Bailey's Comets

"Bailey's Comets" was an animated cartoon series that was produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. A kind of take-off on Wacky Races, this reversed the situation by instead of having one villain and the rest of the teams good guys, one team was good guys and all the others were of varying degrees of villainy. Also, instead of automobiles, all the racing teams were on roller skates, in a worldwide race to different locales searching for clues to a 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.

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"- The handsome, youthful leader of the team, the one who called the most shots and having (reluctantly) to take the most risks.
*"Candy"-A pretty blonde- presumably Barnaby's girlfriend-the one who entices him to take the risks when necessary.
*"Sarge"- A redhead with a Brooklyn accent. She was the team motivator (Hup-two! Hup-two!)
*"Wheely"- The team mechanic- comes up with strange skate-based inventions.
*"Bunny"- A sweet-natured yet very ditzy girl.
*"Pudge"- 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.

The Comets were constantly being hindered by the other skating teams;
*"The Texas Black Hats": A group of western outlaws that rode on horses with skateson their hooves.
*"The Jekyll-Hydes": A group of tophatted, English Doctors that would turn into hideous ghouls at the most inopportune times.
*"The Ramblin'Rivets": A "Professor" and his Robots: "Boltsbucket"," Scrappy",and "Fenderbender", all of whom contained all sorts of mechanical contraptions.
*"Duster Busters": A motorcycle gang. They skated in half-sitting positions as if they were mounted on motorcycles.
*"Roller Coasters": A circus-based team consisting of a ringmaster, a strongman, a fat lady, a lion, a clown, and an Indian rubber man.
*"Stone Rollers": Cavemen and a Dinosaur.
*"Cosmic Rays": Four aliens inside a skating flying saucer.
*"Gargantuan Giants": Literally, a giant football team. so HUGE you'd only see their skates onscreen. They were led by a normal-sized Coach.
*"Rockin' Rollers": Rock Band.
*"Roller Bears": Self-explanatory.
*"Broomer Girls": Witches on roller-skate equipped brooms; had a snickering cat.
*"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.
*"Yo Ho-Ho's": a team of pirates led by a Captain-Bligh type. They use a skate-equipped raft. One pirate rows while another pirate serves as the mast, holding a sail.
*"Hairy Mountain Red Eyes": Hillbillies.

There were also two commentators;"Gabby", and"Dooter Roo" keeping constant track of the proceedings from a helicopter. Very rarely, however, did they ever get involved in the actual race goings-on.

Data

The series was broadcast by CBS from September 8 to December 22, 1973. CBS continued to air reruns until August 31, 1975.

16 episodes, each containing two cartoons, were made.

Voices

* Don Messick - Gabby
* Bob Holt - Dude
* Sarah Kennedy - Bunny
* Daws Butler - Dooter Roo
* Carl Esser - Barnaby Bailey
* Kathy Gori - Sarge
* Karen Smith - Candy
* Jim Begg - Wheelie
* Frank Welker - Pudge

taff

* 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
* 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

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