The B&E Syndicated Trio Of The Early 80's.

[TimK2003]

I was watching a bit of Bullseye the past couple of days, and seeing that Barry & Enright's "Big 3" shows of the day all premiered in different years in syndication, this musing came up:

How did the 3 B&E offerings (Joker's Wild, Tic Tac Dough and Bullseye) play out in your local market when all 3 were available for syndication in the early 80s?  And in the same vein as a recent thread about which show aired first in the pre-prime hour (J! vs. Wheel), if a station had back-to-back B&E shows in the same hour, which aired first?

In Cleveland, TJW was on WJ(K)W Channel 8 at 7PM, and TTD was on WEWS Channel 5 at 7:30. I want to say that WEWS later acquired Joker near the end of its run (?) and it remained TJW/TTD in the 7PM hour, but my mind is hazy on that.  Bullseye never aired in Cleveland so it was never a factor.

Others?

[SuperMatch93]

In Chicago,  TJW and TTD aired at varying times during the 7pm and 8pm hours, as did Play the Percentages. Bullseye never aired in Chicago.

[ChrisLambert!]

I hereby make a motion that there was in fact no B&E "Big 3".

[snowpeck]

I find it difficult to lump in Bullseye with the other two, considering it only ran two seasons (compared to TJW's nine and TTD's eight.)

[TLEberle]

I hereby make a motion that there was in fact no B&E "Big 3".

Vigorous co-sign.

[TimK2003]

I find it difficult to lump in Bullseye with the other two, considering it only ran two seasons (compared to TJW's nine and TTD's eight.)

Bullseye may not have been as strong as Joker and Tic Tac, but it was their (distant) 3rd most successful 5-a-week offering in syndication - lasting more than 1 season.  And it seemed to have been scheduled moreso in the early evening hours.  I was more curious to see if Bullseye was paired with any of B&Es other shows back to back and/or if TJW and TTD was paired up on many stations back then.  There were still many daily & weekly game shows that aired in the eafly evening back then. 

[That Don Guy]

In San Francisco, KBHK (now KBCW) aired TJW at 7:00 and TTD at 7:30.  (For a large chunk of the 1970s, this was the "Hogan's Heroes Hour" on that station.)  I don't remember syndicated Bullseye airing in the area at all.

[Johnissoevil]

NYC market:
TJW: 6:30pm on WOR-TV from September 1977-1979, 6PM on WOR from 1979-1981, 4pm on WCBS from September-November 1981, 9:30am on WCBS from November 1981-September 1984, 2pm on WOR from September 1984-September 1985, 1pm on WOR from September 1985-September 1986.  Reruns of the final CBS season aired on WOR from September 1976-September 1977, if you want to count that.
TTD: 8pm on WPIX from September 1978-September 1979, 6:30pm on WOR from September 1979-September 1981, 11am on WOR from September 1981-August 1983, 9am on WCBS from August 1983-September 1984, 2:30pm on WOR from September 1984-September 1985, 1:30pm from September 1985-September 1986.
Bullseye: 7pm on WOR from September 1980-September 1981, 11:30am on WOR from September 1981-September 1982.

Philadelphia:
TJW: 6:30pm on WTAF from September 1977-September 1979, 6pm on WKBS from April 1982-September 1982, 11am on WPVI from September 1982-September 1985, a second episode would air on WPVI at 7:30pm throughout the summer of 1983.
TTD: 7pm on WPVI from September 1978-September 1985, 9:00am on WCAU from March 1986-September 1986.
Bullseye: 6:30pm on WKBS from April 1982-September 1982.

[BrandonFG]

From what I remember seeing on microfiche of the era, TJW aired at 9 am on WAVY, and Bullseye followed at 9:30*. I know WAVY had TTD in its first and/or second season, but by 1980, I believed it moved to WTKR at 7:30 pm, after Family Feud.

I don't think Bullseye aired here its second season; Joker was airing at 7:30 on WAVY by that point. Tic Tac was definitely on WTKR by then, competing with its sister show, in fact!

*I might have that backwards.

[Steve Gavazzi]

Bullseye may not have been as strong as Joker and Tic Tac, but it was their (distant) 3rd most successful 5-a-week offering in syndication - lasting more than 1 season.

So because it was marginally less unsuccessful than some of the company's other shows, that merits lumping it in with TJW and TTD?

You need to come up with a new argument.

[PYLdude]

Bullseye may not have been as strong as Joker and Tic Tac, but it was their (distant) 3rd most successful 5-a-week offering in syndication - lasting more than 1 season.

So because it was marginally less unsuccessful than some of the company's other shows, that merits lumping it in with TJW and TTD?

You need to come up with a new argument.

Outside of Joker and Tic Tac Dough, how many of B&E's shows WERE successful, post-rigging? I don't believe any of them made it beyond 2 seasons as it was, and I might argue Bullseye and Celeb Bullseye could be considered separate programs if I was that nitpicky.

I mean, look at it. Break the Bank, ends in daytime after fifteen weeks in spite of itself, syndicated series is a bust. Blank Check, bust. Hollywood's Talking, 65 and out. Hollywood Connection, one season. Play the Percentages, half season wonder.

If you really consider it, B&E and Grundy were given a lot more credit than they perhaps deserved. Two hits and a lotta misses.

[TLEberle]

If you really consider it, B&E and Grundy were given a lot more credit than they perhaps deserved. Two hits and a lotta misses.

But the hits were enormous, and would add to their "slugging" percentage. And we could add Concentration to their lineup as well.

I'm curious to see your statistics as they pertain to Grundy's. I think Scrable and Sale of the Century would go a long way to excuse Time Machine and Hot Streak. (And I'd say that both ideas could have been fleshed out; one needed a better host and the other needed more time to grow.)

[Dbacksfan12]

You can add the dreadful Small Talk to that list.  If you want to count pilots it seems quite a few couldn't even make it past that stage.

[BrandonFG]

Not to mention several of B&E's shows were a spin on popular shows of the era.

I remember when Merv Griffin's Crosswords premiered (or the summer prior), there was a discussion about Merv's legacy and resume. He had his obvious two big hits, but a bunch of misses to go with it. Of course, Crosswords joined that list, perpetual reruns be damned. :-P

Seems like the same goes for B&E. You had two shows that ran for close to a decade in the 70s and 80s, became a part of pop culture and are fondly remembered to this day. But Chris may be on to something. That said, there's a publicity still in the original EOTVGS with Jack, Wink and Jim from 1980, which could lead one to believe Joker, Tic Tac and Bullseye were, in a way, the Big Three.

/Or at least Big Two-and-a-Half

[TLEberle]

You can add the dreadful Small Talk to that list. 

You absolutely could; good catch. As laughable as the prize money was, I'm not sure offering $5,000 for winning the bonus game would have done anything; the game was still a snooze from opening to credits.

If you want to count pilots it seems quite a few couldn't even make it past that stage.

I don't see why; lots of pilots don't make it to air due to reasons other than the game being good. For me personally, Matchmates was a great idea that didn't make it to air; that would wipe out two or three of their misses.