The series began in 1938 when Guedel made an audition recording, and the following year, his concept of a comedy stunt show aired in Los Angeles as
Pull Over, Neighbor, later reworked into
All Aboard. Watching a bored, unreceptive audience listening to an
after-dinner speaker, Guedel scribbled, "People are funny, aren't they?" on a napkin, and he had his title. In 1942, learning of a show that was canceled, he pitched
People Are Funny to
NBC, and it went on the air April 10, 1942, with
Art Baker as host. In a popular first-season stunt, a man was assigned to register a trained seal at the Knickerbocker Hotel while explaining that the seal was his girlfriend. On October 1, 1943, Baker was replaced by
Art Linkletter, who continued for the rest of the series. For a memorable stunt of 1945, Linkletter announced that $1,000 would go to the first person to find one of 12 plastic balls floating off California. Two years later, an
Ennylageban Island native claimed the prize. As the popularity of the program escalated, a film musical titled
People Are Funny was released in 1946, offering a fictional version of the show's origin in a tale of rival radio producers.
Phillip Reed appeared as Guedel, with Linkletter and
Frances Langford portraying themselves. Also in the cast were
Jack Haley,
Helen Walker,
Ozzie Nelson and
Rudy Vallée. One outstanding moment in the film is a Spanish dance number performed by Lupe Mayorga (aka Lillian Molieri) to the song "I Love My Marimba." The radio series moved to
CBS from 1951 to 1954, returning to NBC from 1954 to 1960. ==Television==