Lum and Abner
Lum and Abner was an American radio comedy that aired from 1931 to 1954[1]. It was created by Chester Lauck and Norris "Tuffy" Goff, who also played the main characters (Lauck played Lum; Goff played Abner). The series initially took the form of a comedic soap opera. It was set in the ficitional town of Pine Ridge, Arkansas where the titular Lum and Abner operated the Jot Em Down Store. Plots consisted of various adventures they and other Pine Ridge citizens had in the course of living their day-to-day lives. This could range from trying (and failing) to open up a new bakery to saving the town from hostile visitors.
In addition to the radio show, seven Lum and Abner movies were released in theaters, the first one in 1940 and the final one in 1956.
Although it boasts a rather large fan base, the series never caught on with the general public the way Jack Benny and other radio shows did and is in desperate need of more love. That said, the series is (by all appearances) in the public domain and most of the episodes can be listened to for free here.
- Adult Child: Cedric (more of a teenage child, really). Mousey is also something of one, what with him playing detective and secret agent from time to time. Lum and Abner each also qualify as this from time to time.
- Ambition Is Evil: Lum and his various schemes to improve business and become famous.
- Ascended Extra: Dick Huddleston, another Pine Ridge resident, became the new narrator during the final year of the show's run.
- Becoming the Mask: Diogenes claims this to be the case. The fact that he leaves the town of Pine Ridge a check for $10,000 indicates that he was telling the truth. Lum and Abner believe him, regardless.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Mousey.
- Bound and Gagged: In the movie, The Bashful Bachellor, Abner allows Lum to tie him up and pretend to rescue him so that Lum can be a local hero and impress his ladyfriend.
- Breather Episode: Every now and again, there would be an episode that was an entire self-contained story rather than part of a large story arc.
- Butt Monkey: Lum
- Catch Phrase:
Every Character at One point or another: "Wonderful World!"
The Narrator (at the start of every episode): "Let's see what's going on down in Pine Ridge. Well...(Narrator then summarizes what happened in the previous epiode and describes the opening scene for the current episode)."
Cedric (during a brief arc in the 40s): "Prune bread! That's what I like!"
Abner (when happy or excited): "Well good for you!" (or some variation)
Abner (when sad): "Bless their heart. Bless their little heart."
Grandpappy Spears: "Accordin' to the almanac."
Mousey: "It's just like a mother to me."
Lum: "I'm wore to a frazzle. Wore to a frazzle!"
Grandpappy Spears: "Spaven-legged," "Knock-kneed," "Pigeon-toed," "Monkey's uncle." (Often used in combination; on at least one occasion used all together: "Well, I'll be a spaven-legged, knock-kneed, pigeon-toed son of a monkey's uncle.")
Squire Skimp: "Gentlemen, gentlemen. How are my old friends today?"
Mousey: "Ye'sir."
- Character Title
- Christmas Episode: So popular with fans that it was re-aired annually throughout the show's run.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Grandpappy Spears and Abner
- Con Man: Diogenes is ultimately revealed to be one
- Deadpan Snarker: Lum.
- December-December Romance: Lum and his various love interests over the series, for the most part, none of them were ever played seriously, a notable exception being his fling with Geraldine in The Bashful Bachelor.
- Enemy Mine: Whenever Squire does something nice, it's usually because he either has to or because he and the boys simply have a common goal.
- Five-Man Band
- The Hero: Lum
- The Lancer: Abner
- The Big Guy: Cedric
- The Chick: Mousey
- The Smart Guy: Granpappy is ultimately a parody of this. He knows a lot thanks to the almanac, but any knowledge he can contribute is useless and irrelevant.
- The Sixth Ranger: Doc Withers
- Gentle Giant: Cedric
- Graceful Loser: Diogenes
- Grand Finale: Lum and Abner accidentally wind up adrift in the Ouachita River in the penultimate episode; the final episode begins with them thinking about all the little things about Pine Ridge that they took for granted; the tone is one of finality, and it honestly seems like a set-up for a Sudden Downer Ending. Then, just as Abner is giving into despair that they're going to die, they are both rescued by a search party made up of the supporting cast, even Squire Skimp.
- Happily Married:
- Abner and Elizabeth, minus a brief separation which ended in quick reconciliation
- Mousey and Gussie, but only at first. By 1943, Gussie became a domineering and abusive wife.
- Grandpappy and Aunt Charity.
- Honest John's Dealership: Squire Skimp, the closest thing this series ever had to a Big Bad.
- Hypocritical Humor: Lum usually scolds Abner for doing something or having selfish motives for doing something when it turns out that he's doing that exact same thing or has those exact same motives.
- In Which a Trope Is Described: The official Lum and Abner Society uses each episode's one-sentence synopsis as said epiode's title.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Lum
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Lum, when he's in an ambitious mood.
- Large Ham: Diogenes Smith
- Life Imitates Art: The town of Waters, Arkansas, on which Lauck and Goff based their fictional town, officially changed its name to Pine Ridge after the show became popular.
- Literal-Minded: Abner
- Long Runner
- Man of a Thousand Voices: Lauck and Goff played pretty much all the recurring characters other than Doc Withers. This occasionally led to episodes where Lauck would call one of Goff's other characters Abner by mistake.
- Minimalist Cast: Zig-Zagged. The show would go for long stints without having anyone other than the 7 main characters actually appear in the show itself, but this trope was never a 100 % constant. In fact, from 1948 through 1950, this trope was averted entirely.
- Narrator
- Nice Guy: Abner
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Abner inadvertantly causes the temporary rift between himself and his wife by trying to show Cedric how to boss one's wife around.
- Only Sane Man: Lum, usually. Squire probably also qualifies, which makes him something of an Evil Counterpart to Lum.
- Opening Narration
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Mousey. Next to Cedric, he's the strongest of the main cast.
- Put on a Bus: Mousey when he gets drafted, but The Bus Came Back about a year later when he returned to civilian life.
- Radio Drama
- Shipper on Deck: The townspeople do this for Lum during 1943 when a phony mystic inadventantly predicts that two single women in the town will each be proposed to by a man matching Lum's physical description. Sadly for Lum, he considers each woman to be an Abhorrent Admirer.
- Ship-to-Ship Combat: In-universe, see "Shipper on Deck" above. It gets worse after Abner makes the idiotic decision to turn it into a voting contest in an effort to raise money for the war effort.
- Spared by the Adaptation: In The Bashful Bachelor, The Widow Abernathy's husband is revealed to still be alive, having merely run off instead.
- Story Arc: Until 1948, the series had very few standalone episodes.
- Sudden Downer Ending: Subverted in the final episode; it has a very melancholy and even sad opening and set-up; however, it not only gives the boys a Happy Ending, but an ultimately light-hearted one as well.
- Talking to Himself: This one is a given considering they only had four regular actors and more than four regular characters.
- That Makes Me Feel Angry: Played for laughs with Mousey. Initially, this was the only way that he ever conveyed emotions.
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Mousey and his wife.
- Token Evil Teammate: Squire.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Cedric and Prune Bread. He's the only one who can stomach it.
- Don't forget Cedric and his peanut butter. Chunk style.
- The Unseen: Pretty much everybody other than the 7 main characters. This was averted when the show was retooled into a half-hour sitcom in 1948 and voice actors were hired to portray the other Pine Ridge residents. Naturally, the movies averted this trope too.
- Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs?: Mousey. In his debut year alone[2], he worked as a delivery boy, a grocery store clerk, a professional boxer, a private detective, and a travel agent among other things.