Studs from Microsoft
Chris Sells reminded me of the Studs from Microsoft sketch
(direct link to video),
a parody of the dating game show
Studs,
as performed by the now-defunct local sketch comedy program
Almost Live!
And yes, in that sketch is Bill Nye at the midpoint of his rise
to stardom.
Between his careers as Boeing mechanical engineer and
nationally-recognized "Science Guy",
he was on Almost Live!,
performing both comedy and
science demonstrations.
The program had quite an enthusiastic following in its day.
If you were new to the area, sooner or later one of your friends
would sit you down and force you to watch a half hour of sketches.
It was a crash course in local geography and culture,
with jokes about Ballard, Mercer Island, Renton, and Lynnwood
flying left and right.
(The
Ballard Driving Academy
is perhaps their greatest accomplishment.)
I noted earlier that one of its recurring sketches
influenced a feedback tool included in the betas of Windows XP.
I stole their "A or B" sketch for my
Coffee machine or assault weapon? quiz
(though you'll have to imagine the "ding"s).
One of my favorite sketches was the game show parody Pike or Pine?,
wherein contestants were given descriptions of businesses or other
landmarks, and they had to say whether the location in question was on
Pike Street or Pine Street.
The two streets run parallel and nobody, not even people who spent their
entire lives in Seattle,
can remember what is on Pike and what is on Pine.
