Bailey's Comets


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 and Friz Freleng in association with Joe Ruby and Ken Spears. Like some Depatie-Freleng Enterprises shows like The Houndcats, The Pink Panther, and The Barkleys, this show contained an adult laugh track.

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 is the handsome and youthful leader of the team. He is the one who generally calls the shots and has to take the most risks.Candy 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 is a red-haired girl who was the team motivator.Wheelie is the team mechanic who comes up with strange roller skate-based inventions.Bunny is a sweet-natured yet very ditzy girl.Pudge 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 cowboys that rode on roller skate-wearing horses. They are led by an unnamed outlaw.The Jekyll-Hydes are 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. Their "Jekyll" forms resembled Roland from the Roland and Ratfink theatrical shorts.The Ramblin' Rivets are a team consisting of a professor 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 led by an unnamed leader. They skated in half-sitting positions as if they were mounted on motorcycles.The Roller Coasters are a circus-based team consisting of a ringmaster, Hercules the Strongman, Big Bertha the Fat Lady, a lion on roller-skates, a circus clown that rides on the lion, and an Indian Rubber Man.The Stone Rollers are a team consisting of three roller-skating cavemen and their roller-skating dinosaur.The Cosmic Rays are a team consisting of four aliens inside a skating flying saucer.The Gargantuan Giants are literally, a giant football team, so huge that only their skates would be seen onscreen. They were led by a normal-sized coach who rode on the skates of one of the other members of his team.The Rockin' Rollers are a rock band.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 led by a William Bligh-type pirate captain. They use a roller skate-equipped raft. One pirate named Grog 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 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 and Dooter Roo 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
  • Kathy Gori as Sarge
  • Bob Holt as Dude, Stone Rollers
  • Sarah Kennedy 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 Leader, Grog

Production credits

Created for Television: David H. DePatie, Friz FrelengIn Association with Ken Spears, Joe RubyWriters: Dalton Sandifer, John W. Dunn, Larz BourneAnimation Directors: Bob McKimson, Sid MarcusStoryboard Directors: Arthur Leonardi, Cullen HoughtalingLayout Supervision and Design: Cullen HoughtalingLayouts: Martin Studler, Owen Fitzgerald, Bob Givens, Glenn Schmitz, Ric Gonzales, Dick UngAnimation: 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 BemillerBackground Supervised by Richard H. Thomas, Mary O'LoughlinInk and Paint Supervisor: Gertrude TimminsXerography: Paul B. StricklandFilm Editing Supervised by Rick StewardFilm Editors: Joe Siracusa, Jim Blodgett, Allan R. PotterVoice Talents of: Don Messick, Bob Holt, Sarah Kennedy, Daws Butler, Carl Esser, Kathy Gori, Karen Smith, Jim Begg, Frank WelkerTitle Design by Arthur LeonardiMusic by Doug GoodwinMusic Score Conducted by Eric RogersTitle Song Sung by "Every Thing Under the Sun"In Charge of Production: Lee GuntherCamera: Ray Lee, Larry Hogan, John Burton Jr.Production Mixer: Steve OrrSound by Producers' Sound Service, Inc.Associate Producers: Joe Ruby, Ken SpearsProduced by David H. DePatie, Friz Freleng