Odd you should mention this. I hauled out a DVD of the Marx Bros film The Cocoanuts last night. About fifteen minutes in I was "Oh my god…I’m in 1929…Harpo is currently appearing on Broadway in Animal Crackers…I could be sitting in a movie theater next to George S. Kaufman, who’s holding his head in his hand and saying “Shit, they really fucked this up.”
And yes, Lil’ Abner is one of the great achievements of Western Civilization, next to Wagnerian Music Drama and frozen spanakopita.