''Bailey's Comets'' is an

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

cartoon series that aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

. The second season consisted entirely of reruns. The series was produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and was created by David H. DePatie and

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (; August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, Film director, director, Film producer, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons ...

in association with

Joe Ruby Joseph Clemens Ruby (March 30, 1933 – August 26, 2020) was an American animator, writer, television producer, and music editor. He was best known as a co-creator of the animated ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise, together with Ken Spears. In 1977, they ...

and

Ken Spears Charles Kenneth Spears (March 12, 1938 – November 6, 2020) was an American animator, writer, television producer and sound editor. He was best known as a co-creator of the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise, together with Joe Ruby. In 1977, they co-foun ...

. Like some Depatie-Freleng Enterprises shows like

The Houndcats ''The Houndcats'' is an American Saturday morning cartoon series produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises. The series was broadcast by NBC from September 9 to December 2, 1972, with reruns continuing until September 1, 1973. Thirteen episodes ...

Pink Panther ''The Pink Panther'' is an American media franchise primarily focusing on a series of comedy-mystery films featuring an inept French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The franchise began with the release of the film ''The Pink Panthe ...

, and The Barkleys, This show contained a adult laugh track.

Plot

Different

roller skating Roller skating is the act of travelling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreation, recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on s ...

teams compete in a worldwide race to different locations searching for clues that will lead them to a million-dollar prize at the end of the race. Besides the teams interfering with each other, there were also outside forces and subplots that would step in to hinder the teams' progress.

Characters

Bailey's Comets

The protagonists and the team presented as most likely to win the million-dollar prize were a group of teenagers called Bailey's Comets. This team consisted of: * Barnaby Bailey (voiced by Carl Esser) is the handsome, youthful leader of the team. He is the one who generally calls the shots and has to (reluctantly) take the most risks. * Candy (voiced by Karen Smith) is a pretty blonde-haired girl. She is presumably Barnaby's girlfriend as she is the one who pushes him to take risks when necessary. * Sarge (voiced by Kathy Gori in a Brooklyn accent) is a red-haired girl who was the team motivator. * Wheelie (voiced by Jim Begg) is the team

mechanic A mechanic is a skilled tradesperson who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially engines. Formerly, the term meant any member of the handicraft trades, but by the early 20th century, it had come to mean one who works w ...

who comes up with strange roller skate-based inventions. * Bunny (voiced by

Sarah Kennedy Sarah Mary Kennedy MBE (born 8 July 1950) is a British retired TV and radio broadcaster. She presented her daily early morning radio show, ''The Dawn Patrol'', on BBC Radio 2 from 1993 to 2010. She is also a relative of John F. Kennedy In t ...

) is a sweet-natured, yet very ditzy girl. * Pudge (voiced by

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American actor who specializes in voice acting. He began his career in the 1960s, and held around 850 film, television, and video game credits as of 2020, making him one of the most prolific v ...

) is good-natured but prone to trouble; he was on the hefty side, yet had almost no difficulty keeping up with the rest of the team. Pudge was especially fond of bananas, prompting Wheelie to refer to him as "Banana Brain" whenever Pudge made a mistake.

Other teams

Bailey's Comets were constantly being hindered by the other skating teams who also interfere with one another. The following are the teams that compete against Bailey's Comets: * The Texas Black Hats are a group of

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them. ...

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

s that rode on roller skate-wearing

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

s. They are led by an unnamed outlaw (voiced by

Daws Butler Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company and the Walter Lantz cartoon studio. He originated the voices of many familiar Hanna-Barbera ...

). * The Jekyll-Hydes are a group of top hat-wearing English

doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

s that would turn into hideous green-skinned creatures at the most inopportune times that are led by Henry (voiced by

Don Messick Donald Earle Messick (September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997) was an American voice actor, known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. His best-remembered voice roles include Scooby-Doo; Bamm-Bamm Rubble and Hoppy in ''The Flintsto ...

). Their "Jekyll" forms resembled Roland from the '' Roland and Ratfink'' theatrical shorts. * The Ramblin' Rivets are a team consisting of a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

(voiced by

) and his robots named Scrappy, Boltsbucket, and Fenderbender. The robots each contained all sorts of mechanical contraptions to help their team advance in the race. * The Duster Busters are a motorcycle gang. They skated in half-sitting positions as if they were mounted on motorcycles. * The Roller Coasters are a

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

-based team consisting of a ringmaster (voiced by

), Hercules the

Strongman Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their intensity, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limit ...

, Big Bertha the Fat Lady, a lion on roller-skates, a clown that rides on the lion, and an Indian Rubber Man. * The Stone Rollers are a team consisting of three roller-skating

cavemen The caveman is a stock character representative of primitive humans in the Paleolithic. The popularization of the type dates to the early 20th century, when Neanderthals were influentially described as "simian" or "ape-like" by Marcellin Boul ...

(all voiced by Bob Holt) and their roller-skating dinosaur (vocal effects provided by

). * The Cosmic Rays are a team consisting of four aliens inside a skating

flying saucer A flying saucer, or flying disc, is a purported type of disc-shaped unidentified flying object (UFO). The term was coined in 1947 by the United States (US) news media for the objects pilot Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting, Kenneth Arnold claimed fl ...

