Bailey's Comets

Bailey's Comets is an animated cartoon series that aired on CBS in the 1973/74 and 1974/75 seasons. 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 and Ken Spears

Plot

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

Characters

Bailey's Comets

The team most favored 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 called the most shots and having (reluctantly) to 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 entices him to take the risks when necessary.
• Sarge (voiced by Kathy Gori) - A red-haired girl with a Brooklyn accent. She was the team motivator (Hup-two! Hup-two!)
• Wheelie (voiced by Jim Begg) - The team mechanic who comes up with strange skate-based inventions.
• Bunny (voiced by Sarah 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. Was especially fond of bananas, which would prompt Wheelie to refer to him as "Banana Brain" whenever he made a mistake.

Other Teams

The Comets were constantly being hindered by the other skating teams which consist of:

• The Texas Black Hats - A group of outlaw cowboys that rode on roller skate-wearing horses.
• The Jekyll-Hydes - A group of top hat-wearing English doctors that would turn into hideous ghouls at the most inopportune times that are led by Henry (voiced by Don Messick).
• The Ramblin' Rivets - A team consisting of a professor (voiced by Daws Butler) and his robots named Boltsbucket, Scrappy, and Fenderbender. The robots each contained all sorts of mechanical contraptions to help their team in advancing in the races.
• 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 Don Messick), Hercules the Strongman, Big Bertha the Fat Lady, a lion, a clown that rides on the lion, and an Indian Rubber Man.
• The Stone Rollers - A team consisting of three cavemen and their dinosaur.
• The Cosmic Rays - A team consisting of four aliens inside a skating flying saucer.
• The Gargantuan Giants - Literally, a giant football team that is so huge you'd only see their skates onscreen. They were led by a normal-sized coach (voiced by Don Messick).
• The Rockin' Rollers - A rock band.
• The Roller Bears - A team of five roller-skating bears.
• The Broomer Girls - A team of witches on roller skate-equipped brooms that are led by Auntie Hag. They also had a snickering cat on their team.
• The Mystery Mob - A team of skaters that are constantly immersed in a huge cloud of dust with flailing arms and legs. No one knows what they look like.
• The Yo Ho-Ho's - A team of pirates led by a William Bligh-type pirate captain (voiced by Daws Butler). They use a skate-equipped raft. One pirate rows while another pirate serves as the mast, holding a sail.
• The Hairy Mountain Red Eyes - A team of hillbillies.

Commentators

There were also two commentators named Gabby (voiced by Frank Welker 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 race goings-on.

Episodes

1. Skateroo to the Carlsbad Clue - The skating teams race to Carlsbad Caverns. Auntie Hag of the Broomer Girls gives a hillbilly girl a love potion to make any boy skater that she catches fall in love with her. The clue is seen by all of the teams.
2. To Win or Toulouse - The skating teams race to Paris, France where Bailey's Comets gets mixed up with a smuggler named Pierre who had smuggled a diamond into one of the bananas that came into Pudge's possession. The Ramblin' Rivets, the Duster Busters, and the Yo Ho-Ho's plan to take advantage of this by making sure that Bailey's Comets doesn't catch Pierre. Afterwards, the clue is found by Bailey's Comets.
3. Raja and Out - The skating teams travel to the palace of the Raja of Punjab, India who holds the next clue. The Raja then has the skaters compete to rescue his daughter from an evil Fakir in order to get the next clue. The clue is founded by the Broomer Girls.
4. Ghost of a Clue - The skating teams are in London in a race to Nottingham Castle. When Bailey's Comets end up in another castle, they come across the Ghost of Sir Tremblelot whose Family Coat of Arms was stolen which ends up intensifying the search when the other teams get involved. The clue is founded by Bailey's Comets.
5. Heading Home -
6. Roman Race Run -
7. Transylvania Mad Transit - The skating teams race through Transylvania to get to Frankenstein's Castle. Auntie Hag of the Broomer Girls casts a thunderstorm spell that causes Bailey's Comets and the Jekyll-Hydes to stumble upon Dr. Dracula's castle where he plans to make both teams act like the other. The clue is founded by Bailey's Comets.
8. Philippine Flip Flop - The skating teams are in the Philippines where Bailey's Comets stumble into a valley where Pudge unknowingly saves a tribe of natives from a giant lizard and the natives want Pudge to deal with a giant gorilla. The Yo Ho-Ho's, the Ramblin' Rivets, the Hairy Mountain Red Eyes plan to make sure that Bailey's Comets never leaves the valley. The clue is founded by Bailey's Comets.
9. Space Race -
10. Slow 'n' Go to Tokyo -
11. Loch Ness Mess - The skating teams are in Scotland where the clue is in the Lochs which ends up getting the Loch Ness Monster involved and Bailey's Comets is ordered by a police officer to get it back to Loch Ness in two hours or they'll go to jail. The Texas Black-Hats, the Jekyll-Hydes, and the Ramblin' Rivets plan to take advantage of this by planning to keep the Loch Ness Monster from going back into Loch Ness. Although Bailey's Comets finds the clue, the rest of the skating teams managed to see it from a distance.
12. Deep Blue Clue -
13. South American Slip Up -
14. Goldfever Goof Up - The skating teams are in Mexico heading to the Mayan ruins to find the next clue. Auntie Hag of the Broomer Girls casts a Gold Fever spell on Pudge that causes him to get mixed up with some prospectors. The clue is founded by Bailey's Comets.
15. A Kooky Clue and a Mummy Too -
16. Kenya Catch That Clue -
17. An Abominable Clue -
18. Madagascar Mix-Up -
19. Bear Blunder Down Under -
20. Trans Turkey Foul Up - The skating teams race through Turkey to the Istanbul Museum. Bailey's Comets encounter Bad Luck Ali Booboo and bring him along in a plan to change his bad luck streak. During the race, Ali Booboo's bad luck causes problems for Bailey's Comets and the other skating teams. The clue is founded by Bailey's Comets.
21. Amazon Jungle Bungle - The skating teams are in the jungles of Brazil where they are racing towards the Sugarloaf Mountain. When Wheelie falls into the Amazon River following the Jekyll-Hydes shrinking the bridge, he is saved by an Amazon Jungle Woman named Magogo who doesn't want Wheelie to go. Things get worse when Magogo's old boyfriend Bruto shows up to dispose of Wheelie. The clue is founded by the Rockin' Rollers.
22. Swiss Swap Switch -
23. Hawaii Five Uh-Oh -
24. Heidelberg Robot Hang Up -
25. Netherland Bubble Trouble -
26. Too Strong for Hong Kong -
27. A Doggone Danish Clue -
28. Hungarian Cluelosh -
29. Gobi Desert Goof Up -
30. Sargasso Sea You Later -
31. Fast Lap in Lapland -
32. What's Buzzin' Canadian Cousin -

Voices

• Jim Begg - Wheelie
• Daws Butler - Dooter Roo, Pirate Captain, Professor
• Carl Esser - Barnaby Bailey
• Kathy Gori - Sarge
• Bob Holt - Dude
• Sarah Kennedy - Bunny
• Don Messick - Henry, Gargantuan Giants Coach, Ringmaster
• Karen Smith - Candy
• Frank Welker - Pudge, Gabby

Production Credits

• Created for Television: David H. DePatie, Friz Freleng
• 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: Don Messick, Bob Holt, Sarah Kennedy, Daws Butler, 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: Joe Ruby, Ken Spears
• Produced by David H. DePatie, Friz Freleng
• A DePatie-Freleng Production

External links

• Bailey's Comets at Internet Movie Database
• Bailey's Comets at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Retrô TV (Portuguese)