Almost Live TV
The Almost Live logo
Genre	Comedy, Variety Show
Starring	Ross Shafer, John Keister, Pat Cashman, Tracey Conway, Nancy Guppy, Barb Klansnic, Joel McHale, Bob Nelson, Bill Nye, Bill Stainton, Lauren Weedman, Steve Wilson, and Ed Wyatt
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	unknown
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	KING-TV
Original run	1984 – 1999
Links
IMDb profile

Almost Live! was a local sketch comedy television show in Seattle, Washington, USA, produced and broadcast by NBC affiliate KING-TV from 1984 to 1999. A re-packaged version of the show also aired on Comedy Central from 1992 to 1993. Image File history File links King5-almostlive. ... Comedy has a classical meaning (comical theatre) and a popular one (the use of humour with an intent to provoke[[ laughter in general). ... Ross Shafer (born December 10, 1954 in McMinnville, Oregon, USA) is a comedian and television host turned motivational and customer service speaker/trainer, based in Carlsbad, California. ... John Kiester was the host of the Seattle sketch comedy show Almost Live! until it was canceled by KING-TV in 1999 because it was not making enough profit. ... Pat Cashman (born in Bend, Oregon) is a comedian and television and radio personality based in the Seattle, Washington, area. ... Tracey Conway (born August 27, 1956) is a comedian and was a regular cast member on KING-TVs Almost Live!, a sketch comedy show local to the Pacific Northwest, from 1984 to 1999. ... Joel McHale Joel E. McHale (born November 20, 1971 in Rome, Italy) is an American actor and host of The Soup on E! Entertainment Television. ... Bob Nelson (born 1953) is a retired American football player. ... William Sanford Nye (b. ... Steve Wilson is a television director, based in Seattle, Washington, USA. He also appeared on-air during the Almost Live! sketch comedy show on KING-TV during the 1990s. ... Edward Ed Wyatt (born 1962) works as one of two SBS Television Melbourne-based reporters. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... KING-TV (KING 5) is a television station in Seattle, Washington, USA. It is affiliated with the NBC network, and broadcasts on analog VHF channel 5 and digital UHF channel 48. ... This is a list of television-related events in 1984. ... This is a list of television-related events in 1999. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Nickname: Location of Seattle in King County and Washington Coordinates: Country United States State Washington County King County Incorporated December 2 1869 Government  - Type Mayor-council  - Mayor Greg Nickels (NP) Area  - City  142. ... NBC (a former acronym for National Broadcasting Company) is an American television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... KING-TV (KING 5) is a television station in Seattle, Washington, USA. It is affiliated with the NBC network, and broadcasts on analog VHF channel 5 and digital UHF channel 48. ... Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel in the United States and, as of October 19, 2006, in Poland[1], of January 15, 2007 in Germany[2], of April 30, 2007 in the Netherlands[3] and in Italy of May 1. ...

History

Original format

Almost Live! began as a weekly hour-long talk show created and hosted by Ross Shafer and closely patterned after Late Night with David Letterman, airing at 6:00 p.m. on Sundays. The show became so popular that it was expanded from a half hour to one hour and shown twice a week. After four years and nearly 40 Emmy Awards later, Shafer left to host the Fox Network's The Late Show. Ross Shafer (born December 10, 1954 in McMinnville, Oregon, USA) is a comedian and television host turned motivational and customer service speaker/trainer, based in Carlsbad, California. ... Late Night with David Letterman was a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC hosted by David Letterman. ... The Late Show was an American late night talk show and the first series broadcast on the then-fledgling Fox Network. ...

John Keister and a change in format

After several guest hosts were used, John Keister became the permanent replacement. Until that time, Keister was an occasional supporting performer. It was apparent that Keister's talents weren't served during interviews, so the guest interviews and live band segments were dropped. The focus changed to sketch comedy and the show was shaved back to a half-hour format. John Kiester was the host of the Seattle sketch comedy show Almost Live! until it was canceled by KING-TV in 1999 because it was not making enough profit. ...

