''The Skatebirds'' (onscreen title: ''Skatebirds'') is an American

live-action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games or ...

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 ...

package program produced by

Hanna-Barbera Productions Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

and broadcast 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 ...

from September 10, 1977, to January 21, 1978. It has many similarities to ''

The Banana Splits ''The Banana Splits'' is an American children's television variety show produced by Hanna-Barbera, Hanna-Barbera Productions and featuring the Banana Splits, a fictional rock band composed of four costumed animal characters in red helmets with ...

''.

Overview

The Skatebirds consisted of three large costumed birds on roller skates: Knock-Knock, a woodpecker (voiced by

Lennie Weinrib Leonard Weinrib (April 29, 1935 – June 28, 2006) was an American actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show '' H.R. Pufnstuf'', Grimace in McDonaldland commercials, the title role i ...

); Satchel, a pelican (voiced by Bob Holt) and Scooter, a penguin (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 nemesis was a cat named Scat Cat (voiced by

Scatman Crothers Benjamin Sherman "Scatman" Crothers (May 23, 1910 – November 22, 1986) was an American actor and musician. He is known for playing Louie the Garbage Man on the TV show ''Chico and the Man'', and Dick Hallorann in Stanley Kubrick's '' The ...

). The live-action sequences featuring The Skatebirds mostly revolved around the nasty Scat Cat perpetually chasing the roller-skating trio and trying to get the best of them. Unlike the '' Banana Splits'' live-action segments, the Skatebirds were filmed in a variety of theme-park locations, rather than running around in a single studio. The show was divided into four short segments introduced by live action wraparounds with The Skatebirds characters which included three animated segments ('' The Robonic Stooges'', ''

Wonder Wheels ''Wonder Wheels'' is a Saturday morning animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that originally aired as a 5-minute segment on '' The Skatebirds'' from September 10, 1977, to January 21, 1978, on CBS. In the fall of 1979, ''Wond ...

'' and '' Woofer & Wimper, Dog Detectives'') and a 10-minute live-action segment ('' Mystery Island''). The appearance of the characters and the show's format was similar to ''The Banana Splits''. Unlike its similar predecessor and most Saturday morning children's shows produced in the 1970s, ''The Skatebirds'' did not contain a

laugh track A laugh track (or laughter track) is an audio recording consisting of laughter (and other audience reactions) usually used as a separate soundtrack for comedy productions. The laugh track may contain live audience reactions or artificial laught ...

. A total of 16 episodes of ''The Skatebirds'' were produced in its original run from September 10, 1977, to January 21, 1978. In the fall of 1979, the show returned to CBS in a shortened half-hour version with ''Wonder Wheels'' and ''Mystery Island'' segments (''The Robonic Stooges'' and ''Woofer & Whimper, Dog Detectives'' segments had been spun off into a separate half-hour) and broadcast on Sunday mornings from September 9, 1979, until January 25, 1981. In the late 1980s, a different syndicated half-hour version of ''The Skatebirds'' with ''The Robonic Stooges'' and ''Wonder Wheels'' segments was shown on

USA Cartoon Express The ''USA Cartoon Express'' was a programming block consisting of animated children's series which aired on the USA Network from September 20, 1982 to September 15, 1996. ''Cartoon Express'' was the first structured animation block on cable tele ...

and later resurfaced on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

in the 1990s and

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

in the 2000s.

Opening and closing credits

The opening credits for the original one-hour version with voice-over narration by the show's recording director Wally Burr:

''It's Skatebird time and here come The Skatebirds –SKATEBIRDS (C) 1977 HANNA BARBERA PRODUCTIONS INC.- Knock-Knock, Scooter, Satchel and Scat Cat. Then, The Robonic Stooges, plus the spine-tingling suspense-filled excitement of Mystery Island, and the doggone it daffy doings of those dog detectives, Woofer & Whimper, and more...the unbelievable adventures of an unbelievable motorcycle, Wonder Wheels. For all-out fun, it's Satch, Knock-Knock, Scooter and Scat Cat...and for suspense, mystery and adventure, it's The Skatebirds Show!''

The opening credits for the syndicated half-hour version with voice-over narration by Ronnie Schell:

''It's Skatebird time starring Knock-Knock, Satchel and Scooter, those featheared clowns of fantasy. Along with Willie the Wheeler and the superhero cycle known as Wonder Wheels, as well as those three mechanical marbles, The Robonic Stooges. One big collection of wild, wacky and wonderful characters...The Skatebirds!''

The music featured in the closing credits is the '' CB Bears'' theme which was also later used as the ending credits for ''

Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels ''Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels'' is an American animated mystery comedy series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for ABC. The series aired during the network's Saturday morning schedule from ...

''.

Segments

The Robonic Stooges

The characters of

The Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short-subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical, farce, and slapstick comedy. Six total ...

– Moe (voiced by

Paul Winchell Paul Winchell (''Birth name, né'' Wilchinsky; December 21, 1922 – June 24, 2005) was an American ventriloquist, comedian, actor, humanitarian, and inventor whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1950 to 1954, he hosted ''The Pa ...

), Larry (voiced by

Joe Baker Joseph Henry Baker (17 August 1940 – 6 October 2003) was an England international footballer who played at club level for Hibernian, Torino, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Raith Rovers. At the age of 26 he achieved the feat ...

) and Curly (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 ...

) – as clumsy crime-fighting bionic superheroes who are given assignments via film projector from their boss Agent 000 (voiced by

Ross Martin Ross Martin (born Martin Rosenblatt, March 22, 1920 – July 3, 1981) was an American radio, voice, stage, film, and television actor. Martin was best known for portraying Artemus Gordon on the CBS Western series '' The Wild Wild West'', which ...

) who runs the Superhero Employment Agency.

Wonder Wheels

A high school journalist named Willie Wheeler (voiced by

Micky Dolenz George Michael Dolenz Jr. ( ; born March 8, 1945) is an American musician and actor. He was the drummer and one of two primary vocalists for the pop rock band the Monkees (1966–1970, and reunions until 2021), and a co-star of the TV series ''T ...

) and his girlfriend Dooley (voiced by Susan Davis) solve crimes with the help of his shape-shifting superhero motorcycle Wonder Wheels. Whenever Willie goes into action, his beat-up motorcycle transforms itself into a flashy version with a mind of its own.

Woofer & Wimper, Dog Detectives

A shortened and re-titled version of ''Clue Club'' featuring two talking bloodhounds – Woofer & Wimper (voiced by

and Jim MacGeorge) – who help solve mysteries with the Clue Club detectives: Larry (voiced by David Jolliffe), Pepper (voiced by Patricia Stitch), D.D. (voiced by

Bob Hastings Robert Francis Hastings (April 18, 1925 – June 30, 2014) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Lt. Elroy Carpenter on ''McHale's Navy'' and voicing Jim Gordon (character), Commissioner James Gordon in the DC Animated Un ...

), and Dottie (voiced by Tara Talboy) which usually ends with the bad guys arrested by

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

Bagley (voiced by John Stephenson). The original half-hour episodes of ''Clue Club'' were cut-down to 10 minutes to showcase both dogs as the show's main characters.

Mystery Island

The adventures of a plane crew consisting of pilot Chuck Kelly (portrayed by Stephen Parr), computer expert Sue Corwin (portrayed by Lynn Marie Johnston), her younger brother Sandy (portrayed by Larry Volk), and their robot named P.O.P.S. (voiced by

) who stranded on a remote island by the evil scientist Dr. Strange (portrayed by Michael Kermoyan) after he used a tractor beam to bring their airplane down onto Mystery Island. Dr. Strange hopes to capture P.O.P.S. and use it in his quest for world domination.

Broadcast history

Original CBS broadcast: * CBS Saturday Morning: September 10, 1977 – January 21, 1978 * CBS Sunday Morning: September 9, 1979 – August 31, 1980 (rebroadcast) * CBS Sunday Morning: September 7, 1980 – January 25, 1981 (rebroadcast) Broadcast schedules (all EDT): * September 10, 1977 – November 12, 1977, CBS Saturday 9:30-10:30 AM * November 19, 1977 – January 21, 1978, CBS Saturday 8:00-9:00 AM * September 9, 1979 – March 1980, CBS Sunday 7:30-8:00 AM * March 1980 – August 31, 1980, CBS Sunday 7:00-7:30 AM * September 7, 1980 – January 25, 1981, CBS Sunday 8:00-8:30 AM

Skatebirds cast

Other appearances

* The Skatebirds made a special guest appearance at a celebrity roast honoring

Fred Flintstone Fred Flintstone is the main character of the animated sitcom '' The Flintstones'', which aired during prime-time on ABC during the original series' run from 1960 to 1966. Fred is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles Flintst ...

in the TV special '' Hanna-Barbera's All-Star Comedy Ice Revue'' (1978).

Merchandise

* A board game based on ''The Skatebirds'' was released by

Milton Bradley Milton Bradley (November 8, 1836 – May 30, 1911) was an American business magnate, game pioneer and publisher, credited by many with launching the board game industry, with Milton Bradley Company, his eponymous enterprise, which was purchased ...

in 1978. It was a 2–3 player game suited for children between 7–12 years of age. The board also featured the characters of Woofer and Wimper (with the Clue Club teenagers and Sheriff Bagley) and The Robonic Stooges. The game's premise was The Skatebirds are trying to organize their TV show and Scat Cat does all he can to foul up their plans: he has built a marble slide at the Treehouse and does his best to stop The Skatebirds. The first player to reach the Skatebirds' Treehouse Studio wins the game. * A coloring book, ''Skatebirds Present The Robonic Stooges'', was released by

Rand McNally Rand McNally is an American technology and publishing company that provides mapping software and hardware for consumer electronics, commercial transportation, and education markets. The company is headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois with a di ...

in 1978.

References

External links

*
''The Skatebirds''
at Hollywood.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Skatebirds 1977 American animated television series debuts 1978 American television series endings 1970s American animated comedy television series 1970s American anthology television series 1970s American children's comedy television series 1970s American sketch comedy television series American children's animated anthology television series American children's animated comedy television series American television series with live action and animation American television shows featuring puppetry American English-language television shows Children's sketch comedy Children's television series about talking animals Television series by Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera characters Crossover animated television series Animated television series about birds Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios CBS animated television series