British comedian and actor Jack Whitehall has released three stand-up specials for Netflix, and also found broader laughs by bringing his father along for world travels or holiday hijinks. So what happens when Jack’s partner is pregnant, and Jack feels woefully unprepared for fatherhood? Can his own father be of any help? Or just comic relief?
Opening Shot: A flashback, with “35 Years Ago” superimposed over a snowy TV screen. The voice of Michael Whitehall narrating about his newborn son: “Jack proving, like his father, he’s a bit of a tit man.” The click of a remote plays video so we can see baby Jack crying.
The Gist: In the continued flashback, we also see Jack’s mother, Hilary, holding baby Jack. “I never dreamt that I’d create something so darling.” A montage follows Jack as he grows up and becomes a comedian with a massive following and Netflix, leading us into the main title.
Once back in the present-day, we’re now following Jack to his parents estate in Cotswolds, England, where he informs us about his worries about becoming a father himself: “I mean, I’m definitely not ready to have a baby. I can’t even keep a basil plant alive.”
Michael makes fun of Jack, calling him a simpleton (or worse), and teasing him by recounting stories of how Jack’s birth traumatized his mother and still has lingering effects on her. For her part, Jack’s mom worked as a doula for 10 years, and helps set up an appointment for Jack at an NHS hospital so he can learn from nurses through simulations what the childbirth process actually looks, sounds and feels like.
But before that, Jack brings his father with him to attend prenatal classes eight weeks before Jack’s partner, Roxy, is due to give birth. She apparently already took the classes for her own benefit while Jack was off working as a comedian/actor.
Jack shows off an “empathy belly” be ordered online to try to feel the weight Roxy is carrying around, and she’s only slightly more impressed by his effort than Jack’s dad, who literally dines out on the gag with Jack.
As for that NHS visit orchestrated by Jack’s mom, a midwife hooks up Jack to some electrical equipment so he can feel the simulated pain that Roxy will feel during labor, and you’re never going to guess how that went, especially when they handed over the controls to Jack’s dad.
We end the first episode of this series, still four weeks out to Roxy’s due date, with Jack Googling himself down online rabbit holes about fatherhood, which leads him to book a session with a woman in Sherman Oaks, Calif., timed to Jack’s upcoming press obligations for another project, and hoping this woman can “swaddle him” out of his Peter Pan syndrome.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of?: Catastrophe and The Letdown are both fictionalized TV series following funny people into parenthood, while Amy Schumer’s Expecting Amy showed the serious and complicated sides of the comedian’s pregnancy.
Our Take: Previous adventures found Jack and his dad traveling the globe, bonding and laughing as they initiate cultural clashes as well as generational ones. This series gets much more personal. And insular.
As a spin-off of Travels With My Father, this series relies on you already knowing and understanding the world the Whitehalls inhabit. Which is rather posh.
At the same time, this series also feels very much by-the-book in terms of following the “reality TV” playbook, complete with all of the cliches surrounding impending parenthood, and manufactured conflict or scenes specifically designed to set up standard situational comedy. Why is Jack attending prenatal classes without his pregnant partner, Roxy, and bringing along his octogenarian father in her place? COMEDY. Why is Jack signing up for sessions with a spiritual healer in Los Angeles and shoehorning it and his dad while doing a press tour (presumably for either Robots or The Afterparty)? Comedy? It’s one of those tricks of “reality” TV in which Whitehall likely would’ve done none of these things if the cameras or Netflix money wasn’t involved.
Most Pilot-y Line: Without a doubt, when Jack prepares for his ceremony to spiritually let go of his immature self to prepare for parenthood, he says: “RIP Jack the lad. Long live Jack the dad.”
But Jack also essentially re-delivers the pitch early straight to camera in a faux confessional: “I’ve got so many concerns about becoming a parent. I also want to look at the world that I’m bringing a child into. So I thought I would set out on a quest to find those answers, and get the old man out of the freezer as well.”
Sex and Skin: Nope.
Parting Shot: As they’re wrapped up next to each other in makeshift cocoons as part of the ceremonies in Sherman Oaks, Jack says “If I free my hand, I think I can probably loosen your trousers.” His dad’s reply: “Don’t you dare!” To which Jack snickers, and we cut to a montage of scenes teasing the remainder of the season.
Sleeper Star: Is Jack’s dad even a “sleeper” star at this point? Michael Whitehall somehow continues to provide comic relief to his comedian son and upstages him at almost every opportunity. Even in his mid-80s, there’s no sleep in his on-camera game.
Our Call: Your enjoyment of this series depends as much upon how well you know and follow the Whitehalls (as it does upon your enjoyment of reality TV projects in general). If you’ve loved watching the exploits of Jack and his dad in the past, or already love binging lite reality, then you’re obviously going to want to STREAM IT. But if you haven’t experienced Jack Whitehall and his dad before now, this might not be the best first introduction to them.
Sean L. McCarthy works the comedy beat. He also podcasts half-hour episodes with comedians revealing origin stories: The Comic’s Comic Presents Last Things First.