Saturday, July 23, 2016

Classic TV: People Are Funny (1954)

People Are Funny began as a radio show in 1942, originally emceed by Art Baker and produced by John Guedel. Less than a year into the run, Baker was replaced by Art Linkletter, who would go on to achieve iconic status with the show, continuing as Funny transitioned to television in 1954.

The video version lasted for six years, and was the subject of a Looney Tunes satire, "People Are Bunny", in 1959. The stunts weren't quite as wild or bizarre as on, say for example, Truth or Consequences, but rather a little more sophisticated and simple. Some of the games played on the show would be picked up by other producers. See if you can figure out which ones as we scope this sample episode, courtesy of YouTube.



In 1984, the show was revived as a spring replacement, hosted by actor-comedian Flip Wilson, but didn't survive the summer.

Rating: A.

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