Synopsis
Real People had the format of a comedy talk show taped in front of a large studio audience. Each segment featured a news report consisting of visits to people with unique occupations or hobbies, occasionally bringing some of them in-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. 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 show had covered serious topics like 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 rash of imitators, the best known and longest-running of which was That's Incredible! which aired on ABC. 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.
When the show was initially syndicated to broadcast stations, it was edited into 30-minute segments and retitled More Real People.
A one-hour retrospective special aired on September 16, 1991 with hosts Sarah Purcell and Fred Willard.
In 1980, NBC launched two attempts at spin-offs, "Speak Up, America" and "Real Kids." The former starred former child televangelist Marjoe Gortner 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. The latter starred Peter Billingsley and a cast of child hosts in a format that mirrored Real People's but focused only on kids. Both spin-off formats quickly failed (but Billingsley went on to join Real People as a recurring host/contributor).
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