REAL PEOPLE
This one is from 1979, Season 2, Episode 2
Real People was an American reality television series that originally aired on NBC from 1979 to 1984 on Wednesday evenings. Its initial episodes aired live in the Eastern and Central time zones. Real People featured “real people” with unique occupations or hobbies.
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, Skip Stephenson, Bill Rafferty, Mark Russell, Peter Billingsley, David Ruprecht, 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 unique talents such as Pittsburgh Police traffic cop Vic Cianca.
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Defying description, Real People went on to become a huge hit for NBC during its five years, giving rise to many imitators and eventually creating the genre, reality television…brought to you by SloppBoxx.Com.
I was 11…I saw Sarah on a rerun of Match Game so.. here i am!
RIP John Barbour (April 24, 1933 – May 10, 2026)
Boy does this show remind me of my childhood! ❤
I wish they would bring this show back
I loved this show while growing up.
Sadly, John Barbour passed away on May 10th.
May he Rest in Eternal Peace.
I really liked this show when I was a kid. Now, I wonder why? LOL
Byron Allan is now a billionaire.
I’m starting to think some of these people are not real 🫠
Who would guess from this that Byron Allen would end up a billionaire?
God I can’t believe how corny this show was no wonder it didn’t last greens Acres was more entertaining