So we don’t fully ruin another thread with the chatter about this gem of the Pacific NorthWest.
A thread to discuss the wonderment created by Ross Shafer’s hubris transforming a local chat show into Comedic gold.
7 Likes
6 Likes
[whips out guitar]
And they’re… they’re still aliiive…
I think literally the only MST3K reference we got to AL was when Mike did his first teaser/bumper as host and accidentally mumbled that he was going to be on AL.
I guess the MST3K folks were less familiar with it than with CC works like Dream On or Gary Shandling. I believe both of those did get an actual riff or two…?
Though I’ve lived in Oregon for eons now, I was lucky to have a friend or two in Seattle who’d explain to me about things like J.P. Patches, so I could still follow along with the most local of the local humor. <3
5 Likes
Growing up in Vancouver, beyond the local Canadian channels, thankfully we picked up most of the Seattle based channels, especially the ones with network affiliations, so I got to watch the episode new and fresh right off KING5.
Don’t remember when I first saw it, (not counting episode of the earlier chat show version) but when SNL was suppose to start here was a wacky comedy show that fit right into my sensibilities, and I knew enough Seattle lore and layout to get a lot of the local jokes.
When the High Fiving White Guys came to Vancouver, I was so happy that it happened but so sad that had they announced anything before hand that I would have tried to find them.
6 Likes
Must log off and write… mash-up fanfic in which… Mike Nelson IS…
Lord Of The Green River Dance!!
3 Likes
I remember the Billy Quan skits, though I first encountered them on the short-lived Fox sketch comedy show Haywire (though they were made for Almost Live first.)
5 Likes
One of my all time favorite Almost Live sketches is Ballard Driving Academy. I had Scandahoovian relatives who resembled this!
4 Likes
Green Riverdance at the Auburn Center for the Fine Arts - now that is a true cultural touchstone 
2 Likes
I grew up in Auburn and watched this show religiously. So many great characters and sketches! From Billy Quan to watching Bill Nye in the shortest of shorts speed-walk to catch criminals and so many more that I can’t think of off the top of my head. But this guy on YT has uploaded lots of content of theirs, so I highly recommend it! https://www.youtube.com/user/GeorgeBuford/videos
3 Likes
Let us not forget perhaps the most MSTie of anything Almost Live.
It’s… JET GUY
5 Likes
Relocated from that other thread:
What I learned from listening to the “Still Alive” podcasts I linked to above: Bill Stainton (Mr. Raccoon Man) was also a producer on the show. So Bob Nelson (Uncle Fran) was being paid to hit his boss and tell him, “Shut up!” It’s as if Dr. F. had TV’s Jim for a flunky instead of TV’s Frank. 
[ETA- In the early ‘Teens, some of them were briefly back as “The 206” and I sent their website a plea for a crossover with Portlandia . Ideally, it would have been 90 seconds of the High Fivin’ White Guys jumping around and whooping while some Portlandia characters just stood there watching in dour, disapproving silence. 
]
2 Likes
King Broadcasting has 0 interest in preserving this stuff, so let’s be doubly grateful to George Buford for his channel. <3
2 Likes
Honestly, as cool as that would be to watch, I can pretty much plot and picture that scene mentally.
3 Likes
I would’ve cobbled it together and posted it for posterity, but moving pictures aren’t my forte.
1 Like
“Remember: Just ‘cause you’re a vegetarian doesn’t mean you’ve gotta’ eat with WIMPS!!”
(Yes, belatedly I remembered that Buford, the main AL archivist, requires you to go to YouTube to actually see the videos. But trust me. It’s worth the extra tab. )
Just in time for scary season…
2 Likes
The short-lived reincarnation, The 206, on the joys of following baseball in Seattle:
1 Like
Got to post as it was just on my youtube home page…
2 Likes
“If you don’t have an attorney, we’ll go down to the Yacht Club and get you one.”
