At the onset of the late night show, Jimmy Kimmel thought it would be nice to put Uncle Frank on the air — he thought his uncle's personality was a perfect fit for TV (via The New York Times). And so it turned out to be.
Although his official title had him listed as security personnel, Potenza spent quite a lot of time as his nephew's sidekick in front of the cameras while they performed comedy sketches, adding his two cents to issues in ways that elevated the comic nature of the conversation. At some point, Jimmy wisely started to leave spots open for Uncle Frank to throw in his opinions and jibes. They made a perfect team — Jimmy as the late night show host and his uncle as the foil. Uncle Frank's highlights on the show include his hilarious interviews with stars such as Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise (per New York Daily News) as well as his sketch about the royal wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William (per The Hollywood Reporter).
After the death of his beloved uncle, Jimmy Kimmel could not hold back tears as he rolled out a heartwarming tribute, noting Uncle Frank's dedication to the show and sometimes arriving "10, 11, 12" hours before filming was to begin. "It's hard to believe he's now the 'late' Uncle Frank because he was never ever late for anything," the TV host said during his touching tribute (per The Hollywood Reporter).
