Almost Live!

Almost Live was one of my favorite shows, ever! Local TV stations rarely makes their own product anymore, outside of newscasts, but KING TV in Seattle ran this local comedy show for 15 years up until 1999. I would count down the hours to see the next episode every Saturday night! Billy Kwan, The High Fivin' White Guys, Speed Walker, Sluggy, Cops in Ballard/Issaquah/Renton/Mercer Island, The John Report, The Worst Girlfriend in the World, Pat Cashman in D.J. Priest/D.J. Cop/D.J. Dentist, Roscoe's Carpet Emporium (Going out of Business since 1958!), The Ineffectual Middle-Management Suck-ups, Uncle Fran's Musical Forest, Ballard Driving School, The Street Walking Lawyers of Aurora Ave, & Jet Guy!!! This show was a great example of how creativity and localisms cam make a show work without having a big budget, or being based in LA or NYC.

I grew up in Seattle and this show chronicled the rise of Seattle from a sleepy little nowhere town to the height of grunge and back down. However, I would imagine it would be a little hard to get if you aren't from Seattle (though, I think they edited out stuff that was totally Seattle-based on the Comedy Central version)... but if you are from Seattle (or rather Kent) like I am... this is an absolute classic. I give this show ***** out of *****.

This was a funny show. We used to watch it a lot in 1992 or so along with the original UK Whose Line Is It Anyway? in college when our college cable picked up Comedy Central. Reading some of the user comments it's coming back to me a little more.

I remember one skit was a game show called "Who Killed J.F.K. Today?", in which contestants had to present their conspiracy theories as to how JFK was killed. Bill Nye's character won, because his took the least time to explain: "A tiger ate 'im!"

I also recall Bill Nye did science demonstrations. He tested the urban legend about "if you jump up at the last minute in an out of control plummeting elevator, you'll survive" years before MythBusters even started. Of course, he didn't use a dummy in a real elevator, but an egg in a small model elevator - but he came to the same conclusion.

This is actually much more deserving of being on DVD than SCTV, in my opinion.

I used to watch this show on a regular basis when it was airing as re-runs on Comedy Central. I loved it! I wish it would make a come-back!

Some of my favorite skits include "Mind Your Manners with Billy Quan" or "The High-Fiving White Guys" or the adventures of the "Speed Walker" who was a superhero who, well, he speed walked around Seattle fighting crime. Just looney. Of course, who could forget the skit about a hunting season for street mimes? "Wait! You can't shoot him, he's behind an invisible wall. It would be unsportsman-like" or something to that effect.

I agree with other posters here who say this show was better than the crap they were doing on SNL at the time. I miss it.

As a native Washingtonian who grew up to Almost Live! the thing that worked best for me was that the show was basically one big inside joke for those of us who knew the area. Sadly, this is why the show really wasn't all that funny in syndication. When I met out of state residents at college, I would insist that they watch the show in order to understand the area. That way, they could learn that Scandinavians live in Ballard, yuppies live on the East Side, and rednecks live in the South End. These are vital things to know!!! It's no small coincidence that Almost Live ended up coming out with a guide to the northwest video.

It was always great to watch this show before SNL, and take pride in the fact that a bunch of local talent consistantly creamed the pathetic attempts at comedy produced by the national "talent" in New York. I just wish KING TV wouldn't have decided to pull the plug on the show (it was making money, but they wanted to make MORE money), and that stars like John Keister and Pat Cashman would have been able to springboard into the national scene to share their talent with the rest of the country.