To fully appreciate the importance of "Almost Live!" in my life, I need to recount the story of how I decided to move to Seattle.
I'm a little reluctant, however, to divulge the inner workings of my decision-making process. This is certain only to fuel Robot Josh's suspicions of my psychological stability and whether it I'm actually fit to continue working with the Robots. It doesn't really help that today it was revealed that I was only hired the first time out of desperation. I suspected as much because there really isn't a better explanation for why someone so underserving was allowed to work alongside such a talented group of people. But I digress.
Think back, my faithful readers, to late 1992 and early 1993 when I was finishing my final year at the University of Texas at Austin. Job prospects in my chosen field are particularly bleak, so I decide to postpone the inevitable entry into the real world by signing on for a few years of graduate school.
The first acceptance that I received was from the UCLA law school. I'm sure I only got in because the aftermath of Los Angeles riots scared most sane people away. I sent in my acceptance as soon as I could.
Then I received an offer from the University of Washington. Things became difficult as I began to second guess my decision to go to Los Angeles.
That week's episode of "Melrose Place" had Allison involved in a carjacking. This left her noticeably distressed and she finally agrees to take her boyfriend up on his offer to move to Seattle.
Beavis and Butt-head were great fans of the Seattle grunge scene and often referred to Seattle as a place where "everything is cool."
Comedy Central had just picked up syndication rights for a local Seattle comedy show called "Almost Live!" I watched this quirky blend of local humor with complete fascination. I really didn't understand any of the local cultural references, but it didn't seem to matter.
So here everything was coming together. Los Angeles bad, Seattle cool. I send an acceptance back to the UW and inform UCLA that I would be going elsewhere.
I was shocked, then, when the next episode of "Melrose Place" had Allison returning to Los Angeles. It turns out her boyfriend was a bit of an overcontrolling psychopath and had tried to kill her. She returns back to her old apartment completely disgusted with Seattle.
At this point I screamed in horror. What had I done? Was it too late to retract my rejection? The panic, however, slowly subsided over the next few weeks as I continued to watch "Almost Live!", trying to assimilate the culture of my future home.
