Do you remember “Real People” (1979-84)?
Skip Stephenson. Byron Allen, Sarah Purcell. Even a young Peter Billingsley when he was still just best known for “Messy Marvin” in chocolate milks ads.
The young gayling in me loved it. They would sometimes feature male beauty pageants where the men wore almost nothing, the “Mr. Tush” contest (ditto), male strippers and an underwater hockey team who said sometimes their speed is would slip off while they played.
Who remembers watching?
by Anonymous | reply 58 | January 4, 2024 3:50 AM
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Wow, Byron Allen was only 18 when the show started
by Anonymous | reply 2 | January 3, 2024 12:13 AM
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Skip Stephenson died a long time ago now at the young age of 52.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | January 3, 2024 12:29 AM
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They did an investigation of a haunted house where they filmed the psychic supposedly channeling a ghost. Scared me to death.
by Anonymous | reply 4 | January 3, 2024 12:31 AM
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I used to love it when I was little. It was my introduction to Fred Willard.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | January 3, 2024 12:33 AM
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Hated it. Like He-Haw meets 20 minutes with a laugh track and 80's bad hair and fake celebs.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | January 3, 2024 12:36 AM
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Skip was a big coke head.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | January 3, 2024 12:40 AM
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"Real People" and "That's Incredible". Loved them both as a wee one.
by Anonymous | reply 9 | January 3, 2024 12:40 AM
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That show was full of talent less talent if you get my drift. They looked that part with no there, there.
by Anonymous | reply 10 | January 3, 2024 12:43 AM
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In 1982, they had the hosts of the show take a cross country trip via train. They came to my city and the downtown area train station was mobbed.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | January 3, 2024 12:51 AM
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I was also 18 when the show started. Byron Allen had my head swimming. I thought he was so good looking.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | January 3, 2024 12:56 AM
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Byron is now a billionaire media owner.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | January 3, 2024 1:04 AM
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Before this show…Sarah Purcell was the original Kelly Ripa! She co-hosted A.M. Los Angeles with Regis in the mid-70s.
by Anonymous | reply 15 | January 3, 2024 1:06 AM
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Remember the tiny dwarf car salesmen?!
by Anonymous | reply 17 | January 3, 2024 1:07 AM
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Skip Stephenson was an odd-looking duck. Similar in looks to Karen Carpenter, actually.
Died at 52 of a heart attack...perhaps from overuse of cocaine? That's pretty young to have a heart attack without any mitigating factors.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 18 | January 3, 2024 1:11 AM
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I used to love it! But I was also eight, so what did I know?
by Anonymous | reply 19 | January 3, 2024 1:16 AM
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When I was 8, I knew that vaccines worked!
by Anonymous | reply 20 | January 3, 2024 1:21 AM
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I was a kid and loved it! Well, the first couple of seasons. Thought Sarah Purcell was the coolest, for some reason.
by Anonymous | reply 21 | January 3, 2024 1:26 AM
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I still remember the theme sing as though it were yesterday.
That’s wild about Byron Allen now. The man is a tycoon!
by Anonymous | reply 22 | January 3, 2024 1:44 AM
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Was it on this show or That’s Incredible when Yogi Kudu (?) climed into a minuscule plexiglass box that was then shut for ages?
by Anonymous | reply 23 | January 3, 2024 1:53 AM
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I thought Sarah Purcell was the most sophisticated, beautiful woman on the planet. Of course I was only 10. My whole family loved the show.
by Anonymous | reply 24 | January 3, 2024 1:56 AM
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That was “That’s Incredible!”, R23. I remember that. And when he untangled himself and got out of the box, I remember thinking how sweaty he was. Iiieeewwww.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | January 3, 2024 2:00 AM
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Sarah Purcell seemed so easygoing, down-to-earth and kind of glowed from within. She also had a really nice smile and a great sense of humor. Seemed like someone who would definitely say hi to you if you noticed her on the street and listen to whatever inane, star-struck babble you might spout without missing a beat or making you feel like you were infringing on her space or time.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | January 3, 2024 2:00 AM
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It was actually Yogi Coudoux which is why so many couldn’t find him online.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | January 3, 2024 2:05 AM
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I loved Sarah. IIRC, in the final season, they even did an episode about her wedding.
by Anonymous | reply 28 | January 3, 2024 2:06 AM
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It's streaming on Amazon or Freevee. I tried to watch an episode of it recently but had to stop as it was horrible.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | January 3, 2024 2:06 AM
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Did anybody ever get a “Real People” t-shirt?
by Anonymous | reply 30 | January 3, 2024 2:10 AM
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Oh yeah, those were really popular IIRC
by Anonymous | reply 31 | January 3, 2024 2:12 AM
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Fiorucci (1979)
A very young datalounger back in 1979.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 32 | January 3, 2024 2:13 AM
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I never had a Real People t shirt but I had something FAR worse
In 1976 when I was 10 years old I acquired a Sweathogs T shirt.
by Anonymous | reply 33 | January 3, 2024 3:36 AM
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Here you go r34. For the low, low price of 63.99.
