Ed Helms Shares 'Brutal Battle' of Adjusting His 3-Year-Old Daughter to Less Time in Front of TV

Ed Helms learned the hard way about letting his young daughter indulge in the wonders of television.

While appearing virtually on The Ellen DeGeneres Show Tuesday, the 47-year-old actor opens up to host Ellen DeGeneres about a recent road trip he and his wife took with their 3-year-old daughter and how it spurred a television addiction within her.

Detailing that he and his spouse don't allow their daughter to watch "a lot of TV in her normal life," The Office alum says they made an exception while recently traveling together on a 14-hour car ride. "We can put an iPad up and it's just like the greatest thing in the world to her," Helms says.

"And actually, it kept her pretty chill for this extremely long drive," he continues. "But it was also maybe a miscalculation because when a kid doesn't get much TV and then gets this massive dose, it's like heroin."

"You can't get them off. You can't take that iPad away," Helms adds. "It is a brutal battle trying to readjust a child to no TV."

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Later in his chat with DeGeneres, 63, Helms — who has not publicly shared the name of his young daughter — also talked about her love of music and how it echoes that of her father's. When asked if he can tell if his little girl is already musical, the actor says, "She bangs on the piano a lot," as he mimics the movements his toddler makes with her hands.

"It's just open hands and it's just banging on the keys, and it's fun for her to kind of make all that noise," he adds.

Helms also talked about how singing is a part of his daily routine, detailing to DeGeneres that he sings to his daughter "all the time."

"I sing a lot of songs to her, but then she always wants me to sing whatever's going on in that exact moment. She wants me to narrate whatever's happening," he says. "So I wind up singing these dumb songs about, like, eating granola bars or playing with toys. They're not good songs."