. * The Gargantuan Giants are literally, a giant

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team, so huge that only their skates would be seen onscreen. They were led by a normal-sized

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

(voiced by

) who rode on the skates of one of the other members of his team. * The Rockin' Rollers are a

rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

. * The Broomer Girls are a team of witches on roller skate-equipped brooms that are led by Auntie Hag. They also had a snickering roller-skating cat on their team. * The Roller Bears are a team of five roller-skating bears which consist of four bears and one bear cub. They were the most hapless of the teams as they are constantly blundering and always laughing like idiots no matter how badly things got. * The Mystery Mob are a team of skaters that are constantly immersed in a huge cloud of dust with flailing arms and legs. Despite being a skate team, no one knows what they look like. * The Yo Ho-Ho's are a team of

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

led by a

William Bligh William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was a Vice-admiral (Royal Navy), Royal Navy vice-admiral and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New South Wales from 1806 to 1808. He is best known for his role in the Muti ...

-type pirate captain (voiced by

). They use a roller skate-equipped raft. One pirate named Grog (voiced by

) rows, the second pirate serves as the mast by holding a sail, and the third pirate rides in a roller skate-equipped barrel attached to the raft. * The Hairy Mountain Red Eyes are a family of hillbillies. Pa (voiced by

) is the leader and rode in a roller skate-equipped wash bucket. Ma carried a hoe and there were two boys consisting of Cornball and an unnamed boy who carried a pig.

Commentators

There were also two commentators named Gabby (voiced by

impersonating

Howard Cosell Howard William Cosell (; né Cohen; March 25, 1918 – April 23, 1995) was an American sports journalist, broadcaster and author. Cosell became prominent and influential during his tenure with ABC Sports from 1953 until 1985. Cosell was widel ...

) and Dooter Roo (voiced by

) keeping constant track of the proceedings from a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

. Very rarely, however, did they ever get involved in the actual goings-on of the race.

Cast

* Jim Begg as Wheelie *

as Dooter Roo, Pirate Captain, Professor, Texas Black Hats Leader * Carl Esser as Barnaby Bailey * Kathy Gori as Sarge * Bob Holt as Dude, Stone Rollers *

as Bunny *

as Henry, Gargantuan Giants' Coach, Ringmaster, Stone Rollers' Dinosaur, Pa Redeye * Karen Smith as Candy *

as Pudge, Gabby, Duster Busters Member, Grog

Episodes

Production credits

* Created for Television: David H. DePatie,

* In Association with

* Writers: Dalton Sandifer, John W. Dunn, Larz Bourne * Animation Directors:

Bob McKimson Robert Porter McKimson Sr. (October 13, 1910 – September 29, 1977) was an American animator and illustrator, best known for his work on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons from Warner Bros. Cartoons and later DePat ...

, Sid Marcus * Storyboard Directors: Arthur Leonardi, Cullen Houghtaling * Layout Supervision and Design: Cullen Houghtaling * Layouts: Martin Studler, Owen Fitzgerald,

Bob Givens Robert Herman Givens (March 2, 1918 – December 14, 2017) was an American animator and character designer, responsible for the creation of Bugs Bunny. He was the leading character designer for Leon Schlesinger, creating over 25 successful ch ...

, Glenn Schmitz, Ric Gonzales, Dick Ung * Animation: Don Williams, Bill Carney, Ken Muse, Norm McCabe, Bob Richardson, Bill Ackerman, John Gibbs, Ken Walker, Bob Matz, John Freeman, Reuben Timmins, Bob Kirk, Bob Bemiller * Background Supervised by Richard H. Thomas, Mary O'Loughlin * Ink and Paint Supervisor: Gertrude Timmins * Xerography: Paul B. Strickland * Film Editing Supervised by Rick Steward * Film Editors: Joe Siracusa, Jim Blodgett, Allan R. Potter * Voice Talents of:

, Bob Holt,

, Carl Esser, Kathy Gori, Karen Smith, Jim Begg,

* Title Design by Arthur Leonardi * Music by Doug Goodwin * Music Score Conducted by Eric Rogers * Title Song Sung by "Every Thing Under the Sun" * In Charge of Production:

Lee Gunther Lee Gunther (May 30, 1935 – August 25, 1998) was a co-founder of Marvel Productions and a film editor (which, in animation parlance, means sound effects editor) on more than 85 animated shorts in all. Career Starting at Warner Bros. in the ...

* Camera: Ray Lee, Larry Hogan, John Burton Jr. * Production Mixer: Steve Orr * Sound by Producers' Sound Service, Inc. * Associate Producers:

* Produced by David H. DePatie,

References

External links

*
Retrô TV
{{Children's programming on CBS in the 1970s 1970s American animated comedy television series 1970s American children's comedy television series 1970s American sports television series 1973 American animated television series debuts 1975 American television series endings American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated sports television series American teen animated television series Television series by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises Television series created by Joe Ruby Television series created by Ken Spears CBS animated television series