History ComicStrip / LilAbner

* EvilEye: Evil Eye Fleegle

During the strip's run, it was adapted into two films, a Broadway musical (which served as the basis for the second film), a radio serial that ran from 1939 to 1940 and five short animated films made by ColumbiaCartoons in [[TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation 1944]]. While the series itself never became a television show (despite an unsold pilot airing just once on NBC in 1967), ''Fearless Fosdick,'' a ruthless parody of ''ComicStrip/DickTracy'', briefly spun-off into his own 13-episode puppet show that was swiftly canceled, while the Shmoo appeared in two Saturday Morning Cartoon series for Hanna-Barbera in 1979 and again in 1980-1984 (both times sharing billing with [[TheFlintstones Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble]]). A theme park, Dogpatch, USA, opened in 1968, though it was largely unsuccessful for most of its life and closed in 1993 ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogpatch_USA though most it is still standing]]). The strip is also credited with introducing several colloquialisms into the English language, including "schmooze", "irregardless", "druthers", and even the word "schmoo" has entered into at least four separate fields of science.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Daisy Mae goes barefoot, as do many of the other Dogpatch residents. (This may actually be a different trope, Cannot Afford Shoes.)

* WriterRevolt: Al Capp wiped out the Schmoos.

* YourHeartsDesire: The Schmoos.
** A quick summary: Schmoos were a species discovered by Li'l Abner in the Valley of the Schmoon. They loved humans unconditionally, had a phenomenal rate of reproduction, and provided humanity with everything they needed for subsistence. They gave milk, laid eggs (even hard-boiled eggs upon request), and acted as pets and beasts of burden. A human could cause a Schmoo to commit Schmooicide just by looking at it hungrily, at which point its skin could be cut thin for cloth, thick for leather, boiled to harden into a timber substitute; its eyes used for buttons, its whiskers for toothpicks: also, of course, its flesh was delicious in a different way, depending on how you cooked it. [[spoiler: As soon as this miracle animal became known to the outside world, American big businessmen attempted to wipe them out, since a solution to world hunger and suffering would have destroyed their profits.]]

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Daisy Mae, much to the fact of her going barefoot.

** Capp's work pre-dated the expression "fan service," but this strip is a very strong example. It didn't rely on RuleOfSexy, but unlike almost any other media in TheFifties, it [[RefugeInAudacity revelled]] in fan service.

* UnresolvedSexualTension: This pretty much defined the first 18 years of the strip when it came to stories about Daisy Mae. Two years after they finally tied the knot, Capp tried to recreate the dynamic by introducing Abner's 15 and a half "y'ars" old brother Tiny, who was then endlessly pursued by Hopeful Mudd and Boyless Bailey.

During the strip's run, it was adapted into two films, a Broadway musical (which served as the basis for the second film), a radio serial that ran from 1939 to 1940 and five short animated films made by ColumbiaCartoons in [[TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation 1944]]. While the series itself never became a television show (despite an unsold pilot airing just once on NBC in 1967), ''Fearless Fosdick,'' a ruthless parody of ''ComicStrip/DickTracy'', briefly spun-off into his own 13-episode puppet show that was swiftly canceled, while the Shmoo appeared in two Saturday Morning Cartoon series for Hanna-Barbera in 1979 and again in 1980-1984 (both times sharing billing with [[TheFlintstones Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble]]). A theme park, Dogpatch, USA, opened in 1968, though it was largely unsuccessful for most of its life and closed in 1993 ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogpatch_USA though most it is still standing]]).

While far more obscure in the decades since its ending, the strip left a legacy at extreme ends of the pop-culture spectrum by introducing both Sadie Hawkins and Julie Newmar to the world, as well as endless productions of the musical in high schools around the United States. It is also credited with introducing several colloquialisms into the English language, including "schmooze", "irregardless", "druthers", and even the word "schmoo" has entered into at least four separate fields of science.

** A quick summary: Schmoos were a species discovered by Li'l Abner in the Valley of the Schmoon. They loved humans unconditionally, had a phenomenal rate of reproduction, and provided humanity with everything they needed for subsistence. They gave milk, laid eggs (even hard-boiled eggs upon request), and acted as pets and beasts of burden. A human could cause a Schmoo to commit Schmooicide just by looking at it hungrily, at which point its skin could be cut thin for cloth, thick for leather, boiled to harden into a timber substitute; its eyes used for buttons, its whiskers for toothpicks: also, of course, its flesh was delicious in a different way, depending on how you cooked it. As soon as this miracle animal became known to the outside world, [[AcceptableTarget American big businessmen]] attempted to wipe them out, since a solution to world hunger and suffering would have destroyed their profits.

* ChasteHero: Abner

* YourHeartsDesire: The schmoos.

* Anvilicious: Sometimes the strip went for straight jokes and pratfalls. Whenever it got political, though...

* HelloNurse: Stupefyin' Jones

* CrapsackWorld: Lower Slobbovia. Dogpatch iteslf is only slightly better.

During the strip's run, it was adapted into two films, a Broadway musical (which served as the basis for the second film), a radio serial that ran from 1939 to 1940 and five short animated films made by ColumbiaCartoons in [[TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation 1944]]. While the series itself never became a television show (despite an unsold pilot airing just once on NBC in 1967), ''Fearless Fosdick,'' a ruthless parody of ''DickTracy'', briefly spun-off into his own 13-episode puppet show that was swiftly canceled, while the Shmoo appeared in two Saturday Morning Cartoon series for Hanna-Barbera in 1979 and again in 1980-1984 (both times sharing billing with [[TheFlintstones Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble]]). A theme park, Dogpatch, USA, opened in 1968, though it was largely unsuccessful for most of its life and closed in 1993 ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogpatch_USA though most it is still standing]]).

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: All celebrity parodies had their names changed, mainly so Capp could use them whenever he wanted. One of the more notorious was ''Fearless Fosdick'' author Lester Gooch, a parody of ''DickTracy'' author Chester Gould. Gooch was frequently portrayed as mentally deranged, and only capable of writing well when he ''was'' insane.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Even Al Capp openly wondered how he got Appassionata Von Climax past the censors. Not only did she appear in the strip as one of the many sexually aggressive femme fatales pursuing Abner, but also as a villain in the musical... meaning her name snuck past the Hayes Code as well.

* OurFounder: Confederate General Jubilation T. Cornpone, who in the musical even gets his own song about his "great" deeds in the AmericanCivilWar. He was, in fact, such a horrible general that at least according to the musical, AbrahamLincoln credited him with single-handedly helping the Confederacy ''lose'' the war.

* OurFounder: Confederate General Jubilation T. Cornpone, who in the musical even gets his own song about his "great" deeds in the Civil War. He was, in fact, such a horrible general that at least according to the musical, Abraham Lincoln credited him with single-handedly helping the Confederacy ''lose'' the war.