''Bailey's Comets'' is an

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

cartoon series that aired on

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

. 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 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 the creator of the animated ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise, together with Ken Spears. In 1977, they c ...

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-found ...

Plot

Different

roller skating Roller skating is the act of traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a 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 streets, sid ...

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) - 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) - 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) - a red-haired girl who was the team motivator. * Wheelie (voiced by Jim Begg) - the team

mechanic A mechanic is an artisan, skilled tradesperson, or technician who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially cars. Duties Most mechanics specialize in a particular field, such as auto body mechanics, air conditioning an ...

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. In the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours, Kennedy ...

) - a sweet-natured, yet very ditzy girl. * Pudge (voiced by Frank Welker) - 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 other skating teams consist of: * The Texas Black Hats - a group of outlaw cowboys 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 million yea ...

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 where he originated the voices of many familiar characters, including Yogi Bear, Huckleberry H ...

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

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

s that would turn into hideous green-skinned creatures at the most inopportune times that are led by Henry (voiced by Don Messick). Their "Jekyll" forms resembled Roland from the ''

Roland and Ratfink ''Roland and Rattfink'' is a series of animated shorts produced and released from 1967 to 1972. The main characters also made several guest appearances on ''The Pink Panther'' animated series. The series was produced by David H. DePatie and Friz F ...

'' theatrical shorts. * The Ramblin' Rivets - a team consisting of a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

(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 - a motorcycle gang. They skated in half-sitting positions as if they were mounted on motorcycles. * The Roller Coasters - 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 unicyclis ...

-based team consisting of a ringmaster (voiced by Don Messick), Hercules the

Strongman In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or similar circus performers who performed feats of strength. More recently, strength athletics, also known as strongman competitions, have grown in popularity. Thes ...

, Big Bertha the Fat Lady, a lion on roller-skates, a clown that rides on a lion, and an Indian Rubber Man. * The Stone Rollers - 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 Bo ...

(all voiced by Bob Holt) and their roller-skating

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

(vocal effects provided by Don Messick). * The Cosmic Rays - a team consisting of four aliens inside a skating

flying saucer A flying saucer (also referred to as "a flying disc") is a descriptive term for a type of flying craft having a disc or saucer-shaped body, commonly used generically to refer to an anomalous flying object. The term was coined in 1947 but has g ...

. * The Gargantuan Giants - literally, a

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

football 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 * Co ...

(voiced by Don Messick) who rode on the skates of one of the other members of his team. * The Rockin' Rollers - a rock band. * The Broomer Girls - a team of witches on roller skate-equipped brooms that are led by Auntie Hag. They also had a snickering roller-skating

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

on their team. * The Roller Bears - 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 - 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 - a team of pirates led by a

William Bligh Vice-Admiral William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was an officer of the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. The mutiny on the HMS ''Bounty'' occurred in 1789 when the ship was under his command; after being set adrift i ...

-type pirate captain (voiced by

). They use a roller skate-equipped raft. One pirate rows, another pirate serves as the mast by holding a sail, and the other rides in a roller skate-equipped barrel attached to the raft. * The Hairy Mountain Red Eyes - a family of

hillbillies Hillbilly is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people from other rural and mountainous areas west ...

. Pa (voiced by Don Messick) rode in a roller skate-equipped wash bucket. Ma carried a hoe, and there were two boys consisting of Cornball and another one who carried a

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...

Commentators

There were also two commentators named Gabby (voiced by Frank Welker impersonating

Howard Cosell Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

) and Dooter Roo (voiced by

) keeping constant track of the proceedings from a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

. 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 * Don Messick as Henry, Gargantuan Giants' Coach, Ringmaster, Stone Rollers' Dinosaur, Pa Redeye * Karen Smith as Candy * Frank Welker as Pudge, Gabby, Duster Busters Member, Grog of the Yo Ho-Hos

Episodes

Production credits

* Created for Television: David H. DePatie, Friz Freleng * In Association with

* Writers: Dalton Sandifer, John W. Dunn, Larz Bourne * Animation Directors: Bob McKimson, Sid Marcus * Storyboard Directors: Arthur Leonardi, Cullen Houghtaling * Layout Supervision and Design: Cullen Houghtaling * Layouts: Martin Studler, Owen Fitzgerald, Bob Givens, 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: Don Messick, Bob Holt,

, Carl Esser, Kathy Gori, Karen Smith, Jim Begg, Frank Welker * 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 * 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, Friz Freleng

References

External links

''Bailey's Comets''
at

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

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