Blondie (radio) to the strip, like the appearance of Dagwood's famous sandwiches - and the running gag of Dagwood colliding with the mailman amid a flurry of letters, (which preceded the title sequence in almost every film). The films were typical of family-fare situational comedies of the period, and are endearingly funny in a low-key way. As the series progressed, the Bumstead children grew from toddlers to young adults onscreen. Larry Simms as Baby Dumpling (later known as Alexander) reprised his role in all the films. Daughter Cookie was played by three different child actresses, beginning in 1942 with her first appearance
Li'l Abner on both salami and Salome. Parody characters include Hop-Eye De Sailor, a parody of Popeye the Sailor, Little Orphan Andy (Little Orphan Annie); Bagwood Bumphead (Dagwood Bumstead), Rip Derby (Rip Kirby), Manrank the Musician (Mandrake the Magician), Little Danny Rooney (Little Annie Rooney), Icky (Twiggy), and Goon Mullins (Moon Mullins). "Li'l Abner" also featured a comic strip-within-the-strip: "Fearless Fosdick" was a parody of Chester Gould's plainclothes detective, "Dick Tracy". It first appeared in 1942, and proved so popular that it ran intermittently in "Li'l Abner" over the next 35 years. Gould was also personally parodied in the series as cartoonist