From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 & Cherry. 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. 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, dressed in a denim vest and baseball cap, appeared at the door of a seemingly-unwilling neighbor, 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 eventually rambled around to a favorable description of the sponsor's product, followed by his signature close, "KnowwhutImean?"

The Ernest ads were shot with a handheld film camera at the Nashville-area home of producer John Cherry. 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 "KnowwhutImean?" 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 the 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. An animation company called face2face is animating the commercials while Ernest is being voiced by John Hudgens, an advertising and broadcast producer from Little Rock, Arkansas. The spots are produced by Ernest originators Carden & Cherry.

in 2006, Carden & Cherry began offering new commercials with John Hudgens also stepping into the role of the live-action Ernest, samples of which can be viewed at the ErnestAds.com website.

• Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam (1986) - character only has a cameo role
• Ernest Goes to Camp (1987)
• Ernest Saves Christmas (1988)
• Ernest Goes to Jail (1990) (#1 Box Office movie its opening week end with $17 million in ticket sales)
• Ernest Scared Stupid (1991)
• Ernest Rides Again (1993)
• Ernest Goes to School (1994)
• Slam Dunk Ernest (1995)
• Ernest Goes to Africa (1997)
• Ernest in the Army (1998)

Ernest the Pirate was a planned film in the Ernest series, however, Jim Varney, died on February 10, 2000 of lung cancer before the film was completed. The production was permanently stopped because a replacement for Varney could not be found.

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

• IMDB.com biography of Jim Varney

Ernest P. Worrell series
Films	Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam | Ernest Goes to Camp | Ernest Saves Christmas | Ernest Goes to Jail | Ernest Scared Stupid Ernest Rides Again | Ernest Goes to School | Slam Dunk Ernest | Ernest Goes to Africa | Ernest in the Army
Television	Hey Vern, It's Ernest!
Other Topics	Ernest P. Worrell | Vern | Jim Varney