History Radio / LumAndAbner

* WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs: Mousey. In his debut year alone (1942), he worked as a delivery boy, a grocery store clerk, a professional boxer, a private detective, and a travel agent among other things and ''tried'' to get job as a school teacher.

** It was even worse in the pre-1940 shows, when there was just Lauck and Goff. Occasionally one would go on vacation, leaving the other to play several roles in essentially a one-man show.

-->'''Lum''': "He ought to be bored for the simples."

** Mary Edwards, the reform school girl that the pair gained custody of, [[spoiler:kinda disappeared after her story arc ended.]]

* RecycledScript; Occasionally Lauck and Goff would recycle plots and scripts years after they were first broadcast. For instance, the story arc where Lum and Abner open a movie theater was used in 1935 and again in 1944, and the radio station plot line was used in 1945 and 1953 (with slight variations).

** Both Lum and Abner could be this way on occasion, moreso Abner than Lum.

* TalkingToHimself: This one is a given considering they only had four regular actors and more than four regular characters.
** Occasionally either Lauck or Goff would go on vacation, leaving the other to play several roles in essentially a one-man show.

Lum and Abner was an American radio comedy that aired from 1931 to 1954[[hottip:*:with a hiatus that lasted from April 1950 until February 1953]]. 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.

* WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs: Mousey. In his debut year alone [[hottip:*:1942]], he worked as a delivery boy, a grocery store clerk, a professional boxer, a private detective, and a travel agent among other things and ''tried'' to get job as a school teacher.

* ManOfAThousandVoices: 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.

-->'''Lum:''' "I'm wore to a frazzle. Wore to a frazzle!"

* LongRunner

* {{Anvilicious}}: Many of the World War 2 episodes were dedicated to explaining or promoting various wartime programs (rationing, War Bonds, etc). A lot of them were less than subtle about it.

-->'''Every Character at One point or another:''' "Wonderful World!"

-->'''Cedric (to everyone, regardless of gender):''' Yes, mom

* AdultChild: 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.

Although it boasts a rather large fan base, the series never caught on with the general public the way JackBenny and other radio shows did and is [[NeedsMoreLove 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 [[http://www.otr.net/?p=lmab here]].

* BecomingTheMask: [[spoiler:Diogenes]] claims this to be the case. The fact that he leaves the town of Pine Ridge [[spoiler:a check for $10,000]] indicates that he was telling the truth. Lum and Abner believe him, regardless.

* ShipToShipCombat: In-universe, see "Shipper on Deck" above. [[ItGotWorse 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.

* FunetikAksent: The promotional materials created for the show, such as the 1936 "Let's 'Lect Lum" buttons. The official Lum and Abner comic strip put out by First Arkansas News carries on the tradition today.

* WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs: Mousey. In his debut year alone [[hottip:*:1942]], he worked as a delivery boy, a grocery store clerk, a professional boxer, a private detective, and a travel agent among other things.

* WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs: Mousey.