Greg Grunberg, who plays her onscreen husband, to ask him for advice because he'd worked with actresses who got pregnant during filming before and she was worried that the producers would freak out. So he ended up making a call to the writers' room on her behalf... at the exact moment when the writers, brainstorming a storyline for their onscreen relationship, had come up with the idea for her character to be pregnant.