OP here.
SOLVED! R181 got it. And R183 nailed it.
It’s Lucy Webb. The show was LAUGH TRAX.
But what’s weird is how foggy and convoluted my memory of what show she was on was, what she later appeared in, and who she was exactly (or wasn’t).
R59 almost had my partner and I convinced (by way of R44). My partner and I both seemed to agree at first that ALMOST LIVE! was the variety sketch comedy show we’re both remembering. I remembered it as LA, it’s actually Seattle. And as R59 points out there are several Ed Bagley Jr. lookalikes on the show. This would lead to the actress I’m remembering being Tracey Conway, which it could have been. But that is NOT the actress I started this thread about. I might have gotten my memory of Conway confused with Lucy Webb? And, possibly other actresses listed in this thread? Particularly Rachel Tictoin. But the show started in 1984. And Conway just seems too off from who I’m remembering.
But… then as soon as I saw Lucy Webb’s face, I though: “Bam! That’s her. That’s who I’m thinking of!” LUCY WEBB!
Lucy Webb appeared on Not Necessarily the News, which began in 1983 and looks like the show we remember. BUT it was on HBO. I was 13 in 1983 and my family certainly didn’t have HBO. Neither did my partner at that age. Unless NNtN ran on network channels late at night on weekends, I probably never saw it. Unless I saw it years later and remembered it as Almost Live. Just more confusion.
So yes to Lucy Webb, but not exactly to both (of the shows) above. Then R184 came along and got it totally right. It’s indeed Lucy Webb and the show was LAUGH TRAX. My partner and I both agree. THAT is exactly the show we remember.
What’s weird is Lucy Webb plays a small but memorable role in BIG BUSINESSES! A film I’ve seen 100 times and have memorized. How. On. Earth. Could. I. Have. Forgotten. That? I may just be a dingbat.
I also remember Webb appearing in many more things. Her filmography isn’t tiny, but not huge. Again, I still think I’m confusing her with similar actresses over time.
The similarity to Wendy Jo Sperber is because: I had always remembered this actress as one of the leads of the late 70’s film I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND, a film I saw on TV as a kid and always remembered vividly. I never saw it since, and remembered this mystery actress in Sperber’s place. As soon as I was trying to figure out this actresses identity with my partner I googled IWHYH and right way though, “Wait, that’s not who I’m thinking if.” That’s why I called her a lookalike to Sperber.
And some of you are right, I *did* abandon the thread because it became so overwhelming. I had no idea of the width and breadth of knowledge of such matters on DataLounge! I’m impressed (I just wasn’t prepared for the impact).
Thanks DataLounge! You solved it.