As a former writer and associate producer of KING-TV’s “Almost live!” (from 1985-88), the new exhibition at the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) in Seattle will certainly be an entertaining, nostalgic and in my case personal Journey into the past.
The exhibit – “Almost live! (Almost an exhibition)” – starts on Saturday, August 31, 2024 at MOHAI and ends with a great report in The Seattle Times this past Sunday, August 25th. On display will be costumes, props, trinkets, behind-the-scenes footage and more from the popular local comedy show that ran from 1984 to 1999.
It will be surreal to see props and costumes I worked with decades ago displayed in a museum, because it seems like only yesterday that I was working on the show, coming up with parts and sourcing props (“Schaefer, get me a bushel of shrimp NOW!“). I am sure that the exhibition – curated by Clara Berg – captures the spirit and joy of what we wanted to achieve with local comedy.
How I got the job
I was lucky enough to get a job on the show in 1985-86 by submitting and selling a few small ideas I had written with my friend Pat Robinson. We sold an idea about a TV remote that worked on people for $50, and I volunteered to help with production on filming, which got me started and made friends with the crew. Soon after, I was hired as a full-time writer at $130/week—the same week that Bill Nye and Joe Guppy started. (I did have to continue working nights, however, where I worked as a telemarketer under the pseudonym “Duke Brooks” for Fishing & Hunting News.) I won six Northwest Emmy Awards for my three seasons of work on the show, including the first part, “Mission Danger: Total Control”, Pat Cashman’s classic “Sloppy” and Keister’s “Lifestyles of the almost rich and famous” for the Northwest Emmy in the category “Soft Feature or Series” (“Sloppy“” was much funnier and should have won, but our part won, thanks to the brilliant shooting and editing skills of DP Mike Boydstun).
During my time on the show I was fortunate to work with some incredibly funny people including Ross Shafer (no relation), John Keister, Pat Cashman, head writer Jim Sharp, DP/Editor Boydstun, DP Darrell Suto, producers Dana Dwinell and Bill Stainton, Joe Guppy, Bill Nye and many others.
We capitalized on the idiosyncrasies and anxieties of the Northwest at a time of rapid change. While I was there, Microsoft was booming, Starbucks was expanding, Ballard was still funny, the bus tunnel was being built in Seattle’s ruined downtown, and we were there to make fun of it all.
The exhibition highlights the show’s influence on Seattle’s cultural landscape and features clippings and props that demonstrate the show’s sometimes silly, sometimes biting local humor.
Anecdotes from the Associate Producer
Need some chickens: An anecdote from the time around 1986-87 still fills me with deep, poultry Guilt. As an associate producer, part of my job was to source props, and on one piece I wrote: “You work an Amish day, you get an Amish deal” (a parody of a local Safeway advertisement with the slogan “If you work honestly, you get an honest deal“), I had to get some real, dead chickens for actors playing Amish people to use as currency to “pay” for their groceries. I found a chicken processing plant in Seattle, and a contact there said I could pick up some chickens in exchange for a thank you note in the credits. Little did I know that the three or four chickens he presented were all very still alive. The manager was kind enough to casually show me how to kill one by quickly breaking its neck (Pooh). He scoffed and I felt like a wimp when, after trying to figure out how to get out of it, I held my breath and finally consumed the two remaining live chickens he had given me. This event still haunts me and sometimes I hear random, frightening cackling noises from the chicken ghosts still trapped in the trunk of my car.
Sylvester’s “thingy”: In another episode, I was given the task of picking up a very special guest and driving him to the KING studios: Sylvester the Mummy (for me a scary/funny childhood icon) by The old curiosity shop. I drove a white KING van to the waterfront location where the owners and some of his family were waiting to load the legendary dead man into the van. It was around sunset, the “golden hour,” when we carefully rolled him out of his glass display case to gently lift him into the back of the van. The mother and daughter were just helping to lift the bottom of the display case into the van as the sun was already low in the sky when one of them said, “Look! There’s his thing!” The other peered under the dead man’s kilt and confirmed that the mummy’s genitals were still intact. We all looked and laughed, and on the lonely drive to the studio, the unmistakable smell of “death” hit my nose because I was so close to Sylvester (which means: he’s real. And dead.)
“Almost live!“” was a dream come true, even though it didn’t pay much. I threw myself into it, learned a lot, and was surrounded by a lot of very funny, talented people. It was probably the best and most fun job of my life, even for $130 a week.
I am surprised at the enduring popularity of the show, with thousands of sketches on YouTube and a loyal fan base that still quotes parts of it decades later. I thought everyone would have simply forgotten it by now.
It’s amazing to see the show live on. I think it shows how well we captured a particular moment in Seattle’s history.
An appearance in Hollywood?!
In April 1988, Ross got an offer to come to the new Fox Broadcasting Company in Los Angeles to take over Joan Rivers’ old “Late Show.” Joan left, and after her successor, Arsenio Hall, also left, Ross aced an audition and got the job as anchor. He was able to bring me and Jim Sharp with him, and within days we went from working at KING to doing a nightly late night show in a multi-million dollar studio in a cool office overlooking the “HOLLYWOOD” sign. We certainly brought our best “Almost live!“-parts that we reused for the show.
Although I feel bad about leaving the show without its host/head writer, I have to admit that I think: “Almost live!“actually got a lot better when it was changed to a 30-minute show and the desk/tape/interview show format was eliminated. Keister hosted and threw in taped segments and was a much tighter, funnier show than what we were doing.
Later, after working on television shows in LA for six years, I returned to Seattle to work as a senior writer on the original “Bill Nye, the science guy”, where I was lucky enough to win three National Emmy Awards for writing. It was fantastic to come back and work with my old friend Bill! Bill! Bill! to bring science to kids through humor.
After many freelance activities (“Penn & Teller: Bullshit!” and many others) I started the B-Town Blog as a hobby in 2007 and have been working as a local journalist ever since. Now we publish eight “hyperlocal” news websites for our company Südkönig Media.
The MOHAI exhibition runs throughout the autumn, with events planned for the entire duration.
Left:
Some of my “acting performances” (Can you find me? NOTE: I had a lot more hair!):
Related topics:
