Hey Vern, It's Ernest!
| Hey Vern, It's Ernest! | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Family-oriented Comedy |
| Directed by | John R. Cherry III Coke Sams |
| Starring | Jim Varney Gailard Sartain Bruce Arntson Mac Bennett Daniel Butler Bill Byrge Debi Derryberry Mark Goldman Denice Hicks Jackie Welch |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | John R. Cherry III Andy Heyward Robby London |
| Producer(s) | Coke Sams Stacy Williams |
| Running time | 18-22 minutes (Not including commercials) |
| Production company(s) | Emshell Producers Group DIC Entertainment, L.P. |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Original run | September 17, 1988 – December 24, 1988 |
Hey Vern, It's Ernest! is a short lived American children's television program. It aired on Saturday mornings on CBS for one season in 1988. Each episode involved short sketches based around a certain theme or scenario (much like You Can't Do That on Television), featuring the popular fictional character Ernest P. Worrell (Jim Varney), his unseen friend Vern, and various others. The series was a production of Ernest creator John Cherry's production company, The Emshell Producers' Group, in association with CBS, and was distributed by DIC Entertainment. The series was later rerun on The Family Channel in the early 1990s.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| 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, various 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, various singers |
| Jackie Welch | Mrs. Simon Simmons, Coo, various singers |
Recurring sketches and characters
- Lonnie Don's School of Hollywood Sound Effects: A fictional sound effects wizard demonstrates how to make a sound from one of his movies. The procedure is always the same: he places his hand over his mouth and blows a raspberry.
- Haircut: Ernest walks into Earl the Barber's shop and asks him to make him look like a "Wall Street tycoon." However, the barber always misunderstands him, and instead fanatically styles his hair into something that rhymes with "tycoon" (e.g., a "baby baboon," a "clock set on noon," "large feet in a cartoon," a "deadbeat racoon", etc.) Whatever the hairstyle, Ernest stares thoughtfully at it in the mirror and says, "It could work."
- Sergeant Glory: Varney plays an aloof, fast-talking military Sergeant teaching a class of recruits about the subject of the day. He gives them two rules to remember, the second of which is almost always "Obey all rules." The character originated in an ad for Purity milk a short while before the character of Ernest was created. (In Hobbies, the rules were both "They seldom stand.")
- My Father the Clown: A spoof on family-friendly sitcoms which featured a professional clown, his stay-at-home wife, and two kids: an aspiring clown (Skeeter) and his straight-laced brother (Eddie).
- Existo the Magician: A clumsy magician who attempts to perform tricks that always go awry.
- Matt Finish: A self-described "photographer at large" who loves taking pictures of everything. His name is a pun on matte finish, a type of non-glossy photo paper.
- Mrs. Simon Simmons' Mind Your Manners: A parody of Emily Post, Mrs. Simon Simmons teaches the ways of proper etiquette to her TV audience.
- Ernest's Tongue: Ernest's tongue inside his mouth gets sprayed with different kinds of food.
- Mac and George: Mac and his "roommate" George, a lizard (Iguana) who can do many of the same things a person can.
- Chuck and Bobby: Chuck and his brother Bobby, who get into adventures like Ernest. The characters made appearances in the various Ernest films as well.
- Willie the Robot: A homemade robot with a bucket head and a '70s "Have a nice day" smiley face. Originally appeared in Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam.
- Baby Ernest: Ernest as a baby would talk about a situation involving his parents and end by saying "Boy, grownups sure talk funny. KnowhatImean?"
- Woody: A ventriloquist dummy who looks like Ernest.
- Dust Bunny: A dusty rabbit, named after dust bunnies, who appears to live under dusty furniture, and always gets in and out of the picture by sneezing.
- Dr. Otto: The main character from Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam would sometimes be featured in his lab creating new things. When he feels he has a great idea, he would sometimes exclaim "Viola!" ("Voila!") or "Eureka, California!" ("Eureka!")
- Bill and Coo: A country music duo who sing sad but funny songs. They only appeared in two episodes, Pets and School.
Episodes
| Nº | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Hey Vern, It's Outer Space" | September 17, 1988 |
| Ernest tries to get rid of a strange, bomb-like device that he thinks is an alien weapon. | ||
| 2 | "Hey Vern, It's Clothing" | September 24, 1988 |
| Ernest and Vern throw a costume party for their neighbors, but Ernest can't decide what to go as. | ||
| 3 | "Hey Vern, It's Scary Things" | October 1, 1988 |
| Ernest braves the dark corners of Vern's house in search of the Boogeyman on Halloween. | ||
| 4 | "Hey Vern, It's Movies" | October 8, 1988 |
| Ernest enters a home movie contest. | ||
| 5 | "Hey Vern, It's Magic" | October 15, 1988 |
| Ernest makes Vern's dog Shorty disappear... and can't bring him back! | ||
| 6 | "Hey Vern, It's Sports" | October 22, 1988 |
| "Ernest the Furnace" makes the mistake of challenging the pro wrestler "Chainsaw Chester" to a match. | ||
| 7 | "Hey Vern, It's Pets" | October 29, 1988 |
| Ernest opens a pet day care center in Vern's house in order to save up $100.00 for his own puppy. | ||
| 8 | "Hey Vern, It's Hobbies" | November 5, 1988 |
| Ernest tries to help Vern capture the rare Orange Honey-Woney butterfly for his collection. | ||
| 9 | "Hey Vern, It's Food" | November 12, 1988 |
| Ernest enters the town bake off with his own personal recipe. | ||
| 10 | "Hey Vern, It's Holidays" | December 3, 1988 |
| Ernest sets the world record for celebrating every major holiday of the year in one day. | ||
| 11 | "Hey Vern, It's School" | December 10, 1988 |
| Ernest tries to finish his classes in school in order to earn a flashy wrist watch. | ||
| 12 | "Hey Vern, It's Lost & Found" | December 17, 1988 |
| Ernest searches for a treasure that is buried under Vern's house. | ||
| 13 | "Hey Vern, It's Talent" | December 24, 1988 |
| Ernest enters the neighborhood talent show, but what is his hidden talent? | ||
Releases
Various episodes were released on home video—some on DIC Entertainment's own label—in the late 1980s-early 1990s.
DIC streamed several episodes for free viewing on their KEWL Cartoons website until KewlCartoons became Jaroo.
DVD Releases
Mill Creek Entertainment released a two disc DVD set containing the complete series on January 18, 2012.[1]
Awards
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series[2] | Jim Varney |
| Outstanding Achievement in Graphics and Title Design | Joel Anderson and Barbara Laszewski |
References
- ^ http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Hey-Vern-Ernest-The-Complete-Series/14719
- ^ Dubois, Stephanie (July 8, 1989). "Jim Varney Hopes Cards And Letters Keep Pouring In To Save Poor Ernest". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-10-06.
External links
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