Almost Live! Reunion special
[EDIT 9/14/05: I recorded the show and you can now download it from me HERE.]
If you have trouble playing the file in Windows Media Player 10, download this small video player that comes bundled with the .avi codec.
Set your Tivos for the Almost Live! 15th anniversary reunion special on Monday September 15th at 8pm on King5!
From King5.com (which I'm reproducing here because TV news stations are notorious for link breakage):
Almost Live!, the award winning, locally produced sketch comedy show is returning for one night to pay tribute to its 15-year history.
The Almost Live! Reunion Special will include classic characters from the past, as well as new sketches focusing on events that have affected Seattle since the show went off the air in 1999, including WTO and this year’s controversial gubernatorial race.
On hand for the special will be the core cast from the final 10 years, including John Keister, Pat Cashman, Tracey Conway, Nancy Guppy, Bob Nelson, Bill Stainton, Steve Wilson, Joel McHale and Ed Wyatt.
It's the first time the cast has been together in more than six years. The show will also feature a special guest appearance from Bill Nye the Science Guy. Bill will be revisiting the liquid nitrogen experiment that launched his career on Almost Live! as the Science Guy. Expect the experiment to be bigger, wetter and potentially more hazardous.
During its 15 years of production, Almost Live! won well over 100 Emmy awards for writing, producing, acting and directing. Its unique blend of taped segments and live sketches earned the program the prestigious International Iris Award for Best Local Entertainment Program 11 times.
KING
The cast, clockwise from left: Bill Stainton, Tracey Conway, Joel McCale, Nancy Guppy, Ed Wyatt, Pat Cashman, Steve Wilson and John Keister.
Almost Live! was No. 1 in its time slot for 10 straight years. It now continues to be No. 1 in its time slot in repeats, Saturdays at 1 a.m. following Saturday Night Live.
The cast of Almost Live! has been very busy since the show went off the air in 1999.
- John Keister is currently a motivational and keynote speaker, as well as a popular emcee.
- Pat Cashman is a keynote speaker, a popular emcee and auctioneer, an advertising writer for TV and radio, and a regular guest host on KING 5’s Evening Magazine. In addition, Cashman is about to publish his first book of humorous essays.
- Tracey Conway and Bill Stainton are both popular keynote speakers, both nationally and internationally. Tracey has also been published in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, while Bill has written a business/leadership book on the success secrets of the Beatles.
- Nancy Guppy is the creator/host/producer of City a Go Go, a television show on The Seattle Channel and KCTS, promoting the Seattle arts scene.
- Bob Nelson has become a successful Hollywood scriptwriter.
- Steve Wilson continues to direct, write and produce in the Seattle market while also an emcee and public speaker.
- Joel McHale is now the host of E! Network’s The Soup and he also had a featured role in Spiderman 2.
The one-hour The Almost Live! Reunion Special airs Monday, Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. on KING 5.
The cast, clockwise from left: Bill Stainton, Tracey Conway, Joel McCale, Nancy Guppy, Ed Wyatt, Pat Cashman, Steve Wilson and John Keister.
September 9th, 2005 - 00:21
I was lucky enough to get a ticket to the taping last Saturday at 1 PM and it was a blast. Thanks to Pat Cashman for the heads up. Pat said it was strange being back in the KING studios as most of the people that they had worked with on the original Almost Live no longer worked there and that the people that were there to help with the reunion show had never done anything like it…so it was “interesting” to say the least. But, I think they pulled it off considering the amount of time that had passed since they were last on the air (Spring of 1999). I look forward to seeing the final edit this Monday! I had fun meeting Nancy, Tracey, Joel and of course Pat whom I’ve been an acquaintance of for about 8 years. Bill Nye the Science Guy was also there, but Ed Wyatt was not. I was also lucky enough to get the photo seen above signed by the entire cast. We may ever see all those great people together in one room again.
September 9th, 2005 - 09:33
Thanks for sharing, David though I’m really jealous you got to attend the taping! Pat’s been a great host of Evening Magazine this week; it’s nice to see him on TV again.
September 12th, 2005 - 22:25
Is there any chance you made a copy or recorded the show? I missed and I was really looking forward to seeing it and passing it on to a friend of mine that’s out of state.
September 13th, 2005 - 07:52
Hi Phil, yeah I Tivo’d the show but it will take me a few days to export it to mpeg. I’ll upload it to my server and send you an e-mail with the link.
September 13th, 2005 - 10:40
That’s great. Thank you so much. Can I buy you a beer or something?
September 14th, 2005 - 15:23
I ended up finding a torrent of it. But thanks for your help anyways. http://thepiratebay.org/details.php?id=3382999
September 14th, 2005 - 21:07
DAMMIT! I’ve been scooped!! I hate that, lol. Anyway, my file is at http://www.raincitystory.com/movies/Almost_Live_Reunion_2005.avi
November 30th, 2005 - 20:33
Hey thanks for the file. I wanted to know if anyone has other shows recorded that they could post online for me to download. I’m in school in NY and cant catch the show out here. thanks. Gabe
November 30th, 2005 - 21:40
Thanks Gabe, glad you liked it. Are you interested in more Almost Live! episodes?
