The Skatebirds

The Skatebirds
Genre	Anthology
Directed by	Sidney Miller
Starring	Maurice Cook Bruce Hoyt Ken Means Joe Giamalva
Voices of	Joe E. Baker Scatman Crothers Susan Davis Micky Dolenz Bob Hastings Bob Holt David Jolliffe Don Messick Jim MacGeorge Ross Martin John Stephenson Patricia Stich Tara Talboy Lennie Weinrib Frank Welker Paul Winchell
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of episodes	16
Production
Executive producer(s)	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Producer(s)	Terry Morse, Jr.
Running time	60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS PBS
Original run	September 10, 1977 – January 28, 1978

The Skatebirds was a 60-minute show on CBS Saturday mornings from 1977-78, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The show featured four short segments hosted by live-action wraparounds featuring "The Skatebirds", three large birds played by actors in costumes.

The Skatebirds, so-called because they roller skated, were named Satchel (a pelican), Knock-Knock (a woodpecker) and Scooter (a penguin). Their nemesis was Scat-Cat, voiced by Scatman Crothers who had previously played Hanna-Barbera's Hong Kong Phooey and a character also named Scat Cat from the Disney movie The Aristocats. The appearance of the characters and the format of the show was similar to Hanna-Barbera's The Banana Splits. Unlike most Saturday morning children's shows produced in the 1970s, The Skatebirds did not contain a laugh track.

The Skatebirds lasted only a half-season in its original run from September 10, 1977 to January 28, 1978. In the fall of 1979, the show was cut down to a half-hour by removing The Robonic Stooges and Woofer And Whimper, Dog Detectives (which had been spun off into a separate half-hour) and broadcast on CBS Sunday mornings on and off until January 1981. In the late 1980s, a different shortened version of The Skatebirds (now featuring The Robonic Stooges and Wonder Wheels) was shown on USA Cartoon Express and later resurfaced on Cartoon Network and Boomerang.

Segments

• Wonder Wheels - A cartoon about a teenage boy and his living shape-shifting motorcycle Wonder Wheels.
• Woofer & Wimper, Dog Detectives - This segment is actually edited version of Clue Club episodes featuring two talking dogs who help solve mysteries with four teenage detectives.

Cast

• Maurice Cook - Scat-Cat
• Bruce Hoyt - Knock-Knock
• Ken Means - Satchel
• Joe Giamalva - Scooter

Voices

• Joe E. Baker - Larry Fine
• Wally Burr -
• Henry Corden -
• Scatman Crothers - Scat-Cat
• Susan Davis - Dooley
• Micky Dolenz - Willie Sheerer
• Ron Feinberg -
• Joan Gerber -
• Virginia Gregg -
• Bob Hastings - D.D.
• Bob Holt - Satchel
• Jane James -
• Ralph James -
• David Jolliffe - Larry
• Casey Kasem -
• Jim MacGeorge - Wimper
• Ross Martin - Agent 000
• Julie McWhirter -
• Allan Melvin -
• Don Messick - Scooter
• Marvin Miller -
• Alan Oppenheimer -
• Vic Perrin -
• Robert Ridgely -
• Ken Sansom -
• Ronnie Schell -
• Hal Smith -
• John Stephenson - Sheriff Bagley
• Patricia Stich - Pepper
• Tara Talboy - Dotty
• Janet Waldo -
• Lennie Weinrib - Knock-Knock
• Frank Welker - Curly Howard, Narrator, P.O.P.S.
• Paul Winchell - Moe Howard, Woofer

Crew

• Wally Burr - Recording Director
• Norman Maurer - Creator ("Robonic Stooges" segments)

External links

• The Skatebirds information
• Mystery Island information
• The Skatebirds @ The Big Cartoon DataBase
• The Skatebirds at the Internet Movie Database