For much of the '80's, it looked as though I.T.V.'s 'Bullseye' was going to run forever. This staple of Sunday afternoons actually started out on Mondays at 7 P.M., before ( like 'The Golden Shot' twenty years earlier ) being shifted to a better slot. It was co-created by Norman Vaughan, a former host of 'The Golden Shot' and a man whose 'comedian' tag should have earned him a prosecution under the Trades Descriptions Act.
Hosted by the doleful Jim Bowen, one of Granada's 'The Comedians', it was a combination of darts and general knowledge. Three pairs of contestants would compete for fabulous prizes; one player answered questions while the other threw darts. It was a simple idea for a quiz-show, and like all simple ideas worked. Though at the start it seemed destined for a short life. The pilots were deemed so bad they were never shown. Allegedly, when Bowen asked a contestant what he did for a living, the man replied that he was unemployed. Absent-mindedly, the host said: "Lovely! Smashing!". The incensed man called Bowen a c##t! Like David Frost, Bowen had an annoying habit of using the same expressions over and over again. In the first transmitted edition, I counted 23 'Lovely''s and 30 'Smashing''s. Fortunately, he soon learnt to get by without these.
The show's other star was Tony Green, the announcer, whose cry of 'Its A Bullseye!' could crack glass. There was a mascot in the shape of Bully, a bull in a striped shirt. Models of 'Bully' would usually be given as prizes.
My favourite part of the show was the finale in which contestants had the choice whether to take their winnings home or gamble them for the chance to win that week's Star Prize ( usually a car ). If they failed to score over 200 points, they got B.F.H. ( Bus Fare Home ). The tension was palpable as they threw their darts. You had to feel for the losers as the prize they lost was trundled out before their eyes. "Bad luck, lads! Take a look at what you could have won!", said Jim, who then asked them to smile and wave at the camera as the titles rolled. When the producer went on 'Open Air' ( a B.B.C. morning phone-in show about television programmes ), he was asked by a caller if the winners got to take home a car each. He laughed and said it would have been beyond the budget.
I have never been a big fan of darts, but I liked this for the same reason I liked 'Sale Of The Century' or 'Winner Takes All' - you occasionally got to hear facts you were previously unaware of.
The first signs that something was wrong in the 'Bullseye' camp came in 1992 when I.T.V. inexplicably shifted it to early Saturday evenings. It just did not look at home there. Ratings fell predictably and it was scrapped the following year. Repeats have been screened on Sky's 'Challenge', and a new series was made a while ago with a different presenter, but without Bowen, it was a pointless revival.
Hosted by the doleful Jim Bowen, one of Granada's 'The Comedians', it was a combination of darts and general knowledge. Three pairs of contestants would compete for fabulous prizes; one player answered questions while the other threw darts. It was a simple idea for a quiz-show, and like all simple ideas worked. Though at the start it seemed destined for a short life. The pilots were deemed so bad they were never shown. Allegedly, when Bowen asked a contestant what he did for a living, the man replied that he was unemployed. Absent-mindedly, the host said: "Lovely! Smashing!". The incensed man called Bowen a c##t! Like David Frost, Bowen had an annoying habit of using the same expressions over and over again. In the first transmitted edition, I counted 23 'Lovely''s and 30 'Smashing''s. Fortunately, he soon learnt to get by without these.
The show's other star was Tony Green, the announcer, whose cry of 'Its A Bullseye!' could crack glass. There was a mascot in the shape of Bully, a bull in a striped shirt. Models of 'Bully' would usually be given as prizes.
My favourite part of the show was the finale in which contestants had the choice whether to take their winnings home or gamble them for the chance to win that week's Star Prize ( usually a car ). If they failed to score over 200 points, they got B.F.H. ( Bus Fare Home ). The tension was palpable as they threw their darts. You had to feel for the losers as the prize they lost was trundled out before their eyes. "Bad luck, lads! Take a look at what you could have won!", said Jim, who then asked them to smile and wave at the camera as the titles rolled. When the producer went on 'Open Air' ( a B.B.C. morning phone-in show about television programmes ), he was asked by a caller if the winners got to take home a car each. He laughed and said it would have been beyond the budget.
I have never been a big fan of darts, but I liked this for the same reason I liked 'Sale Of The Century' or 'Winner Takes All' - you occasionally got to hear facts you were previously unaware of.
The first signs that something was wrong in the 'Bullseye' camp came in 1992 when I.T.V. inexplicably shifted it to early Saturday evenings. It just did not look at home there. Ratings fell predictably and it was scrapped the following year. Repeats have been screened on Sky's 'Challenge', and a new series was made a while ago with a different presenter, but without Bowen, it was a pointless revival.