Bob's Full House

Last updated

Bob's Full House
Genre Game show
Presented by Bob Monkhouse
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series6
No. of episodes109 (inc. 8 specials)
Production
Production location BBC Television Centre [1]
Running time35 minutes
Original release
Network BBC1
Release1 September 1984 (1984-09-01) –
27 January 1990 (1990-01-27)

Bob's Full House was a British television quiz show based on the game bingo. It aired on BBC1 from 1 September 1984 until 27 January 1990, and was hosted by Bob Monkhouse.

Contents

Gameplay

Four players were given separate bingo-style cards and attempted to light up the numbers on them by answering questions. Cards had three rows of six spaces each, with one space per row already blanked out to leave 15 numbers showing; however, the numbers in the corners of each card were never blanked out. Numbers on the cards ran from 1 to 60. The winner of each round received their choice of three prizes that increased in value from one round to the next. On charity specials, each correct answer awarded £10 to a charitable cause nominated by the player who gave it, and the chosen prize at the end of each round was donated to the winner's cause.

Each episode began with a lengthy topical stand-up comedy routine from Monkhouse. Throughout the game, he and the players frequently used nicknames for the numbers, some of which became a call-and-response with the audience. For example, choosing 22 would bring a call of "Two little ducks" from Monkhouse and a "Quack, quack" from the audience.

Round One (Four Corners)

In this round, Monkhouse asked 50/50 toss-up questions on the buzzer, open to all. The correct answer allowed a player to light up the number in one corner of their card, while the wrong answer caused them to become penalized, or "wallied" – in this case, unable to buzz-in on the next question. The first player to light all four corners of their card won the round.

Round Two (Monkhouse Master Card/The Middle Line)

The players were shown a board with six categories, each corresponding to a range of 10 consecutive numbers. Each player in turn called a number off their own middle row and was asked a question unopposed in the corresponding category. A correct answer lit the number, but a miss allowed any of the other three to buzz-in (described by Monkhouse as "open to others"). A correct buzz-in allowed that player to light any number on their own middle row, while a miss caused them to become wallied. If a wallied player was next in line to choose a number, they lost their turn; otherwise, they could not buzz-in on the next question in case of a miss. The categories were changed out after every player had taken a turn, resulting in new ones being added to the board and/or previously used ones being assigned to different number ranges.

The first player to complete their middle row won the round. In addition, one number on each card was secretly designated as a "Lucky Number." If the player in control chose their own Lucky Number and responded correctly, they won a bonus prize, which was frequently revealed as part of a short comedy sketch or in connection with a worthless joke prize. (E.g. a contestant might win a bag of popcorn and an ice cream cone, then be told that they could enjoy these snacks in combination with a dozen movie tickets.) During the charity specials, a correct answer on a Lucky Number question awarded a further £50 to that player's charity.

Round Three (Full House)

Gameplay proceeded as in Round One, but the goal was now to fill in all unlit numbers on the cards. Numbers were lit starting on a player's top row and proceeding left to right, then similarly on the middle and bottom rows. The first player to complete their card won the game and advanced to the bonus round.

Any players who finished the game without winning any prizes received a hamper of gifts as a consolation prize.

Bonus Round (Golden Card Game)

The player faced an electronic board laid out in the same manner as the cards used in the main game, with one space in each row marked off and numbers from 1 to 60 in the others. They had 60 seconds to answer up to 15 questions. The clock kept running on a pass or miss, but each correct answer stopped the clock and allowed the player to remove one number. Some numbers had letters hidden behind them that spelled out the name of a holiday destination, while all others added their value in pounds to a bank. If the player uncovered all the letters, they won a holiday to that destination; if not, they received a small consolation prize. Regardless of the outcome, they won all the money in the bank.

Monkhouse frequently offered subtle hints to help players who were struggling with questions, such as bleating like a goat on an astrology-related question to lead a player to the sign of Capricorn. The letters were arranged in order from left to right in each row, and a player who figured out the destination could narrow down the possible locations of the missing letters.

Transmissions

Series

SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes
11 September 1984 [2] 1 December 1984 [3] 14
27 September 1985 [4] 21 December 1985 [5] 16
36 December 1986 [6] 25 May 1987 [7] 16
45 September 1987 [8] 30 January 1988 [9] 21
53 September 1988 [10] 4 February 1989 [11] 21
62 September 1989 [12] 27 January 1990 [13] 21

Specials

DateEntitle
26 December 1984 [14] Christmas Special
8 April 1985 [15] Easter Special
26 December 1985 [16] Christmas Special
31 March 1986 [17] Easter Special
27 December 1986 [18] Christmas Special
26 December 1987 [19] Christmas Special
24 December 1988 [20] Christmas Special
23 December 1989 [21] Christmas Special

