HEY VERN, IT’S ERNEST!
(CBS, September 17-December 24, 1988)
Emshell Producers Group, DiC Entertainment, L.P.
MAIN CAST:
Jim Varney – Ernest P. Worrell, Auntie Nelda, Dr. Otto, Sergeant
Glory, Baby Ernest, Astor Clement
Gailard Sartain – Chuck, Lonnie Don, Matt Finish
Bruce Arntson – Existo the Magician, Mike the Clown, Bill, singers
Mac Bennett – Mac
Daniel Butler – Willie the Homemade Robot, Earl the Barber, Ernest’s
Tongue
Bill Byrge – Bobby
Debi Derryberry – Skeeter, various
Mark Goldman – Eddie, various
Denice Hicks – Mrs. Clown, singer
Jackie Welch – Mrs. Simon Simmons, Coo, singer
Hey, Vern, it’s Jim
Varney as Ernest P. Worrell: the fictional character created by Nashville
advertising agency Carden and Cherry for use in various local television ads.
First appearing in 1980 in an ad for the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders appearing at Beech Bend Amusement Park, the ads were shot
using a handheld camera in the home of producers John Cherry and Jerry Carden,
and later Varney’s. They were structured in a way that the viewers would take
the place of Ernest’s unseen neighbor, Vern, as Ernest would talk to Vern about
something before eventually working his way around to a favorable review of the
product he was advertising. Vern, portrayed by the camera, would always
indicate his annoyance towards Ernest and his antics by doing things such as
slamming the door in Ernest’s face or shaking his head “no” in response to
Ernest asking him to do something with him. Ernest, however, was perpetually
oblivious to Vern’s dislike of him as Ernest regarded Vern as his closest friend.
After the initial ads
garnered enough popularity to bring in additional clients, Ernest began
appearing in not only local ads for areas outside of Tennessee, but also in
national spots for Coca-Cola products, Mello Yello, Chex Cereal and Taco John’s.
Varney would sometimes have to shoot 25 different versions of a spot in a
single day. Additional members of the Worrell family, all portrayed by Varney,
began to be worked into the spots to add additional variety and flavor to the
Ernest brand.
With his popularity
at an all-time high and his catchphrase “KnoWhutIMean?” entering the American
lexicon, Carden and Cherry expanded the brand into movies with Knowhutimean? Hey Vern, It’s My Family Album
in 1983, Dr. Otto and the Riddle ofthe Golden Beam in 1986 and ErnestGoes to Camp in 1987. The movies, though not critically well-received, were
produced on small budgets and became financial successes as a result. The
following year, Ernest was given his own Saturday morning TV show.
Produced by Cherry’s production company, The Emshell Producer’s Group, in association with CBS and distributed by DiC Entertainment,
the show ran for a single season of 13 episodes. Each episode would feature unrelated
short sketches based around a central theme or scenario that Ernest would set
up:
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"I thought you said a ty-PHOON." |
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"I thought you said 'a clock at NOON'." |
"A giant macaROON? You know, it could work." |
-Haircut: Ernest would go to get a haircut and ask
Earl (Daniel Butler) to make him look like a “Wall Street tycoon” (y’know,
before Wall Street became the den of all evil), but Earl would always mishear
him and render his hair into another form that rhymed with “tycoon.” After the initial shock to the outlandish hairstyle, Ernest would remark “It
could work.”
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Down in the mouth. |
-Ernest’s Tongue: Butler, in a tongue costume on a
mouth set, would play Ernest’s tongue as it was exposed to several kinds of
food.
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Talk about a second childhood... |
-Baby Ernest: Varney would portray his younger self
with his head through a hole in a crib with an attached doll baby body and give
a baby’s interpretation of something his parents had said or done.
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Atten-SHUN! |
-Sergeant Glory: a drill-sergeant character that
appeared shortly before Ernest in a Purity milk spot, Glory (Varney) taught a
class of recruits about the theme of the day and gave them two rules to
remember, the second always being “Obey all rules.”
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The last person who messed with Auntie. |
-Auntie Nelda: Ernest’s aunt (also Varney) who offers
her unabashed opinion on anything.
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A chip off the ol' (wooden) blockhead. |
-Woody: Ernest’s ventriloquist dummy that resembled
him.
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This is what happens when you don't clean hidden areas, kids. |
-Dust Bunny: a dusty bunny puppet that would enter
and leave a scene by sneezing and dropped by to talk to Ernest for a bit.
