Dana Carvey and Freddie Prinze Jr. on USA Network's First Impressions: "Don't Take Yourself Seriously — Take the Job Seriously"

On May 4, 2016, Dana Carvey and Freddie Prinze Jr. joined a press call ahead of the premiere of USA Network's First Impressions, a six-episode half-hour competition series celebrating the art of celebrity impressions. The show premiered Tuesday, May 10th at 10:30 p.m. Eastern on USA Network. Carvey served as host and mentor; Prinze Jr. as co-host and judge. Neither had been looking for a project — Freddie described himself as "actively trying to be retired" — but the format was too good to pass up.

The hardest impressions to crack

Dana was candid about the impressions that gave him the most trouble. "George Bush Sr. was really difficult — I was assigned that when I was on Saturday Night Live and everyone said, 'What are we going to do with him?' That one took a year to make something interesting and funny." Obama was equally challenging: "He had a perceptively deep voice, very much down here. The ones that are kind of cut up like W or Clinton, caught up in your throat, are just easier to do." He also noted, with a straight face, that his Freddie Prinze Jr. impression took a while — "but now it sounds amazing. I can just do him whenever I need to and it's like Freddie's not even here." Freddie's response: "That was amazing Dana, how did you just do that."

The Trump trumpet-face

Freddie made an observation about what separates a great impression from a good one: the face changes too. "When Dana does Trump, his face naturally begins to mold like Clayface from the old Batman animated series. It just transforms into this squished version of Donald Trump." Dana agreed: "You can't do Trump without making your mouth into that — whatever that is, it's like a little trumpet. That's why he's called Trump." He also mentioned a Hillary Clinton impression he'd been developing, built around the premise that Bill is feeding her lines through an earpiece: "Big dog to little hill, big dog to little hill, come in little hill. You can't empathize everywhere, baby."

Freddie's grandmother and Peter Falk

Freddie traced his own impressions back to his father and to growing up around comedians at the Improv. He got to make a film with Peter Falk before Falk passed away, and the first thing he wanted to do was try his Kevin Pollak-derived Columbo impression. The story led to a family memory: his father had warned his grandmother before meeting Falk — "Don't call him Columbo, he really doesn't like that." She agreed. The moment she met Peter Falk, she said: "Columbo, I love you." His father: "Ma, what did I tell you?" Her explanation: "I can't take a chance with his last name with my accent." Freddie's conclusion: "So that's why she called him Columbo."

Robin Williams, Jonathan Winters, and stealing from the best

Dana traced his own influences back through the lineage: Jonathan Winters for generic voices, then Carlin, Pryor, and Freddie's father. Robin Williams was the biggest: "He was from San Francisco and he was like the godfather of comedy. I tried to be him for five years until I figured out no one was as fast as him. I had a trunk with props and found my own style." He told Williams this directly. Williams' response: "Oh, I got everything from Jonathan." Dana's takeaway: "You steal from the best, take everything you can."

Advice to young performers

Both hosts were asked what they'd tell the show's contestants as they launched their careers. Dana: "Don't let the wealth effect get a hold of you. Just work on being better. If you go into show business with the goal to be rich and famous, I think that's a trap. Try to get better, try to work on your thing. And don't take it too seriously — or rather, take the work seriously, because it goes up and down." Freddie built on it: "Don't take yourself seriously — take the job seriously. And don't be afraid to fail. It's when you're trying to watch your footing that you slip and fall on your ass. So be fearless." Dana closed with advice he'd gotten from Tony Randall on a variety show in the '90s: "He was in his 80s, looked incredible. I asked what his secret was. He said, 'We get to do this. We get to play and we get paid to do it.'" First Impressions aired Tuesdays at 10:30 p.m. Eastern on USA Network.

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