Real People: The Forgotten 1980s Show That Created Reality TV
Real People was the NBC show that accidentally invented reality TV — and almost nobody remembers it did. Before Survivor, before COPS, before America’s Funniest Home Videos, there was Real People (1979–1984), the quirky little show where the stars were ordinary Americans instead of Hollywood celebrities. Hosted by Sarah Purcell, John Barbour, Skip Stephenson, Byron Allen, Fred Willard, and a young Peter Billingsley, and produced by Laugh-In creator George Schlatter, it climbed from a six-episode test run to one of the highest-rated shows in America — and quietly launched the entire reality television genre. —– 0:00 — Intro 0:36 — [See More…]
