Kudrow's spokesperson tells USA Today that the 33-year-old actress is due in late spring. It will be the first child for Kudrow and hubby Michael Stern, whom she married in 1995.
Apparently the Friends folks decided against covering up the pregnancy like, say, The X-Files a few seasons back, which hid Gillian Anderson's expanding midriff in her trademark oversized trenchcoat, and when she got real big, the show's writers had her abducted and experimented on by little green men, then in an off-camera coma the rest of the season. (While we've long suspected the extraterrestrial origins of the too-whacky Phoebe, there's been no word on an alien subplot so far.)
This season has focused on the tense relationship between Kudrow's character and her biological mom (Terri Garr), who gave up Phoebe and her twin sister for adoption shortly after their birth. The exact circumstances of Phoebe's pregnancy (who's the dad, will she be married or a single, Murphy Brown-esque mom?) have not yet been divulged.
Phoebe's tyke will be the second child to be featured on the show. Divorcé Ross (David Schwimmer) also has a son who appears occasionally, but spends most of his time off-screen with Ross' ex- and her lesbian lover.
Of course, with the six pals signed through the new millennium (earning a reported $120,000 per episode each), there'll be plenty of time to watch Kudrow's kid grow up à la little Ricky Ricardo.
In any case, producers have some time to get their story straight. Kudrow, who also starred this year in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, is not showing yet.