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1942–1960 · NBC

People Are Funny

Art Linkletter and the stunt show that proved audiences would do anything.

Linkletter's stunt show is where a great deal of later television was invented: the ordinary person as content, the prize as motive, the producer's willingness to see how far someone would go. It ran on NBC radio from 1942, arrived on television in 1954, and for five years both versions were in production at once — the same idea, twice a week, in two media.

On radio
Radio from 1942
On television
Television from 19 September 1954
The overlap
Radio and television versions overlapped until 1959

4 recordings · Hollywood

AFRS transcriptions of People Are Funny held by the Internet Archive; the discs carry programme numbers rather than dates. Public domain (US network broadcast, copyright not renewed); no Creative Commons or non-commercial terms apply.

Undated recordings4

Transmission

4 August

2026

People Are Funny

Night Broadcast

Network

NBC

Running time

47 min

New tape, a reluctant witness, and a timeline that finally stops making sense.

Transmission

28 July

2026

People Are Funny

The Last Train Out

Network

NBC

Running time

1h 2m

We go back to the beginning and read everything again.

Transmission

21 July

2026

People Are Funny

Signal at Midnight

Network

NBC

Running time

25 min

Short, complete and unexpectedly devastating.

Transmission

14 July

2026

People Are Funny

A Room Above the Street

Network

NBC

Running time

40 min

The episode listeners keep sending to people who never listen to podcasts.