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The Golden Shot
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The Golden Shot
The Golden Shot is a British television game show produced by ATV for ITV between 1 July 1967 and 13 April 1975, based on the German TV show Der goldene Schuß. It is most commonly associated with host Bob Monkhouse, but three other presenters also fronted the show. Hostess Anne Aston was on hand to read out the scores achieved by the contestants, and each month a "Maid of the Month", usually a glamour model of the era, would demonstrate the prizes and announce the contestants. When Bob Monkhouse returned to present the show in 1974, he was joined by co-hostess (to Anne Aston) Wei Wei Wong, who had recently been seen in The Man with the Golden Gun and who was an ex-member of the Young Generation and Second Generation dance troupes. This was one of the earliest regular appearances by an East Asian woman on British TV.[citation needed]
The show was broadcast live and used a crossbow attached to a TV camera to shoot a bolt at a target, using the camera as the crossbow's viewfinder. The person who loaded the crossbows was referred to by the nickname "Bernie" (or "Heinz" in early episodes), giving rise to the catchphrase "Bernie, the bolt".
The show involved the "Tele-Bow", a crossbow attached to a television camera guided by a contestant. It shot a bolt at an exploding target embedded in an apple positioned on a topical backdrop (usually an enlargement of Bob's own cartoons). In the first round, the crossbow was operated by blindfolded cameraman Derek Chason receiving instructions from a contestant, playing either at home by phone or in the studio from an isolation booth. First-round winners from previous shows would be invited to the studio to compete in pairs using crossbows fitted with butts, sights, and triggers mounted on stands. In later rounds, the contestants operated the crossbow themselves, first by remote control using a joystick, and finally handling the Tele-Bow directly for the ultimate prize. The last and most difficult task was to fire the crossbow bolt to cut a fine thread holding a small door closed. Breaking the thread opened the door, producing a shower of gold coins.
Contestants who successfully negotiated seven (later four) rounds of targets won a reasonable prize; those who missed got a negligible one. Most who reached the final stage operated the Tele-Bow like a rifle, with mixed results. One winner simply stood next to it and used a light touch on the rifle butt, sighting using the TV screen.
In his autobiography, host Bob Monkhouse recounted the story of a person who competed on the show from a telephone kiosk while watching a television in a rental shop over the road. While the contestant was directing the bolt, however, an assistant came in and switched the televisions off or changed the channel.
Another story Monkhouse told was about a priest (who was in the studio audience) audibly praying during the programme that he wouldn't get injured by the bolt, only for the bolt to ricochet off the target and land beside the priest.
The show's first host was Canadian singer and record producer Jackie Rae. Bob Monkhouse was a guest star on the tenth episode, and his autobiography reveals he did so fully intending to demonstrate to the producers that he should replace Rae as host. The plan worked, and Monkhouse took over as host from the 15th show onward. His quick wit, and willingness to revel in the show's chaotic nature led the Monkhouse era to be regarded as the show's golden age; by programme 26, the viewing figures were up by 50%. Because the programme was broadcast live (necessary because contestants took part over the telephone), Monkhouse often chatted to the participants to fill in whilst the crossbow was adjusted after the previous round.
In January 1968, the show moved to Sunday afternoons at around 16:40. Michael Grade has claimed that this resulted from a remark he made to his uncle, Lew Grade, ATV's deputy chairman and joint managing director, that the cinemas were full on Sunday afternoons because there was nothing to watch on television. However, the Midlands and North weekend franchisee ABC Television had been showing the programme in this slot since late September 1967, so Grade must share the credit with ABC's programme controller Brian Tesler. Audience levels peaked at 16 million. From January 1969, the production moved from ATV Elstree near London, to the Alpha Studios at Aston in Birmingham. The studio facilities in Birmingham, situated in a converted cinema, were rather run-down and unreliable (they dated from the start of ATV's franchise in 1956) and simply not well-suited to a fast-moving live show like The Golden Shot; as such, technical failures were common, but Monkhouse was well able to cover for them through his quick-witted humour. From 1970, the show moved to the new ATV Centre in Birmingham. During the ITV Colour Strike of 1970-71, episodes 10 to 21 of series 3 were broadcast in black-and-white.
