total 80's classic this one, at a time when Darts was popular with the British public long before SKY TV. It was also during the era when the professional darts competitions were more 'traditional'. Bullseye always seemed to go out on a Sunday evening about 5pm and as other IMDb members have suggested the show was always fun and well worth watching. The best bit of the show was of course the prizes board with the famous 'in 1', 'in 2' etc. The show was worth watching just to experience that bit every week! The contestants were always a mixed bunch and usually the non-playing darts contestant on each team was hopeless at the game. On one show though I do recall the third placed team being brought back when the previous two declined to gamble. The final icing on the cake to a great half hour was seeing the prize, usually a car or a boat. Usually if it was a boat, the contestants who won it would live in Walsall or something. Giving the losing team an opportunity to see what they could of won was TV legend in them days.
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chilla-black13 April 2010
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larry-485-16158320 August 2013I'll always have fond memories of this show. It was the epitome of a lazy Sunday afternoon's TV viewing. The hapless, amateurish, but always entertaining Jim Bowen was brilliant to watch. From the embarrassing pre-game interviews of the low IQ contestants to the "here's what you would have won" ending, it was pure low bro stuff. The awful prizes became the stuff of legend. I wonder what most winning contestants did with their speedboats? The lowest ebb came on a Christmas special when Jim introduced pantomime costumed Eric Bristow as "ghost Eric" and continued to call him that throughout the rest of the show.
There was one thing that I could never work out though. The none dart player must have known weeks in advance when they were appearing on the show. Why on earth didn't they get down to their local and a have a bit of practise. Some of them had obviously never thrown a dart in their lives and couldn't even get them to stick in the board. Why make an idiot of themselves in front of millions of people for the sake of a little practise. -
ShadeGrenade12 December 2009For 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. -
I always usually watched Bullseye when ITV screened it on Sunday tea times. It is certainly better than some of the rubbish that's on now.
Hosted by Jim Bowen, three teams, one a darts player and the other one who answered the questions competed and the one with the lowest score went out at round one. The same thing happened at round two and then we had the adverts. Part two of Bullseye started with a professional darts player coming on and throwing for charity and then the final team went on to the prize board. At the end of that round, what prizes they had won were either gambled for the final round and the star prize or took with them. If they opted to take the prizes with them, the second losing team would come on with the option of gambling the money they had won. If they lost the final round, they would loose everything, but if they won, they would win the star prize in addition to what was won earlier. Tony Green did the scoring and commentary. Every team taken away with them a set of darts each and bendy Bulleys, whatever happened.
Some of the star prizes in Bullseye were rather unusual. These included speedboats, caravans and motorbikes. More normal prizes included cars and holidays.
Jim Bowen became famous with some of his sayings on Bullseye: "Great, smashing, super" and "Keep out of the black and in the red, nothing in this game for two in a bed" being a couple of them.
I now watch old episodes of Bullseye regularly on Challenge, happy memories. -
ArmandTanzarian10 August 2007This is on of the best half hours you could spend in front of the telly. A fantastic darts based quiz captained 'Titanic style' by the legendary Jim Bowen with Tony Green as the reassuring rower on the lifeboats. Watching this in 2007 provides at least one laugh out loud moment per episode. Just yesterday I witnessed Bowen apologising to camera for a poor taste crack about giving one of the dart players a guidedog. Here is the secret to the show's success: the amateurish production values personified in Bowen. Marvel at his fifth rate stand up routine to 'warm up' the OAP studio audience. Witness Jim's clumsy attempts to direct contestants around and off the set as they couldn't afford a stage hand to do it. The average English speaker has a vocabulary of around 100,000 words - Bowen seems to have around 800. By the later series around 85% of what Bowen says is a catchphrase or stock response of some sort: Smashing, great, super...let's have a look at what you could have won...BFH...it'll take me 2 minutes to count this out...we have to say goodbye to...round of applause...'Faces' we'd like...I'm sure you'll wish them all the best....that's the gamble...pounds for points...the charity money- it's safe...non dart player to throw first...keep out of the black and in the red ,nothing for this game for 2 in a bed...listen to Tony... Even Tony got into the act with his mystical Indian mantra - "take your time" , but would then proceed to call out the score after every single dart, which anyone whose ever stood at the oche will tell you is incredibly distracting. Anyway, the format of the show: Three what Jim would amusingly always call "couples" despite them nearly always being mates from the pub.One dartplayer , one 'non dartplayer' After dying a death with his opening patter Jim would attempt some banter with them, usually with contestants with no personality/sense of humour. Firstly he'd try to enthuse about their invariably low wage unskilled jobs, then he'd throw in an few personal insults by the way of bad puns. If you were very tall or 'well built' Jim was sure to point it out for the amusement of the audience. Round one was them throwing darts at a special board in order to answer questions on topics such as 'Spelling', 'Affairs' 'Showbiz' and the rarely picked 'Books'. Any wrong answers would prompt an appearance by an animated 'Mooing' Bully. The questions were of the 'general knowledge' type with answers so obvious 20 years later they must have been lifted from the front page of that day's 'Sun'. Next, would be the 'traditonal matchplay' (or normal) dartboard. The teams would throw and whoever got the highest would answer a question to win that amount of money. The 2 lowest scoring teams would go out after 3 games of this with Jim pulling the prize money in a big wad of notes out of his pocket like a Northern Del Boy, and counting it out "during the break". A pro darts player would then throw 9 darts for charity, their score being doubled if they scored 301 or more. Strangely ,players you would see throwing a constant stream of 100s, 140s etc. at the Embassy World Championship would never do so well here - probably due to Tony calling every dart for the benefit of viewers who don't understand the layout of the dartboard. Next up , the immortal 'Bully's Prize Board', hitting the red sections of another adapted board to win up to 9 incredible prizes of the like of a decanter set, a pocket TV,a Walkman, a car power washer, a leather briefcase,a carriage clock, children's mountain bikes and 'Bully's Special Prize' for hitting the Bullseye - often a 'colour TV with remote control and teletext. As the players had to remember what numbers ,out of 1-8, represented the prizes they wanted to win,it was a "test of memory as well as skill" a mental feat which would have 'Krypton Factor' contestants trembling with fear. Finally, the couple could gamble the prizes and the money from earlier against a star prize hidden behind a curtain if they could throw 101 or more in 6 darts. If they'd "had a lovely day Jim" and declined it, the runners up would be given the chance, down to the 3rd placed couple. To be fair , this was quite difficult with the majority of couples failing. Probably due to the drumroll in the background and the fact that the only clever person the dart player knew was totally unable to hold, let alone throw a decent dart. The solution to the winning formula of: decent dart player + person with basic general knowledge who is also a reasonable dart player =... would have eluded Einstein.
