Luke is the grizzled old proprietor of the general store located in the small community of Smackout Corners.
[3] In their exhaustive biography of Jim and Marian Jordan, historians Tom Price and Charles Stumpf describe the character of Luke; "His favorite pastimes were whittling and pitching horseshoes, which he would rather do than tend to the store.
Jim's larynx contained such personalities as Augie Pigmeyer, the German immigrant farmer, village idiot Perky McSnark; local conman Squire Lovejoy; and Luke's old crony, Mort Toops.
[5] The stars and only performers on the series were James Edward "Jim" Jordan (November 16, 1896–April 1, 1988) and Marian Irene Driscoll (April 15, 1898–April 7, 1961) who were both natives of Peoria, Illinois.
In that series, Jim played a farmer who was given to tall tales and face-saving lies for comic effect.
And it was while working on the WENR farm report, Jim Jordan heard a true story about a shopkeeper from Missouri whose store was brimming with stock, yet he claimed to be "smack out" of whatever a customer would ask him for.
[14] Quinn and Jordan decided to take their idea of Smackout to Chicago station WMAQ which had just recently became an affiliate of the National Broadcasting Company.
Ratings were so good that NBC decided to syndicate it nationally over its Blue Network beginning in April 1933.
[18] In 1933, Mrs. Henrietta Johnson Lewis (or Louis depending on certain sources) took an interest in Smackout and, more importantly, Quinn and the Jordans.
Lewis saw potential in the Jordans and decided to give them a show of their own entitled Fibber McGee and Molly with Quinn serving as head writer.
The start of Fibber McGee in April 1935 was the end of Smackout which broadcast its last episode on August 31, 1935.
Below is a list of all the main and supporting characters they portrayed during the course of the series; Jim Jordan: Marian Jordan: In addition to the litany of fictional characters, Jim and Marian also appeared as semi-fictional versions of themselves, portraying themselves as regulars at the store.
It was under their own identities that the duo often performed musical pieces, with Jim singing and Marian at the piano.