Best host of NBC's REAL PEOPLE

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTM5MzA2MTI1MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMTExODQ1MQ@@._V1._CR0,0,320,320_SS90_.jpg John Barbour

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Sarah Purcell

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTk0NTM5Mjk1N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwOTI4Mjg0._V1._CR0,0,267,267_SS90_.jpg
Byron Allen

http://www.geocities.com/Nashville/Opry/2150/stephensonskip4w.JPG
Skip Stephenson (on left)

http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/2108/Csraff.JPG
Bill Rafferty

http://www.markrussell.net/images/mark2.jpg
Mark Russell

http://www.advertisementave.biz/images/256x192/hershey-4.jpg
Peter Billingsley

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Fred Willard

But the real buzz was Skip Stephenson and John Barbour. At the time Johnny Carson was on his 17th year as host of "The Tonight Show" and the execs were looking for a potential replacement. Among the candidates were David Brenner, Martin Mull, and Steve Martin. The execs thought Brenner was too ethnic, Mull would turn the show into a parody just like Fernwood 2night and America 2night and Martin preferred the big screen. Both John Barbour and Skip Stephenson's name was bandied about because of "Real People". David Letterman was considered too unknown and too young and Jay Leno's name wasn't even in the radar screen. By summer's end Stephenson's stock had risen, Barbour was called a blander Bob Newhart. A few years later I ran into a fellow intern who eventually found a permanent place with NBC, eventually the conversation came to who was going to replace Carson and I asked him why Stephenson was on the outs with the network, he said Stephenson did some erratic behavior during some corporate functions and he maybe on drugs, that's why the network didn't make him permanent guest host for "The Tonight Show". It was apparent that his stock had fallen even before "Real People"'s run ended. If one of the other poster was right then it was probably drugs that killed Skip Stephenson's career and then him. Personally I liked the guy. God Bless you Skip, R.I.P.

As Skip introduced Arnold Schwarzenegger, Byron Allen steps in to make sure he doesn't slip in a racial slur. Skip: "Arnold Schwarze-" Byron: "Watch it.." Skip: "NEGGER!!". That always stuck with me, like, what kind of abuse did poor Byron suffer in his youth to be so friggin' paranoid? Let it go, man!

A couple of the pictures I hotlinked to above have vanished. Here is a link to the opening sequence of the show. Towards the end of the clip each host is introduced individually.

hello

http://i30.tinypic.com/o8a2ht.jpg

Yeah, that guy's geocities website is awesome. He's posted a ton of photographs of him next to celebrities of every conceivable stripe. The photos appear to span from when he was a teenager to present-day.

There is an entire section dedicated to "Beauty Queens, Models, etc.", which could just as well be re-titled "So not gonna happen..."

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are these people who didn't vote for Skip even HUMAN????

instead we got Jay Leno );

tbfrank anything involving Mark Russel gives me the h-jeebies, tho

Look what's back!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M0UXUB5/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_0z8bybKZYCGZD

I'd imagine this is utterly nightmarish to watch now.