think, well, we did it again. >> there was more of everything in tv by the '80s. your opportunity for watching stuff is increasingly vast. >> nbc presents "real people." >> my name's michael lee wilson. this dawned on me, that the application of a small motor on a pair of roller skates might really be a great thing. >> somebody once said that each one of us will be a star for 15 minutes, and i think that that's probably going to happen. >> american culture used to be a culture that celebrated privacy. in the 1980s as we're watching celebrities sort of play out on stage, hey, i want to join too. all the world becomes a stage. you start seeing shows like "real people" or "the people's court." >> "the people's court." where reality television is taken one step further. >> to see more tv, producers had to come up with new and different ways to give them television. >> don't be stupid! >> get over here! >> i told you not to be stupid. >> what "cops" did was, it took