Real People

As other posters stated, this was a 60 minute show featuring interesting and odd people around the USA. Nearly all of the members of the cast (the late Skip Stephenson, Byron Allen, Fred Willard, and Mark Russell) were all comedians and disciples of Steve Allen's "found" comedy style. The basis was that real people and real life were more interesting and humorous than most contrived scripts.

What the other posters do not mention is that although many of the stories were, at the base, interesting, the show itself could be quite annoying. It was as if the network people didn't get what the show was about and reality needed to be "accented." Many of the segments were edited more in fashion of America's Funniest Home videos; complete with silly sound effects, Keystone Kops fast forwards, cheesy commentary, etc.

For instance, I remember one segment where a car enthusiast bought two Packards and fused the front ends together to make a "push me-pull me" car. Both ends had engines and the driver could operate the car out of either the front or back ends. Pretty fascinating, but out of the five minute segment, only 30 to 40 seconds was dedicated to the car's owner and how he build the car, while the remaining parts of the segments was filled with wacky music and gaping-jawed reactions of local yokels to the vehicle.

Other segments that went off the beaten path, and were not really comedy but of human interest, were criminally short. I remember one segment hosted by (I believe) John Barbour at reunion of American WWII POWs in the Pacific. They began to tell a compelling story of captivity and how, near starving, they bunched their clothing together and made an American Flag. Several broke down on camera with Barbour consoling them -- a very touching story not seen on TV in 1980. Unfortunately, this groundbreaking piece was only a few minutes, and what would have been a great "real people" story was stuck in between other pap.

The direction of this show was not the fault of the hosts or the writers; there are some great ideas in this show, but I remember it mostly being weighted down by corny gimmicks famous of the networks of that time. Later they brought in Peter Billingsly (L'il Ralphy from "A Christmas Story") as a "cute kid" gimmick).

I do not think today's audience would like the pace or editing of this show. It was made for a time when the "Big 3" networks owned the audiences and comedy, with a few exceptions, was painted with a broad brush

The main thing I remember of this show was the funny photos segment they did each week. I thought sure some of the pix they showed would be on the 'net but I haven't found any. The two I remember in particular was a picture of a one-way sign pointing into a graveyard, and a photo of a man standing in front of a geyser (might have been a fire hydrant) in a way that made it look like he was relieving himself. If anybody knows where I could find some of those photos, please let me know!

Even as a 10-year-old I thought the show was a bit corny.. It'd never make it today. I remember one episode where they sent Skip Stevenson to a chili cook-off. For the rest of the show they were setting off explosions behind him, which I thought was just mean and not at all funny.

I only remember one segment of this show with any clarity (I was 10-15 years old). There was a guy who bought an oil refinery or military platform off the coast of somewhere (California?) and turned it into his own little country. He even printed his own stamps and money.

I have been searching for this place for years with no luck. Can anyone help?

Shows like this which covered different subjects are rich with source material for research. I teach high school and finding this "country" or history of it would be a colorful addition to curriculum : )

Thank you.

What I remember most about the show, Real People (1979-1983), was when they were doing interviews of people affected by the 3-Mile Island nuclear accident. They showed people being evacuated, snarled roads, and attempted to talk to whomever they could. Most pointedly, there was an interview of a local farmer. The line that has stuck in my mind is this. They were on the farm, on the porch, and the wife said something like: "What I've noticed is that there are no flies. All the officials are saying that we are far enough away not to be affected by the radiation. But usually there are a good many flies this time of year, from the cattle. But right now, there are no flies."

Real People was an enormous hit, sometimes coming in #1 in that week's Nielsens. It was a feel-good show about America that found its footing during the ongoing Iranian hostage crisis of 1979-81, which started a few months after the show debuted. It's hard to describe to someone who doesn't remember it just how miserable and distracting the hostage thing was to us. Some segments on Real People were just plain silly, but others showed folks rebuilding their homes after tornado strikes, doing charitable works for the poor, and so on. I think Real People made many of us feel a little better about the world around us. However, I think the show was also a creature of its troubled times; it spun down quickly during the early '80s, and a reunion special in 1991 did not lead to a hoped-for revival of the series.