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Dr. Otto and his creepy third hand on his head. |
-Dr. Otto: the evil mad scientist (Varney) from Dr. Otto who was always creating some
sinister invention in his lab.
Sound effects so easy, your baby sibling could do it. |
-Lonnie Don’s School of Hollywood Sound Effects: Lonnie
(Gailard Sartain), a sound effects wizard, demonstrated how to make a sound he
used from one of his fictional movies. The procedures, and sounds, were always
the same: cupping the mouth with a hand and blowing a raspberry.
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Smile for the camera! |
-Matt Finish: A play on “matte finish,” a type of
non-glossy photo paper, “photographer at large” Matt (Sartain) loved taking
pictures of everything.
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Mind your manners. |
-Mrs. Simon Simmons’ Mind Your Manners: A parody of
Emily Post, Mrs. Simmons (Jackie Welch) would give an etiquette lesson that
would often end up with her abandoning protocol.
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The family that pies together stays together. |
-My Father the Clown: a spoof of family-friendly
sitcoms that focused on the life of professional clown Mike (Bruce Arntson),
his stay-at-home wife (Denice Hicks), and their two sons, aspiring clown Skeeter
(Debi Derryberry) and ordinary boy Eddie (Mark Goldman). Eddie was often the
victim of Mike and Skeeter’s clown pranks.
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Pick a card, any card. |
-Existo the Magician: Existo (Arntson) was a clumsy
magician that couldn’t even perform the simplest of tricks correctly.
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He's a pinball lizard (pun courtesy of the show, not your blogger). |
-Mac and George: Mac (Mac Bennett) talked about his
roommate George, an iguana, seemingly capable of doing many things humans could and better, such as playing piano or rocking a pinball machine.
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Bobby and Chuck keeping dry. |
-Chuck and Bobby: brothers Chuck (Sartain) and Bobby
(Bill Byrge) would always find themselves in madcap adventures. The characters
appeared in various Ernest films as well.
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"Have a nice day." |
-Willie the Robot: a homemade robot (Butler), also
from Dr. Otto, who was a robot trying to make it in a human's world.
Although the series
didn’t last, Varney did take home a Daytime Emmy Award for his performance. Ernest continued to appear in commercials, 8 more films, and even
received his own talking doll by Kenner in 1989. Gradually, the phenomenon that
was Ernest began to die down, resulting in his largely leaving the national
consciousness (outside of tributes and parodies) and returning to his regional
roots. Varney, however, grew to have a long and varied career in the movies.
After his death in 2000, Carden & Cherry had animation company face2face
create a CGI version of the character for new commercials in 2005. John C. Hudgens, an advertising and
broadcast producer from Little Rock, Arkansas, provided the voice for the
character after having played an Ernest-like character in several regional
commercials.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“Hey Vern, It’s Outer Space” (9/17/88) – Ernest tries to get rid of a
bomb-like alien device.
“Hey Vern, It’s Clothing” (9/24/88) – Ernest can’t decide what to
dress up as for his costume party.
“Hey Vern, It’s Scary Things” (10/1/88) – Ernest searches for the
Boogeyman in Vern’s house on Halloween.
“Hey Vern, It’s Movies” (10/8/88) – Ernest enters a home movie
contest.
“Hey Vern, It’s Magic” (10/15/88) – Ernest makes Vern’s dog disappear
and can’t bring him back.
“Hey Vern, It’s Sports” (10/22/88) – Ernest challenges a pro wrestler
to a match.
“Hey Vern, It’s Pets” (10/29/88) – To get the money for a puppy,
Ernest opens up a pet daycare center in Vern’s house.
“Hey Vern, It’s Hobbies” (11/5/88) – Ernest helps Vern try to capture
a rare butterfly for his collection.
“Hey Vern, It’s Food” (11/12/88) – Ernest enters the town bake off.
“Hey Vern, It’s Holidays” (12/3/88) – Ernest sets the world record for
celebrating all the major holidays in one day.
“Hey Vern, It’s School” (12/10/88) – To get a flashy watch, Ernest
must finish his classes in school.
“Hey Vern, It’s Lost & Found” (12/17/88) – Ernest searches for
treasure under Vern’s house.
“Hey Vern, It’s Talent” (12/24/88) – Ernest enters a talent show.
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