That's super white looking for a vintage t-shirt.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 35 | January 3, 2024 3:45 AM
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I thought the mannikin's wrist positioning was apropos in that link above^^
by Anonymous | reply 36 | January 3, 2024 3:55 AM
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Sarah P. is a right wing nut job who loves The 700 Club & those types.
She loves you guys as much as Anita Bryant did.
by Anonymous | reply 37 | January 3, 2024 4:26 AM
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For a second I thought the thread was about this:
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 39 | January 3, 2024 7:16 AM
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Quick Wikipedia read doesn't give a reason why Sarah retired. It does show she is on marriage number. For children, she had two from the marriage to her second husband, named Darin “Koncreet” McClintock Colin McClintock. How do you end up being called Koncreet and why is it spelled that way?
Her stepchildren are named, Cameron “C-Note” Schulte (step-son), Tim “Pudge” Schulte (step-son), Jarica "JD" Schulte (step-daughter). Um, what the hell? They sound like the spawn of a trailer park.
Sarah's husband's name is Walter “Chip” aka: "Big Dub” Schulte - again, what the hell is with the name?
by Anonymous | reply 40 | January 3, 2024 10:00 AM
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Here’s one where they visit the Mudd Club in NYC and interview a punk caterer. I saw this when it aired as a little kid and it kind of blew my mind.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 41 | January 3, 2024 10:12 AM
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I remember it but even as a teen I was a tv snob and thought it sounded awful. Never watched it. My parents loved it.
by Anonymous | reply 43 | January 3, 2024 10:22 AM
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R42, in my area it was called Evening Magazine. We watched it almost every night — must’ve been before evening Wheel.
I remember Real People, That’s Incredible, and then Those Amazing Animals with Burgess Meredith and Priscilla Presley (I think).
by Anonymous | reply 44 | January 3, 2024 10:29 AM
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I think I must remember the commercials more than the actual show. I can't recall any actual content from Real People but I definitely knew who Sarah Purcell and Byron Allen were. I thought Skip Stevenson and the ventriloquist guy from Soap were the same person. Was there a syndicated half hour version that played after the 6pm news before prime time started or am I mixing it up with PM Magazine?
by Anonymous | reply 45 | January 3, 2024 10:46 AM
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SO weird. It was really garbage TV but people thought it was a fun and informative
by Anonymous | reply 46 | January 3, 2024 11:37 AM
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RP and That's Incredible were the beginnings of reality TV.
I remember Sarah Purcell, because she came out of nowhere.....which is exactly where she went back to once that show ended.
by Anonymous | reply 47 | January 3, 2024 11:44 AM
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It was what a Protestant thought was unusual or strange. In the real world, nobody thought what they showcased was unique.
by Anonymous | reply 48 | January 3, 2024 11:47 AM
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Byron Allen likes ginger and blond bottoms.
by Anonymous | reply 50 | January 3, 2024 12:13 PM
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OMG ! I remember PM Magazine from when I lived in Tampa FL in the early 80s!!! I lusted after Dave Saint!!! He was the epitome of hot back then!!!!!
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 52 | January 3, 2024 2:38 PM
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I'd forgotten all about PM Magazine or, as it was called in my hometown, Evening Magazine.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | January 3, 2024 3:53 PM
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R47 as noted above she did not come out of nowhere. She was a well known tv personality in L.A. The network did not pluck her from obscurity.
by Anonymous | reply 54 | January 3, 2024 8:41 PM
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I remember watching this show as a kid and really liking Sarah Purcell, she had that funny, smart, sexy blonde thing going for her similar to Mariette Hartley who was prominent at the time because of her Kodak commercials with James Garner. I think Hartley was older and a bit less glam than Purcell, but they both had a similar cool, fun, vibe. She and Stevenson had a similar "chemistry" as Garner and Hartley (though not nearly as successful).
by Anonymous | reply 56 | January 3, 2024 10:56 PM
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You remember correctly, R45. The syndicated version was called More Real People.
by Anonymous | reply 58 | January 4, 2024 3:50 AM
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