''Real People'' is an American

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

series that originally aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

from 1979 to 1984, Wednesdays from 8 pm to 9pm

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behi ...

. Its initial episodes aired live in the Eastern and Central time zones. ''Real People'' featured "real people" (as opposed to celebrities) with unique occupations or hobbies.

Synopsis

''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 by viewers, who then were awarded a ''Real People'' T-shirt. Regular hosts included John Barbour, Sarah Purcell,

Byron Allen Byron Allen (born Byron Allen Folks on April 22, 1961) is an American businessman, film and television producer, and comedian. He is the founder of the American media company Allen Media Group (formerly Entertainment Studios), which has intere ...

, Skip Stephenson,

Bill Rafferty William Rafferty (June 17, 1944 – August 11, 2012) was an American comedian and impressionist who hosted the game shows '' Every Second Counts'' (1984–1985, syndicated), ''Card Sharks ''Card Sharks'' is an American television game show ...

, Mark Russell,

Peter Billingsley Peter Billingsley (born April 16, 1971), also known as Peter Michaelsen and Peter Billingsley-Michaelsen, is an American actor and filmmaker. He is best known for portraying Ralphie Parker in ''A Christmas Story'' and ''A Christmas Story Christm ...

David Ruprecht David Martin Ruprecht (born October 14, 1948) is an American television and stage actor and game show host, primarily known for his work as host of the Lifetime/ PAX game show '' Supermarket Sweep''. Career Ruprecht has hosted the live stag ...

, and

Fred Willard Frederick Charles Willard Jr. (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his work with Christopher Guest in his mockumentary films ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984), ''Waiting for Guffman'' (1996), ''Be ...

. 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 unique talents such as Pittsburgh Police traffic cop Vic Cianca. When repeats of the show were initially syndicated by

Telepictures Telepictures (also known as Telepictures Productions; formerly known as Telepictures Distribution and Telepictures Corporation) is an American television show and filmmaking company, currently operating as a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Entertainmen ...

to broadcast stations, they were edited down to 30-minute segments and retitled ''More Real People''. In 1980, NBC launched two attempts at spin-offs: ''Speak Up, America'' and ''Real Kids''. ''Speak Up, America'' starred former child televangelist

Marjoe Gortner Hugh Marjoe Ross Gortner (born January 14, 1944) is an American former Evangelism, evangelist preacher and actor. He first gained public attention during the late 1940s when his parents arranged for him to be Ordination, ordained as a preacher a ...

and basically expanded the opening segment of ''Real People'' (in which audience members were encouraged to sound off about any topics they wished) into a full hour program. ''Real Kids'' starred

and a cast of child hosts in a format that mirrored ''Real People'', but focused only on children. Both spin-off formats quickly failed, though Billingsley went on to join ''Real People'' as a recurring host and contributor. A one-hour retrospective special aired on October 1, 1991, with hosts Sarah Purcell and Fred Willard.

Ratings

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0078676, title=Real People NBC reality television shows 1970s American reality television series 1980s American reality television series 1979 American television series debuts 1984 American television series endings American English-language television shows Television series by Telepictures