Bullseye (1)

Host

Jim Lange

Announcers

Jay Stewart (1979–1981) Charlie O'Donnell (1981–1982)

Broadcast

Pilot: 11/1979 Syndication (Daily): 9/29/1980 – 12/4/1981 Syndication (Daily): 12/7/1981 – 6/25/1982 (reruns aired until 9/24/1982)

Packager

Barry & Enright Productions

Distributor

Colbert Television Sales

This article is about the Barry & Enright game show. For the 2015 reality show, see Bullseye (2).

(Celebrity) Bullseye was a two-year game show that combined elements of other Barry-Enright shows. It was the game of strategy, knowledge, luck, and especially daring.

Gameplay

Main Game

Two contestants, one a returning champion, competed. The game began with the champion stopping a star-shaped gameboard of three spinning windows by hitting a three-colored plunger in front of him/her. The first two windows contained eight different categories (four in each window) with dollar amounts ranging from $50 to $200 (representing the value of each question). The third window (below the two category windows) was the Contract window, and displayed numbers from one to five, as well as a "Bullseye" graphic.

Watch the spinning wheels and don't get hypnotized by the sparkling whirling swirls.

Which category would you answer two questions from for $200 a pop, "Dateline: The 60's" or "Multiple Choice"?

BULLSEYE! That means, no matter what category you choose, you are free to answer as many questions as you want; here, you can answer as many $200 "Civil War" questions as you'd like or as many $300 "Latin America" questions as you'd like.

When the windows stopped spinning, the contestant chose either of the displayed categories, and had to fulfill the contract by correctly answering the number of questions indicated in the Contract window. If the Contract window contained a Bullseye, the contract was unlimited; the contestant could continue answering questions for as long as he/she wanted. Each correct answer added the value of the question to a pot. A missed question gave the opponent a chance to steal control of the contract with a right answer.

The unique thing about Jim's podium is that it displayed the number of questions left to be answered correctly. Here, there are three questions left in the contract.

Here, there are two questions left.

After the contract had been completed, the contestant who completed the contract could elect to either bank the money in the pot, passing control to the opponent, or continue playing with a new contract; choosing the latter option would leave the accumulated money in the pot up for grabs by either player.

The first contestant to bank $1,000 or more won the game. (Beginning with a Nov. 1980 children's charity week, this was increased to $2,000, with question values increasing to $100–$400.) Contestants got to keep any money banked during a game, regardless of the outcome, making Bullseye one of the few Barry & Enright shows to allow losing contestants to keep earnings from the game.

The Pilot Contestant Area
Gale is leading by $50 as she heads toward the goal of $1,000

Gale takes the game with $1,050.

The Series Contestant Area
Chuck currently has all the money and $600 in the pot.

Chuck takes the game with $2,800.

In the event of a champion winning the game without the challenger having an opportunity to play (for example, if the champion spun a Bullseye in the Contract window and answered several consecutive questions to win the game), the challenger would return after the bonus round to play again.

As is the case with most Barry & Enright game shows, a new automobile was awarded to any contestant who won five consecutive games.

Bonus Round: "Bonus Island"

In the bonus round (known to fans as "Bonus Island" or the "Lightning Round"), the champion again stopped the spinning wheels by hitting the plunger on the bonus island. This time, the windows contained dollar amounts of $100, $200, or $300 (earlier $50, $100 or $150, then $100, $150 or $200), or bullseyes. One (and only one) window also contained a dreaded bolt of lightning.

If money came up in a window, it was added to a bank. If a bullseye appeared, the contestant had the option to "freeze" that window, which was then out of play for the remainder of the game. Later on, bullseyes were automatically frozen. The contestant had the option to stop after every spin and keep the money banked. If the lightning came up, it bankrupted the contestant and ended the game (accompanied by a loud thunderclap).

Here's a good spin but without Bullseyes.

$400 in the pot

Here's a better spin, two Bullseyes & $100.

Chuck has elected to freeze the two Bullseye windows.

Here's a bad spin, and it was the first one, too.

