Customer Reviews
BAILEY'S COMETS - THE COLLECTION (CBS 1973-75) VERY RARE! Frank Welker, Don Messick, Daws Butler, Sarah Kennedy, Kathy Gori, Jim Begg, Carl Esser, Karen Smith
This single DVD contains ten stories from a very rare animated series Bailey's Comets that aired on CBS Saturday morning lineup premiering in 1973.
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.
The protagonists and the team presented as most likely to win the million-dollar prize were a group of teenageFrs 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 blonde-haired girl, 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 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) - 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, 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 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). Their "Jekyll" Forms resembled the Roland character 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 Don Messick), Hercules the Strongman, 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 (all voiced by Bob Holt) and their roller-skating dinosaur (vocal effects provided by Don Messick).
- The Cosmic Rays - A team consisting of four aliens inside a skating flying saucer.
- The Gargantuan Giants - Literally, a giant football team, so huge that only their skates would be seen onscreen. They were led by a normal-sized coach (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 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, 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. 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 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 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.
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 goings-on of the race.
This very rare cartoon series features 10 of the produced stories: Skateroo to the Carlsbad Clue - To Win or Toulose - Raja and Out - Ghost of a Clue - Amazon Jungle Bungle - Trans Turkey Foul Up - Transylvania Mad Transit - Philippine Slip Flop - Lochness Mess - Gold Fever Goof Up.
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