A couple of years after taking over the license to produce specials based on Dr. Seuss' books for the network, DePatie-Freleng sold their first series to CBS, Bailey's Comets, which can be generously described as Wacky Races crossed with roller derby.
Toontracker provides us with the open:
Basically, you have one heroic team, the Comets, while the rest of the teams are comprised of various degrees of vile villany. The announcers' voices have been credited in some source books as being those of Hanna-Barbera stalwarts Don Messick & Daws Butler, both of whom had previously done work for DFE as well. Butler, in particular, co-starred in the studio's initial Dr. Seuss adaptation, The Cat in the Hat, and had also worked on Super Six. However, it sounds to me as though those sources got it wrong somewhere, as one of the announcers sounds more like Frank Welker (Scooby-Doo) than either Messick or Butler. You be the judge, then get back to me, ok?
Regrettably, this is one of those cases where I'm going to refrain from giving a rating, as I don't recall ever seeing this show back in the day, probably because the then-affiliate may have blacked it out in favor of syndicated programming (i.e. Popeye), which was a common practice in those days.
Today, though, this might draw some comparisons to, or serve as the inspiration for, CBS' current series, The Amazing Race, but without the good vs. evil angle.
2 comments:
This is one of the first animated series that I can ever recall viewing as a child.
That makes you better than I.
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