Regular hosts included John Barbour, Sarah Purcell, Byron Allen, Skip Stephenson, Bill Rafferty, Mark Russell, Peter Billingsley, David Ruprecht, and Fred Willard.

Real People gave fitness instructor Richard Simmons his major break into the mass media and spotlighted unique talents such as Pittsburgh Police traffic cop Vic Cianca.

[2] When repeats of the show were initially syndicated by Telepictures to broadcast stations, they were edited down to 30-minute segments and retitled More Real People.

Speak Up, America starred former child televangelist Marjoe Gortner and basically expanded the opening segment of Real People (in which audience members were encouraged to sound off about any topics they wished) into a full hour program.

Both spin-off formats quickly failed, though Billingsley went on to join Real People as a recurring host and contributor.