What Might've Been: L'il Abner (1966-7)

Al Capp's seminal backwoods comic strip, L'il Abner, had been adapted into a feature film some years back with Peter Palmer in the title role. In 1966, it was reimagined for television, with Sammy Jackson (ex-No Time For Sergeants) replacing Palmer. NBC burned it off by airing it in September 1967.

Unfortunately, the complete broadcast is unavailable, and only three excerpts, making up about half the show, are available on YouTube.

In this excerpt, Pappy Yokum (Jerry Lester) is trying to keep Abner from getting too intimate with Daisy Mae (Jeannine Riley, ex-Petticoat Junction):



Yes, that's Robert Reed (ex-The Defenders), three years before The Brady Bunch, as Senator Cod. Supposedly, Sherwood Schwartz, the mastermind behind Brady Bunch & Gilligan's Island, was connected to L'il Abner, but since we don't get to see the closing credits, we'll never know for sure.

No rating.

Update, 2/27/25: Now, we have the complete episode. Written by Al Capp, and produced by his production company in conjunction with United Artists.