This is Us producers blame Covid editing conditions after pregnancy test blunder leaves fans confused

Fans weren’t sure whether they’d noticed a mistake or a plot twist

A still from This is Us, NBC’s hit family drama (NBC)

The producers of the hit US drama This is Us have acknowledged a mistake in a recent episode, attributing its cause to pandemic editing conditions.

During a season five episode which aired back in November, Kate Pearson (Hannah Zeile) is seen taking what is supposed to be a pregnancy test which turns out positive.

However, the character is actually seen holding the packaging of an ovulation test, used by women hoping to get pregnant as a means of ascertaining when they are about to ovulate.

The box was noticed by viewers, who shared stills from the episode on social media. 

Many were confused whether the choice was deliberate, subtly suggesting that the character was not in fact pregnant but had made a mistake, or whether the error was on the part of the producers.

Now, speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the series’ creators have confirmed that it was indeed their slip-up.

Executive producer Isaac Aptaker said: “As soon as we saw that people were misinterpreting, of course it drove us crazy. So let the record officially show: That was [meant to be] a pregnancy test box.

“Despite the dozens of people who stared at that scene countless times before it went to air, we were all just so fried from all of the Covid [filming conditions] that we missed that one.”

The fifth season of This is Us, currently airing in the US on NBC, was filmed and edited during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which it incorporates into its storyline.

Executive producer Elizabeth Berger also claimed: “You can chalk this up to Zoom editing. Usually we’re all in a bay together looking at these giant monitors. And this is the one where we were like, ‘Ah, if we had just been there, someone would have seen it!’ 

“But everyone is just working so hard around the clock under these crazy circumstances. And every once in a while, you’re going to have an ovulation test when you wish you had a pregnancy test box.”