Lucky Bob
03-11-2002, 08:38 AM
The late Jim Varney, best known for his screwball character "Ernest" in TV and film was the host of this short-lived (13 episodes) Saturday morning series in 1988.
Hot on the heels of Varney's "Ernest Goes to Camp", the premise of "Hey Vern" was easy to get. It could have been named "The Jim Varney Variety Show." It involved Ernest getting into some stupid situation (losing a dog in a magic box, trying to win a contest, making a movie, etc.) and he made everything work out by the end of the show.
In between Ernest's segments on the program were performances by old friends, such as the "Naive, Semi-Mad Dr. Otto," "Sergeant Glory," and "Chuck & Bobby." However, other frequently forgotten characters such as "Existo the Magician", "George's Roomate," and the bungling "Earl the Barber" madefor some pretty good humor for those "in-between" times.
Nowadays, the series isn't very acclaimed, as was the case with most of Varney's work. However, one cannot ignore what he has done for comedy itself. What Jim Carrey does today, Ernest was doing in the late '80s to early 90's. And it didn't go unnoticed, for Jim Varney won an Emmy for this show, even though it only lasted a short while.
Although we may look back on this program now and wonder with the critics how we ever sat through one episode of this show, there's no denying that what made it great was the simple oddball humor that we hardly ever find in modern Saturday morning shows.
Best quotes from the show:
Earl the Barber: (handing Ernest a mirror) So, what do you think?
Ernest: AHHH! Earl, I said for you to make me look like a Wall Street tycoon!
Earl: Oh! I thought you said "A hot-air balloon!" But, what do you think?
Ernest: It could work.....
Lonnie Don: Hey kids! Say, did you hear that? Boy, *I* sure did!
Hot on the heels of Varney's "Ernest Goes to Camp", the premise of "Hey Vern" was easy to get. It could have been named "The Jim Varney Variety Show." It involved Ernest getting into some stupid situation (losing a dog in a magic box, trying to win a contest, making a movie, etc.) and he made everything work out by the end of the show.
In between Ernest's segments on the program were performances by old friends, such as the "Naive, Semi-Mad Dr. Otto," "Sergeant Glory," and "Chuck & Bobby." However, other frequently forgotten characters such as "Existo the Magician", "George's Roomate," and the bungling "Earl the Barber" madefor some pretty good humor for those "in-between" times.
Nowadays, the series isn't very acclaimed, as was the case with most of Varney's work. However, one cannot ignore what he has done for comedy itself. What Jim Carrey does today, Ernest was doing in the late '80s to early 90's. And it didn't go unnoticed, for Jim Varney won an Emmy for this show, even though it only lasted a short while.
Although we may look back on this program now and wonder with the critics how we ever sat through one episode of this show, there's no denying that what made it great was the simple oddball humor that we hardly ever find in modern Saturday morning shows.
Best quotes from the show:
Earl the Barber: (handing Ernest a mirror) So, what do you think?
Ernest: AHHH! Earl, I said for you to make me look like a Wall Street tycoon!
Earl: Oh! I thought you said "A hot-air balloon!" But, what do you think?
Ernest: It could work.....
Lonnie Don: Hey kids! Say, did you hear that? Boy, *I* sure did!