Real People
| Real People | |
|---|---|
Cast photo from left to right: Bill Rafferty (Bottom Left), John Barbour (Top Left), Sarah Purcell (Middle), Skip Stephenson (Top Middle) and Byron Allen (Top Right)
|
|
| Genre | Reality |
| Starring |
John Barbour Sarah Purcell Byron Allen Skip Stephenson Bill Rafferty Mark Russell Peter Billingsley Fred Willard |
| Narrated by | Jack Harrell |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | George Schlatter |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | April 18, 1979 – July 4, 1984 |
Real People is an NBC reality television series that aired Wednesdays at 8:00-9:00 on NBC from 1979 to 1984. Its initial episodes aired live in the Eastern and Central Time Zones.
Real People featured a panel of seated hosts in front of a large studio audience. The hosts introduced pre-filmed segments and engaged in comedic banter about them. Each segment was a visit to someone with a unique occupation or hobby. Occasionally someone was brought into the studio to interact with the audience.
In its early seasons, Real People was NBC's most popular series, often scoring at the top of the ratings, and was a rare hit for the network at a time when NBC was a distant third in the ratings and struggling with numerous flops. Segments included "funny pictures" and funny newspaper errors sent in by viewers, who were awarded a Real People T-shirt. According to a 2008 interview with producer George Schlatter, who also co-created Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In for NBC, the series also covered serious topics, such as war heroes.
Regular hosts included John Barbour, Sarah Purcell, Byron Allen, Skip Stephenson, Bill Rafferty, Mark Russell, Peter Billingsley, and Fred Willard.
The success of Real People led to a batch of imitators, the best known and longest-running of which was That's Incredible! which aired on ABC, and That's My Line on CBS, hosted by Bob Barker. Real People gave fitness instructor Richard Simmons his major break into the mass media, and spotlighted such unique talents as Pittsburgh Police traffic cop Vic Cianca.
...
Wikipedia