Ernest P. Worrell

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Ernest P. Worrell was a fictional character portrayed by American actor Jim Varney in a series of television commercials and later in a television series and a series of motion pictures.

Ernest was created for Varney to play by Nashville advertising agency Carden and Cherry which was bought by David Bohan of the Bohan Agency. It was renamed Bohan Carden and Cherry in 1997. Some speculate he may have been based on the earlier character Ernest T. Bass played by Howard Morris on the Andy Griffith Show. Ernest was used in various local campaigns and was never a spokesman for a truly national product or company, save for Sprite and Mello Yello (slogan "Make the Mello Yello Move"). The first commercial, filmed in 1980, was to advertise an appearance by the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders at Beech Bend Park, an amusement park located near Bowling Green, Kentucky. The format of the commercials seldom varied. The rubber-faced Ernest, was almost always dressed in a denim vest and baseball cap, appeared at the door of a seemingly-unwilling neighbor, Vern.

Contents

[edit] Vern

Main article: Vern

"Vern" was never seen or heard, and the spots were structured in such a way as for the viewer to fulfill that role, as Varney looked directly in the camera whenever Vern was addressed. Ernest's seemingly pointless conversation with Vern (which actually was less of a conversation, and more closely resembled soliloquy due to Vern never responding) inevitably rambled around to a favorable description of the sponsor's product, followed by his signature close, "KnoWhutImean?"

[edit] Character History

Ernest is an owner of a Jack Russel Terrier, Rimshot and a Pet turtle, Pokey.

The Ernest ads were shot with a handheld film camera at the Nashville-area home of producer John Cherry and Jerry Carden. As their number of clients increased, Varney sometimes did upwards of 25 different versions of a spot in a single day.

The commercials and the character created a sensation; children especially seemed to imitate Ernest and "KnoWhutImean?" became a catch phrase. Such popularity was bound to be exploited, and both a television series (called Hey Vern, It's Ernest!) and a series of theatrically-released motion pictures followed. The movies were not critically well-received, however they were produced on very low budgets and were quite profitable.

One film, Ernest the Pirate was in post-production at the time of Varney's death in 2000, which marked an unexpected end of the character. The film was never released.

In 2005, Ernest P. Worrell commercials hit the air again; however, this time, Ernest was a CGI cartoon created by an animation company called face2face. Ernest was voiced by John Hudgens, an advertising and broadcast producer from Little Rock, Arkansas. The spots are produced by Ernest originators Carden & Cherry. John Hudgens also played an Ernest type character in a live action ad for Glass Masters, an auto glass repair shop in Nashville, Tennessee. This is believed to be the only time he played the character on film, though his live action Ernest demos for Carden & Cherry are widely circulated on websites like Youtube.

Varney in his Ernest role also appeared in dozens of Cerritos Auto Square commercials for many years on Los Angeles area television stations. Mill Creek Entertainment released Essential Ernest Collection , Maximum Ernest, and Ultimate Ernest on DVD October 31, 2006. These sets contain Ernest Goes to Africa, Ernest in the Army, Your World As I See It, Hey Vern! It's My Family Album and his Greatest Hits Volume 1-2.

[edit] Family

Ernest has a large family made up of people with similar traits to him.

The Worrell Family:

  • 1. Aster Clement: A wealthy college professor, who likes to brag about his rich status and unusual intelligence. He is Ernest's uncle.
  • 2. Bunny: The slow-witted and confused sister of Ernest who runs her own quirky hair salon called "Bunny's Beauty World."
  • 3. Lloyd Worrell: Ernest's bitter great-grandfather who is known as the meanest man to ever live.
  • 4. Nelda: Ernest's dramatic great aunt and is not on good terms with her son Izzy. She often acts like the death of her husband Morris was a blessing. She tries to get men to notice her acting innocent all the time.
  • 5. Coy: Ernest's idiotic hillbilly brother who runs a sleazy autoparts store in the heart of the south. He often chases women and is quite proud of his tattoo collection on his body.
  • 6. Billy: Ernest's zany cousin who works on a ride at an amusement park called The Scrambler. He is talented in music and dancing, but still manages to scare people with his crass and unstable personality.
  • 7. Davy Worrell: Ernest's light-headed great, great- uncle who was a war veteran in the late 1800s. He helped his army win a battle against a Native American tribe. He is now deceased.
  • 8. Retch Worrell: Ernest's late great, great-grandfather who was popular with women. He was a heavy gambler and all of his ladies described him as incredibly stupid.
  • 9. Pa Worrell: Ernest's elderly father who is World War II veteran who has a politically incorrect view of the world. His first name is never revealed. He's an avid fisherman and is friends with an African savage named Queeswaii.

[edit] Ernest feature films

[edit] Parodies

Ernest has been parodied in numerous TV shows, including Beavis & Butt-head, The Simpsons and Family Guy.

[edit] External links

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Ernest P. Worrell series
Films
Television
Cast and crew
Ernest P. Worrell · Vern · Jim Varney
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