The star prizes were also magnificent in their impracticality for two friends to win between them - they would presumably have to draw up a rota for the use of a car ,speedboat, caravan or most impractical of all - a three piece suite and dining table set. So there you go -that's 'Bullseye'. To paraphrase and update one of Bowen's great catchphrases for 2007: "Cheap freeview cable channels aren't cheap freeview cable channels without a bit of Bully!" -
Sulla-28 August 2005I confess that I used to like Bullseye and Jim Bowen. Jim was assisted by professional scorer, Tony Green. I used to laugh when Jim would say to the contestants, " Now listen very carefully to Tony". We would then wait for some pearl of wisdom from Tony but he would merely say. " Take your time"! The big test was whether or not the winning team would go for the star prize by attempting to get 101 in 6 darts with the ' Non dart player' throwing first. Most Non dart players ignored the obvious tactic of aiming the the middle of the left side of the board. You are bound to score at least 30 and with a bit of luck may hit the odd treble. At one time the team would risk everything to go for the star prize but after a few years they were allowed to keep the money they had won. Halfway through a professional darts player was invited to play for charity and score 301 with 9 darts and any score over 301 was doubled. The charity money was safe as Jim would say.
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ronbell-2398420 October 2019Ionic game show from 80's Britain. Jim Bowens catch phrases are great. Loved it in the the 80's and it's still fun watching reruns.
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Rabical-916 January 2021Though no fan of the late Jim Bowen, I must admit that I enjoyed this darts based game show, helped by the fact that I am not averse to the odd game of darts myself. The long running Central Television game show began in 1981 and at its peak pulled in viewers in the region of 20 million, pleasing viewers with its light hearted quips provided by Bowen, as well as the interesting array of guests who appeared on the show.
It was like this - three pairs of contestants would compete against each other to win prizes. One member of the pair would be instructed to answer general knowledge questions whilst the other was instructed to throw the arrows. The star prize ranged from being a car ( which would be no use to someone who couldn't drive ), a speedboat, a caravan or a luxury holiday. Though the losing players would leave with a least a set of darts and a bullseye tankard.
Tony Green appeared alongside Bowen as co-host ( who always told the player ''In your own time!'', as they were about to take their throw ). Bowen could irritate somewhat, especially with the use of his catchphrases such as ''Lovely, Smashing!'', or ''Let's see what you could have won!'' ( which he would tactlessly say after the player lost their prize. Nothing like rubbing salt in the wound, is there?'' ).
Many of the biggest darts players of the time guested on the show such as Jocky Wilson, Eric Bristow, Ray Farrell, Mike Gregory and John Lowe. There were also plenty of celebrity guests on the show too such as Pat Roach, Lionel Blair, Gary Wilmot, Carol Lee Scott and, believe it or not, The Krankies.
Central cancelled the show in 1995 but it was revived in 2006 for Challenge TV, this time with Dave Spikey hosting but it didn't work. The original will always be the best.
Say what you will about the show but I still find it highly enjoyable, even if it is purely just for the nostalgia of the piece. In 1987, 'Naked Video' did an amusing parody of the show, with Tony Roper as Jim Bowen and Gregor Fisher as Tony Green. -
Big Movie Fan12 December 2002The superb Jim Bowen and Tony Green presented this show, a combination of darts and general knowledge. I had always loved playing darts in the local pub and that is what attracted me to this show initially.
There were three pairs of contestants on each show. One would answer questions, the other would throw darts. The finale would involve the final pair aiming to win a host of goodies such as TV sets and that important star prize. Also on the show each week was a professional darts player who would thrown darts for charity.
The show was superb to be honest. I should have tried to get on the show myself but I never got round to it. The consolation prize was a model mascot of Bully (boy, I wish I could get my hands on one of those) and the contestants generally had a good time.
The only complaint I have against the show was the fact that if the final pair lost their finale, Jim Bowen would still show them the prize that they would have won. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound-whose idea was that?
All in all, a super show. There have been frequent rumours of Bullseye returning to terrestrial TV on Channel 5. That needs to happen sooner rather than later.