Real People (1979–1984)

After "That's Incredible" (1980) surfaced with the same format as "Real People", MAD Magazine summed it up well in their parody show: "That's Real Incredible, People".

Stars:

Douglas Maida, Sarah Purcell, Byron Allen

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 5 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Douglas Maida	...	Audience Member #1 (2 episodes, 1982-1983)

Storyline

A prehistoric ancestor to "America's Funniest Home Videos," this show traveled America looking for the funny, the heart-warming, and the downright bizarre. The various segments were narrated by the hosts of the show, and featured things like The Flat Earth Society, a man who could actually run up a 20 ft brick wall, and an old woman who could put the tip of her nose in her mouth. This show defined a genre which would be followed later by shows like "That's Incredible" and "Games People Play."

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Plot Keywords:

stand up comedian | non fiction

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Genres:

Family

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 April 1979 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

National Broadcasting Company (NBC)

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

In 1980, during Canadian amputee runner Terry Fox's cross-country Marathon of Hope, "Real People" hostess Sarah Purcell caught up with Terry in Ontario, and proceeded to film an interview while running alongside him.

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Connections

Featured in I Love the '80s Strikes Back: 1980 (2003)

User Reviews

An early version of "The Daily Show"

Although I haven't seen an episode of "Real People" in about 20 years, I do remember the format: 60 minutes of various segments (most of them comedic in some way) focusing on the more offbeat facets of American life.

Some of the stories included the Flat Earth Society, a lady who took words and pronounced them backwards, an alien race that lived in volcanic lava tubes, a guy who built his house in a tree, and a guy who fell in love with the Statue of Liberty.

Between segments, they did some "ask the audience" kind of stuff, and also ran newspaper typos (kind of like Jay Leno's "Headlines" segment).

"Real People" ran on NBC, and was followed shortly by ABC's "That's Incredible!", which was a similar format but focused more on the unexplained.