The format of the show during Keister's tenure as host always included an opening monologue. Much of the material had a local flavor to it. In addition to Seattle politicians and celebrities, regular targets of the show’s barbs were various Seattle sports teams, local stereotypes, Seattle neighborhoods such as Ballard (home of elderly Scandinavian Americans), Fremont and Wallingford (home of middle-aged hippies and new-agers), and suburbs such as Renton and Kent (perceived by the show’s young, urban viewers as a low-income, "white trash" town) and Bellevue and Mercer Island (which had a snobbish, ultra-rich image). Other targets outside of Seattle proper included Olympia and Bellingham, both of which have hippie/pothead stereotypes. Most, but not all, of the local references were removed for the Comedy Central version. The show also had promos for fake TV shows billed as "new shows on KING 5 for the upcoming season". Ballard Ballard is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington. ... See: Danish American Norwegian American Swedish American Finnish American Category: ... Fremont Fremont is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington. ... Wallingford Good Shepherd Center Wallingford is a neighborhood in north central Seattle, Washington, named after John Noble Wallingford (died 1913). ... Hippies (singular hippie or sometimes hippy) were members of the 1960s counterculture movement who adopted a communal or nomadic lifestyle, renounced corporate nationalism and the Vietnam War, embraced aspects of Buddhism, Hinduism, and/or Native American religious culture, and were otherwise at odds with traditional middle class Western values. ... New Age describes a broad movement characterized by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture. ... Location of Renton in King County and Washington Coordinates: County King Government  - Mayor Kathy Keolker Area  - City 44. ... Coordinates: Country United States State Washington County King Founded May 28, 1890 Government  - Mayor Suzette Cooke Area  - City  28. ... White trash is a derogatory term with a classist component targeted at white people and connoting low social status or poor prospects (i. ... Location of Bellevue within King County, Washington, and King County within Washington. ... Mercer Island is a city located in King County, Washington. ... Coordinates: County Thurston County Incorporated January 28, 1859 Government  - Mayor Mark Foutch Area  - City 48. ... Bellingham, Washington is the county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. ... Singer at a modern Hippie movement in Russia A hippie or hippy is a member of a specific subgroup of the counterculture that began in the United States during the early 1960s, spread to other countries, and declined in the mid-1970s. ... Cannabis is a plant which is consumed by humans as a psychoactive drug. ...

Air times

The show was broadcast on Saturday nights at 11:30 p.m., pushing Saturday Night Live back to midnight. Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a weekly late night 91-minute American comedy-variety show based in New York City that has been broadcast live by NBC on Saturday nights since October 11, 1975. ...

Cancellation

Almost Live! was canceled by KING-TV in 1999 because it was not making enough profit. The station has aired reruns of the show ever since, now in the time slot following Saturday Night Live. In fall 2000, Keister created a new sketch comedy show for competing station KIRO-TV, titled The John Report with Bob, essentially a carry-over of the news report segment he had done on Almost Live!, with Bob Nelson in tow. The new show was canceled after a year, again because it was not making a profit. KIRO-TV is the CBS television affiliate in Seattle, Washington. ...

Reruns

Reruns are broadcast on KING-TV in Seattle at 1:05 a.m., following Saturday Night Live. KING aired a reunion show on September 12, 2005, featuring the cast of the final ten years. Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a weekly late night 91-minute American comedy-variety show based in New York City that has been broadcast live by NBC on Saturday nights since October 11, 1975. ... September 12 is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years). ... The year 2005 in television involved some significant events. ...

KING-5 aired "Almost Live! Back At Ya", a series of "best of" shows, on Sundays starting September 10, 2006 at 9 p.m.^[1]. The series aired until December, and are not on the air at the moment.

Sketches

Cast of Almost Live!

Some of the recurring sketches featured on Almost Live included: Image File history File links Screenshot. ... Image File history File links Screenshot. ...

• "Bill Nye the Science Guy"
• "Capable Woman" (super heroine who "rescues" men too "manly" to admit they can't do everything)
• "Jet Guy" (parody of Republic Pictures' 1950s serial character, "Commando Cody")
• "Me" ("talk show" hosted by egotistical woman who acts as if she is smarter than everyone else)
• "Mind Your Manners with Billy Quan" (parody of Bruce Lee’s martial arts films)
• "Nature Walk, with Chuck" (reckless alcoholic outdoors man and naïve young assistant)
• Parody of Cops set in various Seattle neighborhoods
• "Speed Walker" (super hero who fights crime while adhering to the standards of competitive speed-walking)
• "The High-Five’n White Guys"
• "Ineffectual Middle-Management Suck-ups"
• "The John Report" [1990-95]/"The Late Report" [1995-end of run] (weekly news-parody, similar to Weekend Update)
• "The Lame List (Or, "What’s Weak This Week)" (local members of "Seattle's heavy metal community", such as Kim Thayil of grunge band Soundgarden yelling "lame" to whatever topic the announcer would present). Also in a rotating schedule were Collin Matson, Brad Hull, and Tony Benjamin of local Seattle band Forced Entry as well as members of other local bands. When an especially difficult topic or question would arise, everyone would stare and go "Huh?" with blank stares until the announcer gave up and asked a more simple question to which everyone would yell "Lame" in understanding.
• "Sluggy" (a parody of "Lassie" about a boy and his pet slug)
• "The Survivalist" (paranoid man with program from his underground bunker)
• "This Here House" (a parody of the show "This Old House")
• "The Worst Girlfriend In The World" (dating "horror stories")
• "Uncle Fran’s Musical Forest" (embittered children's show host)
• "Urban Wildlife"
• The Surprisingly Well Adjusted Vietnam Veteran.
• "Street Talk," which dubbed in voices for people unknowingly videotaped on city streets. This bit was later used as the basis for a CBS pilot co-created and produced by Scott Schaefer and hosted by Bill Maher.

