Bob Monkhouse - Game Shows

Game Shows

Monkhouse was well known for hosting television quiz shows. One of his biggest successes was The Golden Shot during the late 1960s and early 1970s. This was broadcast live for 52 weeks a year and drew in up to 17 million viewers. His tenure ended with allegations, which he denied, that he had taken bribes to include branded goods on the programme as advertisements. He returned in 1975. The dozens of other shows Monkhouse presented included Celebrity Squares, Bob's Full House and Family Fortunes. Audiences regularly topped 15 million. In the late 1980s he hosted two series of the revival of the talent show Opportunity Knocks which aired as Bob Says Opportunity Knocks. He then moved to ITV to front two more game shows, Bob's Your Uncle and the $64,000 Dollar Question, neither of which were popular successes.

Between 1996 and 1998, Monkhouse presented the National Lottery show on Saturday evenings on BBC One for which he created the catchphrase "I know I'm a sinner, but make me a winner!" The opening to each show would see him deliver several minutes of topical jokes, and on one occasion where his autocue failed, he improvised a new and still topical routine. This talent was used in Bob Monkhouse On The Spot, a return to pure television comedy, in which audience members suggested topics and Monkhouse came up with a routine. Monkhouse returned to quizzes when he took over hosting duties on Wipeout from Paul Daniels, when its studio recordings moved from London to Manchester. Monkhouse hosted Wipeout between 1998 and 2002.