International versions

CountryLocal NameHostNetworkYear Aired
Flag of Finland.svg  Finland Megavisa Jukka-Pekka Palo Kolmoskanava
MTV3 		1991–1992
1993–1995
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany Bingo Wolf-Dieter Herrmann Sat.1 1991–1992
Kinder-Bingo Thomas Gottschalk 1992
Flag of Greece.svg  Greece Mega BancaGiorgos Polixroniou Mega Channel 1992–1995
Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines GoBingo (unlicensed)Arnell Ignacio GMA 1996-1999
2008
Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal Casa CheiaFernando Pereira (1990–1992)
Carlos Ribeiro (1992-1994)
Serenella Andrade (1995–1997)		Canal 1
RTP1 		1990–1997
Flag of Romania.svg  Romania RobingoHoria Brenciu TVR 1993-1998
Flag of the United States.svg  United States Trump Card Jimmy Cefalo Syndication 1990–1991

Video games

Related Research Articles

<i>The Weakest Link</i> (British game show) British television quiz show

The Weakest Link is a British television quiz show, mainly broadcast on BBC Two and BBC One. It was devised by Fintan Coyle and Cathy Dunning and developed for television by the BBC Entertainment Department. The game begins with a team of nine contestants, who take turns answering general knowledge questions within a time limit to create chains of nine correct answers in a row. At the end of each round, the players then vote one contestant, "the weakest link", out of the game. After two players are left, they play in a head-to-head penalty shootout format, with five questions asked to each contestant in turn, to determine the winner.

<i>Mastermind</i> (British game show) British quiz show

Mastermind is a British television quiz show for the BBC, currently presented by Clive Myrie. Its creator, Bill Wright, drew inspiration from his experiences of being interrogated by the Gestapo during World War II. The show features an intimidating setting and challenging questions. Four contestants face two rounds, one on a specialised subject of the contestant's choice, the other a general knowledge round.

<i>Eye Guess</i> American television game show

Eye Guess is an American game show created by Bob Stewart and hosted by Bill Cullen that aired on NBC from January 3, 1966, to September 26, 1969. The game combined a general knowledge quiz with a Concentration-style memory element, in which the answers were shown to the players and their recall of their positions was tested.

<i>Beat the Teacher</i> British childrens game show

Beat the Teacher is a British children's game show that aired on BBC1 from 24 September 1984 to 27 October 1988. It was first hosted by Howard Stableford in 1984, then hosted by Paul Jones from 1985 to 1986 and finally Bruno Brookes from 1987 to 1988.

<i>A Question of Sport</i> British television sports quiz show (1970–2023)

A Question of Sport is a British television sports quiz show produced and broadcast by the BBC. It was the "world's longest running TV sports quiz". Following a pilot episode in December 1968, broadcast only in the north of England, the series ran from 1970 until production ceased in 2023. The final presenter was Paddy McGuinness, with team captains Sam Quek and Ugo Monye.

<i>Noels House Party</i> British light entertainment TV series

Noel's House Party is a BBC light entertainment series that was hosted by Noel Edmonds. Set in a large house in the fictional village of Crinkley Bottom, leading to much innuendo, it ran from 23 November 1991 to 20 March 1999 on BBC One and was broadcast live on Saturday evenings for eight series. The show, once described by a senior corporation executive as "the most important show on the BBC", was cancelled in February 1999 due to declining ratings, although two further compilation specials were shown in March 2000.

<i>Celebrity Squares</i> British television series (1975–2015)

Celebrity Squares is a British comedy game show based on the American comedy game show Hollywood Squares. It first ran on ITV from 20 July 1975 to 7 July 1979 and was hosted by Bob Monkhouse, then—also hosted by Monkhouse—from 8 January 1993 to 3 January 1997.

Going for Gold is a British television game show that originally aired on BBC1 between 12 October 1987 and 9 July 1996. It was revived for Channel 5 from 13 October 2008 to 20 March 2009.

Trump Card is an American syndicated game show that aired from September 10, 1990, to May 24, 1991, hosted by Jimmy Cefalo. Debi Massey served as hostess and Chuck Riley was the announcer. The show was produced by Telepictures Productions, Createl, Ltd., and Fiedler-Berlin Productions, with Warner Bros. Television distributing. It was based on the British game show Bob's Full House, which consisted of contestants trying to answer questions to fill up a 15-square bingo board.

Get Your Own Back is a British children's television game show created by Brian Marshall. Each episode staged a contest between teams of children – attempting to score as many points as possible – and their respective adults – attempting to make tasks as difficult as possible for their child contestants – playing a variety of games. The winning child earns a right to get revenge on the adult by ejecting them into a tank of gunge; adult contestants in the show are somewhat embarrassing, for a variety of reasons, to their child counterparts.

itbox is a networked gambling games terminal which is found in thousands of pubs, leisure centres and amusement arcades in the United Kingdom. Classified as a "skill with prize" (SWP) machine, each itbox terminal typically includes 25 different games. Each game costs 50p or £1 to play and lasts between 10 seconds and several minutes. From most of these games it is possible to win modest cash prizes. Although strictly the name 'itbox' refers only to Leisure Link-made terminals, the name is often casually applied as a genericized trademark to other SWP terminals such as Paragon SWP, Gamesnet, ind:e and Fatbox.