Some sketches were borrowed for the Fox TV series Haywire in 1990. Commando Cody in RADAR MEN FROM THE MOON! Commando Cody was the hero in a 12-episode science-fiction serial made in 1952 by Republic Pictures entitled Radar Men from the Moon, and a followup 1953 set of 12 short-subjects (or 12 cliffhangerless serial chapters) collectively called the adventures... A talk show (U.S.) or chat show (Brit. ... Bruce Lee (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: Lǐ Xiǎolóng; Cantonese Yale: Léih Síulùhng; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an Chinese-American martial artist, philosopher, instructor, and martial arts actor widely regarded as the most influential martial artist of the 20th century. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Weekend Update is a Saturday Night Live sketch which comments on and parodies current events. ... Kim Thayil (born September 4, 1960 in Seattle, Washington) is best known as the guitarist for Seattle, USA grunge band Soundgarden, which he founded with Chris Cornell and Hiro Yamamoto in 1984. ... Grunge music (sometimes also referred to as the Seattle Sound) is an independent-rooted music genre that became a commercially successful offshoot of hardcore punk, thrash metal, and alternative rock in the late 1980s and early 1990s. ... Soundgarden was an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984. ... The Fox Broadcasting Company, usually referred to as just Fox (the company itself prefers the capitalized version FOX), is a television network in the United States. ... Haywire was a sketch comedy television series which was aired by Fox Broadcasting Company as part of its 1990-91 lineup. ...

Bill Nye

Ross Shafer is credited as the man who invented Bill Nye the Science Guy, encouraging Boeing aircraft engineer Bill Nye to demonstrate science experiments on the show. Nye later turned it into the Bill Nye the Science Guy show on PBS. A recurring segment on the PBS show was "Mind Your Manners with Billy Quan", which was originally a recurring sketch on Almost Live! Bill Nye the Science Guy is an Emmy Award-winning educational television program, hosted by Bill Nye. ... The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA, TYO: 7661 ) is an aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. ... William Sanford Nye (b. ... William Sanford Nye (b. ... Note: Public Broadcasting Services is a broadcaster in Malta. ...

Cast members

Besides the host, regular cast members included Mike Neun, Pat Cashman, Tracey Conway, Nancy Guppy, Joe Guppy, Barb Klansnic, Joel McHale, Bob Nelson, Bill Nye, Bill Stainton, Bill Jeakle, Darrell Suto, Lauren Weedman, Steve Wilson, and Ed Wyatt. Writers included Scott Schaefer, who later went on to win three National Emmy Awards for writing on Bill Nye the Science Guy, and original Head Writer Jim Sharp, who is now Senior Vice President, Original Programming and Development for Comedy Central in Los Angeles. Pat Cashman (born in Bend, Oregon) is a comedian and television and radio personality based in the Seattle, Washington, area. ... Tracey Conway (born August 27, 1956) is a comedian and was a regular cast member on KING-TVs Almost Live!, a sketch comedy show local to the Pacific Northwest, from 1984 to 1999. ... Joel McHale Joel E. McHale (born November 20, 1971 in Rome, Italy) is an American actor and host of The Soup on E! Entertainment Television. ... Bob Nelson (born 1953) is a retired American football player. ... William Sanford Nye (b. ... Steve Wilson is a television director, based in Seattle, Washington, USA. He also appeared on-air during the Almost Live! sketch comedy show on KING-TV during the 1990s. ... Edward Ed Wyatt (born 1962) works as one of two SBS Television Melbourne-based reporters. ... Bill Nye the Science Guy is an Emmy Award-winning educational television program, hosted by Bill Nye. ...

External links

• KING-TV Almost Live! website
• Jump The Shark - Almost Live!