Byron Allen: Remembering “Real People”

"Real People" was a news magazine show that run from 1979 to 1984.
In back is John Barbour; in middle from left are Sarah Purcell
and Skip Stephenson; and in front from left are Byron Allen and Bill Rafferty.
Source: https://clickamericana.com/media/television-shows/
real-people-tv-show-helped-kick-off-the-reality-television-trend-1979-1984
(May be subject to copyright)

It was must-see viewing on Wednesday nights on Channel 13. It was a television magazine that brought into our living room the stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary or interesting things.

It is where Americans first learned about something that was becoming legendary in Canada – the courage and determination of Terry Fox. But it was also where we met a man who spoke backwards. He likened it to Russian, because he had heard Russian on TV and thought this sounded like it. We met a man who spoke incredibly fast, and saw a contest on who could solve the Rubik’s Cube the fastest. We saw the collectors of rare, exotic, and odd objects, and people who made a difference in the world.

It was “Real People”, and one of the hosts was a young comedian named Byron Allen.

I saw a much older Byron Allen recently, hosting “Entertainers with Byron Allen”, and it reminded me of “Real People”.

Heard it through the grapevine
The first I ever heard of “Real People” was at school in Grade 5. Some of my classmates had cable TV and got to see American network television. One of the shows they got to see, because it really was family viewing, and early in the evening, was this show about ordinary people doing interesting things.

It was called “Real People”.

However, it would take a year before it made to the peasant vision dial. When it did, it became regular weekly viewing for us too.

The show
“Real People” initially had a quintet of hosts including Skip Stephenson, Sarah Purcell, Canadian John Barbour, Bill Rafferty and Byron Allen.

One of the running gags was the flirting that happened weekly between Stephenson and Purcell. I later discovered many viewers thought the two of them were actually a couple.

Soon, I found out John Barbour was Canadian and that was pretty cool, because I loved it when I discovered someone on U.S. TV was Canadian. He even made occasional references to being Canadian. One I remember involved hockey and Barbour actually suiting up in his hockey gear, with a blue jersey as I recall.

Byron Allen was kind of the new kid on the block, funny but also hip.

The show would go on to run five seasons, from 1979 to 1984.

Real Kids
The network also tried a spin-off at one point called “Real Kids” with Peter Billingsley as host. I remember the first episode and a feature the show did on kid who could spin or twirl anything on his finger. I recall it starting with a basketball then moving on to a bunch of other things including a clipboard.

Sounds great
I absolutely loved the theme song for “Real People”. When my brother went off to college, he left behind a big tape deck with a handheld microphone. One of the things I loved to do was tape stuff of the TV. One of the first things I taped, and I taped it twice for the best sound and clarity, was the theme song for “Real People”. In fact, I can hear it in my head right now as I am typing.

Parting thoughts
I remember when “Real People” started on our channels, I really looked forward to watching it every week.

It reminded me of a magazine. When you read a magazine, one of the joys is not knowing what you are going to discover until you actually open it up. There could be something funny, something touching, something poignant, something life altering or nothing of interest at all.

That was the charm of “Real People”. When you tuned in, it could have something funny, something touching, something poignant, or something life altering.

That’s not only where Byron Allen got his start, but he was part of the magic that was “Real People”.