Based on the comic strip Li'l Abner by Al Capp, the show is, on the surface, a broad spoof of hillbillies, but it is also a pointed satire on other topics, ranging from American politics and incompetence in the United States federal government to propriety and gender roles.

[1] Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were named as potential producers, though reports did not state whether they intended to write the score.

[1] However, this version never materialized, and over the next several years, various authors and composers sought to musicalize Li'l Abner, including writers Arnold Horwitt and Josh Logan.

[4] The familiar comic strip characters were to be retained but Li'l Abner and his longtime sweetheart Daisy Mae would not yet be married in the musical.

[4] Hollywood star Van Johnson expressed interest in the title role, saying he would dye his hair black to match the comic strip character; he had not appeared on Broadway since the 1940 production of Pal Joey.

[6] Although work was supposed to continue on the Lane–Lerner Li'l Abner, this version never appeared, and My Fair Lady, Lerner and Loewe's adaptation of Pygmalion, opened in 1956, becoming the hit musical of the decade.

[11][12] However, the producers eventually chose unknown singer Peter Palmer, who had been serving in an army entertainment unit; Panama and Frank saw him perform on a segment of The Ed Sullivan Show featuring talented American soldiers.

The producers knew that they wanted soprano Edie Adams, who had given a star-making performance as Eileen in the 1953 musical Wonderful Town.

Adams asked director George Abbott, who had directed her in Wonderful Town, which show she should choose, and he advised her to take Daisy Mae, which she subsequently did.

As usual, sweet, curvaceous Daisy Mae Scragg is pursuing Li'l Abner Yokum who, despite being a strapping, handsome young man, isn't interested in girls or employment.

Abner also agrees to go to Washington, accompanied by Marryin' Sam, to allow Dr. Finsdale and the government to test the tonic on the scrawny men of Dogpatch.

He hatches a dastardly scheme in which his girlfriend, femme fatale Appassionata Von Climax, will catch Abner on Sadie Hawkins Day.

In Washington, Dr. Finsdale and the scientists testing Yokumberry Tonic dream of a time when life will be totally controlled by science ("Oh Happy Day").

In Dogpatch, Daisy Mae concludes that the reason she couldn't win Abner is that she, at age seventeen, is too old and no longer beautiful, and Marryin' Sam joins her lament ("I'm Past My Prime").

The film was shot to resemble a stage set, with the buildings and surroundings in two-dimensions, giving the sense of a "proscenium dividing audience and performer".

[25] The 1956 original Broadway production opened to great praise for Michael Kidd's choreography, and the score was generally well received.

He also praised the score, stating, "Every time ... the orchestra strikes up for one of Johnny Mercer's and Gene de Paul's salutes to comic-strip fury, the beat is driving, the voices are clamoring.

[27] John Chapman of the Daily News found Li'l Abner very enjoyable, stating, "I decided I was going to like it all very much soon after the curtain rose and this fetching little Edith Adams sidled up to this big hunk, Peter Palmer, and said, shyly, 'Abner, I brought you some worms.'

... Mr. Kidd has caught the spirit of Dogpatch civilization brilliantly enough to suggest that ballet is a more suitable medium than words for animating Al Capp's cartoon drawings".

[26] Tom Donnelly of the New York World-Telegram & Sun thought that the production had not retained the spirit of the comic strip, stating, "Those aren't real Dogpatch people stompin' and whompin' and cavortin' across that stage.

[27][28] He also thought that too much of the libretto was spent explaining the Dogpatch milieu, which Donnelly assumed would be familiar to most audience members since Li'l Abner was at that time a very popular comic strip.

series] is in evidence here: a fresh faced, multitalented cast; imaginative staging from the director, Christopher Ashley; careful attention ... to recreating the original orchestrations; stylish playing from the band, and wonderfully kinetic choreography".

[30] However, Tommasini thought the show itself was flawed, pronouncing the book "dated-on-arrival" and saying, "Even in 1956 it must have been hard to find much satirical humor in [the plot].

[31] In The New York Times review of the 2006 Goodspeed production, Anita Gates generally approved of the new topical references added to the show, noting that "Scott Schwartz's colorful new production at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam has updated some of the political references, but the show's message – typified by the gullible Dogpatchers' song "The Country's in the Very Best of Hands" – remains the same".

[32] Gates stated that "the musical is cartoonish by definition and hardly one of Broadway's great treasures, but the show grows on you", opining that "most of the Johnny Mercer–Gene de Paul songs are forgettable, but "Namely Me" ... stands out".

[32] Frank Rizzo of Variety was more critical of the production, declaring, "even cartoon characters with a diminishing fan base should be shown some respect.

This production, helmed with ever-increasing doses of exaggeration by Scott Schwartz, pushes the idiot quotient to new levels and overwhelms the piece's playful political commentary".