Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Lum and Abner
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
==Show history== Lauck and Goff had known each other since childhood and attended the [[University of Arkansas]] together where they both joined the [[Sigma Chi]] fraternity. They performed locally and established a [[blackface]] act which led to an audition at radio station KTHS in [[Hot Springs, Arkansas]]. Prior to the audition, the two men decided to change their act and portray two hillbillies, due to the large number of blackface acts already in existence. After only a few shows in Hot Springs, they were picked up nationally by [[NBC]], and ''Lum and Abner'', sponsored by [[Quaker Oats]], ran until 1932. Lauck and Goff performed several different characters, modeling many of them on the real-life residents of Waters, Arkansas. [[Image:Lumabner.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Advertisement for ''Lum and Abner'' radio program]] When the Quaker contract expired, Lauck and Goff continued to broadcast on two Texas stations, [[WBAP (AM)|WBAP]] (Fort Worth) and [[WFAA]] (Dallas). In 1933, The Ford Dealers of America became their sponsor for approximately a year. [[Horlicks|Horlicks Malted Milk]], the 1934–37 sponsor, offered a number of promotional items, including almanacs and fictional Pine Ridge newspapers. During this period, the show was broadcast on Chicago's [[WGN (AM)]], one of the founding members of the [[Mutual Broadcasting System]]. Effective July 1, 1935, the program was also carried on [[WLW]] (Cincinnati, Ohio), [[KNX (AM)|KNX]] (Los Angeles, California), and [[KFRC (defunct)|KFRC]] (San Francisco, California).<ref>{{cite news|title=Lum and Abner Still at It|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Broadcast-Weekly/1935/Broadcast-Weekly-1935-07-14.pdf|accessdate=22 November 2015|agency=Broadcast Weekly|date=July 14, 1935|page=7}}</ref> Along with ''[[The Lone Ranger]], Lum and Abner'' was one of Mutual's most popular programs.<ref name=ShowPop>For argument that Mutual was primarily a vehicle for ''The Lone Ranger'', see, e.g., Olson (2000), p. 173; Head (1976), p. 142; Schwoch (1994). For counterargument and popularity of ''Lum and Abner'', see, e.g., Hilmes (1997), pp. 107β108; Hollis (2001), p. 41; {{cite web|author=McLeod, Elizabeth |url=http://jeff560.tripod.com/mutual.html|title=Some History of the Mutual Broadcasting System/Correspondence: 'Mon, 12 APR 99'|date=1999-04-12|accessdate=2010-03-01 |publisher=History of American Broadcasting (Jeff Miller)}}</ref> In 1936, Dick Huddleston of Waters petitioned the United States Post Office to change the town's name to Pine Ridge.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oldstatehouse.com/educational_programs/classroom/arkansas_news/detail.asp?id=790&issue_id=37&page=8|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028212420/http://www.oldstatehouse.com/educational_programs/classroom/arkansas_news/detail.asp?id=790&issue_id=37&page=8|url-status=dead|title=Lum and Abner Now Have Real "Pine Ridge," Arkansas Β» The Arkansas News<!-- Bot generated title -->|archivedate=October 28, 2007|accessdate=Mar 30, 2020}}</ref> [[Postum]] cereal sponsored ''Lum and Abner'' in 1938–40, before [[Alka-Seltzer]] picked up the duo. Miles Laboratories, manufacturers of Alka-Seltzer and One-A-Day Vitamins, became the longest-running sponsor, backing the program from 1941 until 1948. Over the course of its life, ''Lum and Abner'' appeared on all four major radio networks: NBC, Mutual, [[CBS]] and [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] (formerly [[Blue Network|NBC Blue]]). In 1948, the show changed from a 15-minute "comedic [[soap opera]]" to a 30-minute self-contained show. New writers were added, including Flying Tiger ace [[Robert T. Smith]], along with an orchestra and a live audience. The new format was unpopular and the series came off the air in 1950. Lauck and Goff experimented with other formats during the hiatus, finally changing back to a 15-minute, Monday-Friday show on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] in 1953,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Warren|first1=Jill|title=What's New from Coast to Coast|journal=Radio-TV Mirror|date=May 1953|volume=39|issue=6|page=20|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Mirror/53/Mirror-1953-May.pdf|accessdate=29 November 2014}}</ref> but the revived show was discontinued the following year due to competition from television and Goff's failing health (Goff would eventually recover and continue making media appearances well into the 1960s). The duo twice made attempts to transition to television, but neither effort was picked up by a television network. ===Episode status=== The team broadcast more than 5,000 shows, of which over 1,630 episodes exist today. The archive is extensive between 1935 and 1948, a rarity for 15-minute shows that were typically never recorded (most of its contemporary daytime programs have fewer than 100 episodes remaining). As with most old-time radio shows, very little pre-1935 content (in this case, two episodes) survive. Only a handful of post-1948 programs and some of the 1953β54 revival have survived; most recordings of those shows are believed to have been [[Lost television broadcast#Wiping|destroyed]]. ===Films=== Like several of their contemporaries, Lauck and Goff had the opportunity to bring their characters to life in movies. The ''Lum & Abner'' radio show of March 29, 1940, "The Store Closes to Shoot a Movie," announced a break in the radio series in order to make the first film of the [[film series|series]], ''[[Dreaming Out Loud (film)|Dreaming Out Loud]]'', which was released the same year. At a rate of roughly one per year, another five films would be produced in the series. * ''Dreaming Out Loud'' (1940) * ''[[The Bashful Bachelor]]'' (1942) * ''[[Two Weeks to Live]]'' (1943) * ''[[So This Is Washington]]'' (1943) * ''[[Goin' to Town (film)|Goin' to Town]]'' (1944) * ''[[Partners in Time]]'' (1946) Ten years after the film series ended, by which point ''Lum and Abner'' had long left radio, a seventh film was released. 1956's ''[[Lum and Abner Abroad]]'' was originally [[television movie|made for television]], with the film divided into three episodes. Conceived as a three-part [[television pilot|pilot]] for a TV series and filmed on location in [[Yugoslavia]], it featured none of the staff from previous films or the radio series other than Lauck and Goff themselves. The series was never picked up, with the three episodes airing as a film in theaters. *''Lum and Abner Abroad'' (1956)
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)