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# The many faces of Frank
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/the-many-faces-of-frank/
- Published: 2007-11-17T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T01:16:09.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By BYJACKNEWORTH CHANNELSURFING*

IN THE EARLY DAYS OF HOLLYWOOD FLAMboyant producers would advertise epic movies with the catch phrase “and casts of thousands.” Impressionist Frank Caliendo has so many characters in his comedy repertoire that it feels like a cast of thousands. In actuality, it’s probably more like a hundred, ranging from his most famous, John Madden, George Bush Charles Barkley, and Al Pacino, to more obscure impressions of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Al Michaels and Larry Flynt.

Caliendo, 33, boyish and a bit pudgy, is a high-energy talent reminiscent of Robin Williams or John Belushi. After years on the comedy club circuit, and as a cast member of Fox’s “MADtv,” Caliendo’s finally got his own show, “Frank TV” on TBS. The question is: Will it showcase his remarkable performing skills? It has never been an easy task in the past, even with mega-talents like the late Richard Pryor or Jonathan Winters.

“Frank TV” is shot in front of a live studio audience on a set built like a living room, simple and homey. In his opening, Frank says that, in getting his own show, he feels like a kid at Christmas. He proceeds to give an improv, Williams-like tour pointing out the couch, the life-size bear in the corner and steer horns hanging on the wall. From there we go to a filmed sketch of the “Seinfeld Reunion Show” in the year 2027 in which Frank plays all the characters, including Elaine. The music, the set, the graphics and Frank’s impressions of each “Seinfeld” character are all spot on.

George enters Jerry’s apartment and heads to the fridge complaining that with global warming his car is under six feet of water. Self-absorbed Jerry whines that someone has stolen his “hover shoes.” Kramer makes his dramatic if not bizarre entrance and confesses he lost Jerry’s hover shoes in a card game to … Newman! After the sketch, Frank comments, “Elaine kinda let herself go. TV adds 10 pounds, I think I added the other 40.” One of the pitfalls for dynamic comedic performers on TV is the fact that they can overwhelm an audience. Whereas in a club such energy is compelling, over the television screen it can be exhausting. For many, a true great needs to be taken in small doses. Perhaps as a counter-balance, in each episode Frank selects a co-host from the audience who sits next to him on the couch. This allows Caliendo to be himself and chat and cleverly transition to the next sketch, which in this case, was a look at the Clinton Presidential Library. We are given the tour by former President Bill Clinton who looks remarkably like Frank Caliendo, or vice-versa.

The former Commander in Chief shows us around the lavish facility which includes computers with NO parental blocks and a reference- VIP lounge which is more like a Hooters than a library. Caliendo’s Clinton is brilliant. As with all his characters, there’s no meanness. The best example is his bumbling George Bush. I can’t stand the president, but Caliendo’s characterization of him as a boob, is somehow so endearing, I actually feel a tiny degree of affection for the real thing. (Don’t ask me how.) One of my favorite bits is “Caliendo’s Squares” (a take-off on “Hollywood Squares”) where each square is one of his many characters. It’s a perfect device for humor and to demonstrate Caliendo’s uncanny ability to go from character to character. In this segment he does his Charles Barkley which is hilarious. (He later went on TNT’s basketball halftime live and did his Barkley for Barkley who was speechless, a rare sight indeed.) The show has a homey quality as there was even video of Caliendo trying to teach his 4-year-old son how to do a Bush impression. The show ended with John Madden (Caliendo’s signature impression) preparing Thanksgiving dinner by cooking a “turducken.” (A duck, stuffed in a chicken, stuffed in a turkey.) When we return to see how the cooking is progressing, however, we discover that a hungover Madden has eaten the entire turducken. Actually he ate two.

In an era of mean-spirited comedy (Sarah Silverman, Dane Cook etc.) Caliendo is a PG throwback to the ‘50s. He’s reminiscent more of Jonathan Winters than Lenny Bruce. It’d probably embarrass the hell out of him to be mentioned in the same sentence with those comedy legends, and rightfully so. But when Bruce first started out on shows like the “Ted Mack Amateur Hour” he did impressions. And for what it’s worth, considering the genius that Bruce would become, he didn’t do them half as well as Caliendo. Few have, ever. “Frank TV” debuts on TBS, Tuesday, Nov. 20, at 11 p.m. Even with the writer’s strike, four shows have already been filmed. I suggest you don’t miss them.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/111707-14_01.jpg)

TBS (Photo: Photo courtesy)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 17, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/111707.pdf?ref=smdp.com)