''Bailey's Comets'' is an animated cartoon series that aired on CBS. The second season consisted entirely of reruns. The series was produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and was created by

David H. DePatie David Hudson DePatie (December 24, 1929 – September 23, 2021) was an American film and television producer who was the last executive in charge of the original Warner Bros. Cartoons studio and the longest-living until his death. He also formed ...

and

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

in association with Joe Ruby and Ken Spears.

Plot

Different roller skating 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 Kathy Gori (born March 19, 1951) is an American voice actress, radio personality and screenwriter. Biography She was born in San Francisco, California. Gori co-wrote two original feature comedies, ''And Spaulding Gets Nothing'' for Walt Disne ...

in a Brooklyn accent) - a red-haired girl who was the team motivator. * Wheelie (voiced by Jim Begg) - the team mechanic who comes up with strange roller skate-based inventions. * Bunny (voiced by Sarah Kennedy) - a sweet-natured, yet very ditzy girl. * Pudge (voiced by

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

) - 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 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 that 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 '' vaquer ...

s that rode on roller skate-wearing horses. They are led by an unnamed outlaw (voiced by Daws Butler). * The Jekyll-Hydes - a group of top hat-wearing English doctors 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. He was best known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. His best-remembered vocal creations include Scooby-Doo, Bamm-Bamm Rubble and Hoppy in ...

). Their "Jekyll" forms resembled Roland from the '' Roland and Ratfink'' theatrical shorts. * The Ramblin' Rivets - a team consisting of a professor (voiced by Daws Butler) 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-based team consisting of a ringmaster (voiced by

), Hercules the Strongman, Big Bertha the Fat Lady, a

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

on roller-skates, a

clown A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms. History The most ancient clowns have been found in ...

that rides on a

, and an Indian Rubber Man. * The Stone Rollers - a team consisting of three roller-skating cavemen (all voiced by Bob Holt) and their roller-skating dinosaur (vocal effects provided by

). * The Cosmic Rays - a team consisting of four

aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...

inside a skating flying saucer. * The Gargantuan Giants - literally, a giant

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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

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

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

. * The Broomer Girls - a team of

witches Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have use ...

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 - a team of five roller-skating

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

s 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 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 other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

led by a William Bligh-type pirate captain (voiced by Daws Butler). 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. Pa (voiced by

) 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.

Commentators

There were also two commentators named Gabby (voiced by

impersonating Howard Cosell) and Dooter Roo (voiced by Daws Butler) keeping constant track of the proceedings from a helicopter. Very rarely, however, did they ever get involved in the actual goings-on of the race.

Cast

* Jim Begg as Wheelie * Daws Butler as Dooter Roo, Pirate Captain, Professor, Texas Black Hats Leader * Carl Esser as Barnaby Bailey *

as Sarge * Bob Holt as Dude, Stone Rollers * Sarah Kennedy as Bunny *

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

as Pudge, Gabby, Duster Busters Member, Grog of the Yo Ho-Hos

Episodes

Production credits

* Created for Television:

* In Association with Ken Spears, Joe Ruby * 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:

, Bob Holt, Sarah Kennedy, Daws Butler, Carl Esser,

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

References

External links

''Bailey's Comets''
at Internet Movie Database *
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