The object was to either get bullseyes in all three windows, or to survive ten (later reduced to seven) spins without getting "struck (or hit) by lightning." Doing either of these won a bonus prize package usually worth $2,000-$4,000 in value. Getting three bullseyes doubled the value of the bank, while going the maximum number of spins awarded either a flat $5,000 or all the money in the bank, whichever was greater. Getting three bullseyes in one spin awarded the $5,000.

Here's a triple Bullseye win.

This contestant won a total of $1,000 for the effort.

Here's a big event: contestant Chuck survived 10 spins and won $5,000!

A ten-spin win with three Bullseyes in the online Flash game, doubling the pot to $5,400.

Since only one window contained lightning, the contestant could guarantee a win by freezing a bullseye in that window. However, the contestant had no way of knowing that until the contents of the windows were revealed at the end of the bonus game.

Here's a typical lightning check at the end of a successful Bonus Game. Chuck was safe because the lightning was in the upper right window, where he got a Bullseye.

Pilot Version

The original pilot, taped in 1979 at the NBC Burbank Studios, featured a different bonus round. To begin, the player stopped a "Number Jumbler," which contained numbers 3-5, or a bullseye. The three windows contained either bullseyes or lightning bolts. Starting with the $1,000 (or more) won during the main game, the contestant stopped the windows by hitting his/her plunger, and if all three contained bullseyes, it doubled the player's money. This process continued until reaching the number in the contract set by the Number Jumbler (winning $8,000/$16,000/$32,000), or a lightning bolt appeared (which bankrupted the contestant). If the Number Jumbler was stopped on a bullseye, the contestant could continue to spin until hitting the lightning or winning over $1,000,000 (which, starting at least $1,000, would take ten spins).

Celebrity Bullseye (1981–1982)

The week of November 16-20 and some or all of the week of November 23-27, 1981, Bullseye had a tournament with eight sitcom stars playing for charity. Shortly after that tournament, beginning on December 7, the show changed its name to Celebrity Bullseye and featured celebrity contestants playing for their favorite charities.

At this point, the celebrities would play a best two-out-of-three game and a $500 value was added to the maingame, but few other rules were changed. One of these rules was that the categories were no longer announced by host Jim Lange before the game began. Another was that most questions were multiple-choice, containing three possible answers, with the celebrity's job to choose the right one; the exceptions to that being visual categories or Two of a Kind. It was as Celebrity Bullseye that this series left the air in September of that year. This version has been criticized by fans of the show as slowing the game down, as there would be episodes where no Bonus Island would be played at all.

Celebrities who played the celebrity version included Harvey Korman, Greg Morris, Doug Davidson, Roxie Roker, Rue McClanahan, Diane Ladd, Richard Kline, Gloria Loring, Patrick Wayne, Lynn Redgrave, Jerry Mathers, Meredith Baxter-Birney, Ernest Borgnine and F. Lee Bailey.

Music

Pilot – "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" by Santa Esmeralda  (Edit by Hal Hidey)

Series – Hal Hidey

Close – "That's All Folks" (NOTE: This was also a reference to the famous Looney Tunes character Porky Pig who would usually end the shorts by saying this catchphrase, but originally, the first character who said the catchphrase was Bosko in 1930 from the first short titled "Sikin' in the Bathtub" while his dog barked afterwards.)
Contestant Intro – "See Me Now"
Prize Cue – "Bits and Pieces"
Prize Cue – "Pieces and Bits"

Cancelled Merchandise

A board game version of Bullseye was going to be released by Milton Bradley in 1981 but the game ended up getting cancelled before it was manufactured.

Trivia

This was actually a retooling of an unsold pilot from 1975 called Double Cross created and hosted by Jack Barry.

Studios

NBC Studios, Burbank, CA (1980)
CBS Television City, Los Angeles, CA (1981–1982)

Rating

Additional Pages

Bullseye/Photo Gallery
Bullseye/Quotes & Catchphrases

Links

Rules for Bullseye at the Game Show Temple
(Celebrity) Bullseye @ Game Show Garbage