<i>Battlestars</i> (game show) American television series

Battlestars is an American game show that aired on NBC during the 1980s. The program's concept was developed and produced by Merrill Heatter, featuring a six-celebrity panel. The object of the game is to "capture" the celebrities by lighting up numbers positioned around triangle shapes, inside of which sat each panelist. Similar to Hollywood Squares, which Heatter also co-created and produced, the celebrities are asked questions by the host, and the contestants judge the truth of their answers in order to light up the numbers.

Run the Risk is a British children's game show, which ran from 26 September 1992 to 28 December 1996. It was aired as part of the Saturday morning shows Going Live! and Live & Kicking. It is presented by Peter Simon for the entire run alongside Shane Richie, John Eccleston and Bobby Davro. The games the teams had to do involved gunge and were similar to those performed on It's a Knockout. Run the Risk borrowed much from its predecessor, Double Dare, which was also hosted by Simon.

Lucky Numbers was a weekly Bingo-based game show that aired on ITV from 9 January 1995 to 4 July 1997 and was hosted by Shane Richie.

<i>Friends Like These</i> British TV series or programme

Friends Like These is a British game show that was broadcast on BBC One first as a pilot on 6 November 1999 and then as a full series from 12 February 2000 until 20 September 2003. It was presented by Ant & Dec from 1999 to 2001 and later by Ian Wright until 2003.

<i>Bingo America</i> American game show broadcast by Game Show Network

Bingo America is an American game show broadcast by Game Show Network. The series follows two contestants as they try to compete to win up to $100,000. Additionally, the series lets at-home viewers print bingo cards online that allow them to play along with the show to win small amounts of money for themselves.

4 Square was a British game show that aired on BBC1 from 3 May 1988 to 31 October 1991. It was hosted by Michael Groth for the first series and then hosted by John Sachs for three subsequent series.

<i>Wipeout</i> (British game show) British TV quiz show (1994–2003)

Wipeout was a British television quiz show for BBC One, based on the original American programme of the same name. First shown on 25 May 1994, it ran for nine series: the first four of which aired at primetime and were hosted by Paul Daniels; and the last five at daytime and hosted by Bob Monkhouse, with the final episode airing on 17 April 2003, 8 months before Monkhouse died on 29 December 2003.

The Alphabet Game is a comedy panel game show that aired on BBC1 from 5 August 1996 to 27 March 1997 and is hosted by Andrew O'Connor. The programme was created by O'Connor, Rebecca Thornhill, Mark Maxwell-Smith and produced by Objective Productions. It was remade in Spain as Pasapalabra, for which ITV Studios sued Telecinco for €17,000,000; ITV would later remake the show as Alphabetical.

Takeover Bid is a British game show that aired on BBC1 from 26 May 1990 until 15 July 1991. It was hosted by Bruce Forsyth and assisted by Claire Sutton. The basic premise of Takeover Bid was that of a "reverse game show", where the contestants were given prizes at the beginning of play, and the object of the game was to try and keep them.

References

  1. ↑ "BBC TV Centre" . Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  2. ↑ "Bob's Full House – BBC One London – 1 September 1984". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Bob's Full House – BBC One London – 1 December 1984". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "Bob's Full House – BBC One London – 7 September 1985". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Bob's Full House – BBC One London – 21 December 1985". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "Bob's Full House – BBC One London – 6 December 1986". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "Bob's Full House – BBC One London – 25 May 1987". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  8. ↑ "Bob's Full House – BBC One London – 5 September 1987". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "Bob's Full House – BBC One London – 30 January 1988". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  10. ↑ "Bob's Full House – BBC One London – 3 September 1988". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "Bob's Full House – BBC One London – 4 February 1989". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  12. ↑ "Bob's Full House – BBC One London – 2 September 1989". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  13. ↑ "Bob's Full House – BBC One London – 27 January 1990". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  14. ↑ "Bob's Christmas Full House – BBC One London – 26 December 1984". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  15. ↑ "Bob's Easter Full House – BBC One London – 8 April 1985". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  16. ↑ "Bob's Christmas Full House – BBC One London – 26 December 1985". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  17. ↑ "Bob's Easter Full House – BBC One London – 31 March 1986". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  18. ↑ "Bob's Christmas Full House – BBC One London – 27 December 1986". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  19. ↑ "Bob's Christmas Full House – BBC One London – 26 December 1987". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  20. ↑ "Bob's Christmas Full House – BBC One London – 24 December 1988". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  21. ↑ "Bob's Full House – BBC One London – 23 December 1989". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.