If you’re UK based and of a certain age, you’re bound to have watched the gameshow Bullseye while growing up, and likely to have chanced upon the satellite TV reruns that are still showing to this very day. The premise was simple, teams of two took part in rounds that involve both general knowledge and darting ability (or lack therefore of). The winning pair of contestants then picked up prizes on ‘Bully’s Prize Board’. These more often than not come across as a combination of hand me downs and stuff you might find in a closing down sale. These prizes can then be put on the line for a shot at the star prize – a prize that’s only revealed upon winning it. To win this, they have to score 101 of more with six darts.
Exciting stuff, right? Sometimes the star prize was a trip to a Caribbean island or something along those lines. Who wouldn’t be chuffed to win that! On other occasions, it was a caravan or car. Again, a nice prize to win, even if you do have to saw it in two, or arm wrestle for it, since there are two contestants.
Beyond those prizes though, we start to stray into territory that is far more bizarre. One of the most frequently featured star prizes was a speed boat. As elated as winners may have been to have won, it does make you wonder how the contestants, some of whom may live on a council estate for instance, got to enjoy their top of the range speed boat in real life. Perhaps they zoomed down the side of a high rise, or did lengths in the local swimming pool. The real sh!t sandwich of a prize though, was a prize I only ever saw offered once.
Take into account that 80s fashions were as dodgy as they get. Notorious for it. Even when people made an effort they looked like they’d crawled out of a bush. And that’s just those featuring in pop videos. The likes of Bullseye contestants certainly don’t appear to have worked themselves into a panic over what to wear for their once in a lifetime appearance on the show. Throw on any old rag, was the order of the day. Keeping that in mind, the most tragic yet hilarious star prize on Bullseye was…… a fashion spree!