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The Golden Shot
The Golden Shot is a British television game show produced by ATV for ITV between 1 July 1967 and 13 April 1975, based on the German TV show Der goldene Schuß. It is most commonly associated with host Bob Monkhouse, but three other presenters also fronted the show. Hostess Anne Aston was on hand to read out the scores achieved by the contestants, and each month a "Maid of the Month", usually a glamour model of the era, would demonstrate the prizes and announce the contestants. When Bob Monkhouse returned to present the show in 1974, he was joined by co-hostess (to Anne Aston) Wei Wei Wong, who had recently been seen in The Man with the Golden Gun and who was an ex-member of the Young Generation and Second Generation dance troupes. This was one of the earliest regular appearances by an East Asian woman on British TV.[citation needed]
The show was broadcast live and used a crossbow attached to a TV camera to shoot a bolt at a target, using the camera as the crossbow's viewfinder. The person who loaded the crossbows was referred to by the nickname "Bernie" (or "Heinz" in early episodes), giving rise to the catchphrase "Bernie, the bolt".
The show involved the "Tele-Bow", a crossbow attached to a television camera guided by a contestant. It shot a bolt at an exploding target embedded in an apple positioned on a topical backdrop (usually an enlargement of Bob's own cartoons). In the first round, the crossbow was operated by blindfolded cameraman Derek Chason receiving instructions from a contestant, playing either at home by phone or in the studio from an isolation booth. First-round winners from previous shows would be invited to the studio to compete in pairs using crossbows fitted with butts, sights, and triggers mounted on stands. In later rounds, the contestants operated the crossbow themselves, first by remote control using a joystick, and finally handling the Tele-Bow directly for the ultimate prize. The last and most difficult task was to fire the crossbow bolt to cut a fine thread holding a small door closed. Breaking the thread opened the door, producing a shower of gold coins.
Contestants who successfully negotiated seven (later four) rounds of targets won a reasonable prize; those who missed got a negligible one. Most who reached the final stage operated the Tele-Bow like a rifle, with mixed results. One winner simply stood next to it and used a light touch on the rifle butt, sighting using the TV screen.
In his autobiography, host Bob Monkhouse recounted the story of a person who competed on the show from a telephone kiosk while watching a television in a rental shop over the road. While the contestant was directing the bolt, however, an assistant came in and switched the televisions off or changed the channel.
Another story Monkhouse told was about a priest (who was in the studio audience) audibly praying during the programme that he wouldn't get injured by the bolt, only for the bolt to ricochet off the target and land beside the priest.
The show's first host was Canadian singer and record producer Jackie Rae. Bob Monkhouse was a guest star on the tenth episode, and his autobiography reveals he did so fully intending to demonstrate to the producers that he should replace Rae as host. The plan worked, and Monkhouse took over as host from the 15th show onward. His quick wit, and willingness to revel in the show's chaotic nature led the Monkhouse era to be regarded as the show's golden age; by programme 26, the viewing figures were up by 50%. Because the programme was broadcast live (necessary because contestants took part over the telephone), Monkhouse often chatted to the participants to fill in whilst the crossbow was adjusted after the previous round.
In January 1968, the show moved to Sunday afternoons at around 16:40. Michael Grade has claimed that this resulted from a remark he made to his uncle, Lew Grade, ATV's deputy chairman and joint managing director, that the cinemas were full on Sunday afternoons because there was nothing to watch on television. However, the Midlands and North weekend franchisee ABC Television had been showing the programme in this slot since late September 1967, so Grade must share the credit with ABC's programme controller Brian Tesler. Audience levels peaked at 16 million. From January 1969, the production moved from ATV Elstree near London, to the Alpha Studios at Aston in Birmingham. The studio facilities in Birmingham, situated in a converted cinema, were rather run-down and unreliable (they dated from the start of ATV's franchise in 1956) and simply not well-suited to a fast-moving live show like The Golden Shot; as such, technical failures were common, but Monkhouse was well able to cover for them through his quick-witted humour. From 1970, the show moved to the new ATV Centre in Birmingham. During the ITV Colour Strike of 1970-71, episodes 10 to 21 of series 3 were broadcast in black-and-white.