The comedy network Jash just launched a new web series called Baby Talk, hosted by comedian and new father Dan Levy. The program, ostensibly devoted to the pangs and pleasures of parenting, is formatted like a low-budget late-night talk show, with DJ Jensen Karp serving as the wisecracking, undercutting Paul Shaffer to Levy’s David Letterman. The lineup of guests for the premiere episode includes comedian John Mulaney, NBA star Blake Griffin, Chappelle’s Show co-creator Neal Brennan, and an actual child: an affable-enough 9-year-old name Jayden. Because both Mulaney and Brennan are childless, however, much of the episode’s “baby talk” is confined to Levy’s opening monologue, in which he discusses why his infant son had to wear a $3,000 helmet. This leads to a bit in which the child’s helmet-protected head is Photoshopped onto various unlikely bodies.
The chatting-with-guests part of the show, meanwhile, is dominated by the talkative and witty Mulaney, who quips that, should he ever become a father, he would probably name his child either “Comedy” or “Career” because those are the things that really matter to him. He also tells a story about being really high at an L.A. Clippers game, which has nothing whatsoever to do with parenting but is amusing nevertheless. Baby Talk returns to its main topic with the late-arriving appearance of young Jayden, whom Levy immediately quizzes on the respective ages and heights of the celebrity guests. It all culminates in an uncomfortable round of public domain karaoke, with Jayden looking overwhelmed as he forgets the lyrics to “Yankee Doodle” just a few seconds into the song.
Whether Baby Talk will narrow its focus to parenting or will habitually veer off-topic, the lineup of guests is more than promising, with such funny people as Natasha Leggero, Moshe Kasher, and Paul Scheer slated to appear.