May 01 11
How Did The Ernest P. Worrell Character Develop?
Ernest P. Worrell is best known today for his numerous feature films starring the lovable and well meaning, yet painfully ignorant and slow Ernest. Ernest, however, got his start doing local television commercials down south. Initially, Ernest was invented by classically trained actor Jim Varney to be “everyone’s annoying neighbor.” The point of Ernest was to be that neighbor who is always bugging everyone about the latest deals and new products. The commercials were always Ernest addressing the camera, calling it Vern, and relentlessly pressing him on new products and sales.
After a few years, Ernest’s popularity sky rocketed, and in the mid eighties, Ernest was given a his own Saturday morning television show called “Hey, Vern! It’s me, Ernest!” The show was aimed at youthful audiences and consisted largely of sketch comedy. Vern was also back to take more of Ernest’s badgering.
After another couple of years, the decision was made to put the Ernest character into a feature film. Ernest Goes to Camp featured the lovable goof as a camp councilor working with troubled youth and winning them over to help save the camp from real estate developers. The success of the film kick started Ernest’s film career and the rest is history.