December 7th, 2005 - 07:03
indeed i am!
December 13th, 2005 - 14:16
Michael, do you know if there is an episode guide anywhere? Thanks!
February 15th, 2006 - 14:43
Hello Michael, great site you have here… love your cat pictures, I have two of ‘em myself. I have been checking the PirateBay site and the torrents of all the Almost Live shows have no seeders anymore, so nobody can download ‘em very well. I enjoyed the reunion show you made available above, and am a big fan of the show, *despite* not being from the Seattle area… it’s still funny! Can you point me in a direction that would enable me to get hold of any recorded AL shows? Doesn’t matter what year, anything to cure my need to see it! Thank you! Brad Theurer
September 29th, 2006 - 05:52
Hi! I was wondering if you had the episode with the girl inflating her bra like two huge balloons? Can you get that for me? I have been looking everywhere for it and I found one clip bu the quality was too bad. Can you help me? please!!! :D
September 29th, 2006 - 09:10
Sorry Tom but I don’t have that one. I’m currently recording each episode on Saturday nights but haven’t found the time to encode them in mpeg form. If I come across it, I’ll send you and e-mail.
December 20th, 2006 - 07:10
Okay! I would really appreciate that! I have updated my new email address since there was too much spam on the last one. Do you know wich episode that is by the way? The one where she inflates her bra?
March 17th, 2007 - 10:12
Hey man, thanks for hosting this…I loved this show, and while I’m only 23 I did grow up with this and it was a pastime of Saturday nights to lead into SNL. I live in Washington, so it directly chimes with us up here. This is a cinematic classic, and it’s a shame there’s not a DVD compilation set.
Anyway, I want to get access to all of the shows…don’t know if you have torrents, or if you just send the file itself…anyway, I would love to get this. I’m hoping the reruns you have access to aren’t the locally-edited versions, as most of that is what I appreciated.
My email is delta.n9ne@gmail.com PLEASE SEND ANY AND ALL EPISODES!!!
Thank you much…feel free to email me for further communication/processing. You rock, thanks for keeping this treasure unburied!
JpH
May 6th, 2007 - 12:57
Do you have a link or torrents so I can download all the episodes for almost live? I am looking for the inflated bra scene in good quality
May 7th, 2007 - 08:00
Hi Tom, I sure don’t but I’m working with a person who works at King 5 studios to procure some digital copies. If I manage to get them, I’ll send you an e-mail to the address you left on your comment.
Thanks,
Michael
May 7th, 2007 - 12:39
Thanks! I appretiate that! It is impossible to find it with good quality on the net
May 20th, 2007 - 17:48
Does King 5 ever plan on releasing Almost Live on DVD? If not, could I get an e-mail with the address where you would put the files if you’re planning on posting all of the episodes for Almost Live?
May 20th, 2007 - 17:51
Hi James, as far as I know, King5 has no plans on releasing any or all of th Almost Live! shows. I’m working on getting as many as I can in a digital format and will e-mail you when I get some.
June 17th, 2007 - 04:34
I’ve received word directly from the mouth of KING 5 General Manager that Almost Live will never be released on DVD. Who knows, maybe in a few years, other management may changed their mind! We can only hope!
September 26th, 2007 - 09:49
Hi there!
Huge fan of Almost Live! I’ve been trying to find archived shows from 1988 or 89. Can’t remember. Anyway, my friends and I were on the show, and my friend recorded it on VHS, but he lost the tape recently. Do you by chance have this posted somewhere?
Thanks for your help,
Joel
October 9th, 2007 - 23:36
Hey there,
I’m just postin up the same stuff as everybody else but I’d also like to know if anybody has any digital copies of any of the episodes. There are some skits on youtube but it isn’t the same as watching the full episodes. Does anybody know how strict King is about pirating episodes of the show? I’d buy it in a heartbeat if it was available but until then perhaps we could post them on my as of now unused mac webpage for people to download until then.
Matt
November 7th, 2008 - 05:40
Having worked for King TV I know that Almost Live will most likely never be released on DVD. It’s not a management thing; it’s because of the music that was used on the show. Nobody ever got permission or paid the royalties. It would take hundreds, even thousands of hours to screen each episode, contact every music owner, work out an agreement and make sure everything was legal. King TV just isn’t interested in investing the time, money and resources for that small of a return. However I doubt that they care about it being posted on youtube, ect.
December 28th, 2008 - 09:17
A release of Almost Live! on to DVD does not look to promising
according to this article http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/125525.asp
“Keister suggested a way fans can build their very own DVD set: Set your Tivo to record KING/5 every Saturday at 1 a.m. You’ll get there eventually.”
I would like to add to his suggestion by advising you to use a Hard drive DVD recorder instead of a Tivo, the Tivo does not allow you to edit out the commercials.
I use such a recorder and so far collected 245 Commercial Free episodes on DVD.
These shows that have re-run were all originally aired from 1989 to 1999 with nothing in the 1984 to 1988 time range.
I would really like to get a program guide for these shows to see how many I’m missing from a complete collection.
I would guess that there are probably 10 to 15 nuggets left to find, so the hunt goes on.
If anyone is looking for info on any certain skit let me know, I have hand written listings of all the skits in my collection.