JOHN R. CHERRY III (ERNEST): DIRECTOR FOCUS & FILMOGRAPHY RANKING

It is time: I am going to watch every single Ernest movie entity ever made. I was going to do a larger "every Ernest movie + every JIM VARNEY MOVIE ever made" but that's too insane, even for me. My original goal was to watch these in fast succession around Xmas 2024 but after consuming the under-an-hour, first known appearance of the character, Knowhutimean? Hey Vern, It's My Family Album, I knew I didn't have the stomach for it. To consume that much Ernest in such a short amount of time is severly hazardous to one's mental health. Instead I will be embarking on a special weekly trek: SatERNESTdays 2025! Starting on February 1st and ending late spring/early summer, I'll be going through every single Ernest vehicle one at a time. This is still bonkers, but should prove to be much more palatable than a full-on Ernest binge watch (I'll also be rounding things out with the very few non-Ernest projects listed on Cherry's IMDb at the very end).

Director John R. Cherry III, the co-creator of all things Ernest is not nearly as well-known as the man behind Ernest P. Worrell, but his story and trajectory (from advertising to entertainment) is a fascinating one in its own right:

Ernest—created by Varney with the Nashville advertising agency Carden & Cherry— was used in various local television ad campaigns. The only national products the character promoted were The Coca-Cola Company's sodas, Chex cereals, and Taco John's. The first Ernest commercial, filmed in 1980, advertised an appearance by the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders at Beech Bend Park, an amusement park near Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The format of the Ernest commercials seldom varied, most often scripted to be comedic and fast-paced. The rubber-faced, Southern-accented Ernest, almost always dressed in a denim vest and a baseball cap, appeared at the door or window of an unseen, unheard, and seemingly unwilling neighbor named Vernon, or "Vern" for short. The spots were structured in a way to allow the viewer to be "Vern", as Varney looked directly into the camera whenever Ernest addressed Vern. Ernest's seemingly pointless conversations with Vern—which were actually a monologue due to Vern's never responding—inevitably rambled around to a favorable description of the sponsor's product, followed by Ernest's signature close, "KnowhutImean?"

While Vern never has any spoken lines, it is implied that he finds Ernest to be an unwelcome pest as evidenced by Vern's occasionally trying to slam his door or window in Ernest's face. Vern also shakes his head "No" (quick, short camera pans) whenever Ernest invites him to do something. Ernest, despite having good intentions, is utterly oblivious to Vern's apparent distress about Ernest and about Ernest's regarding Vern as his closest buddy and confidant.

To be honest, I am somewhat obsessed with the concept of "Vern" — the perpetually annoyed audience surrogate, especially when you consider that this whole outfit stemmed from the world of marketing. So it will be my task during this journey to unpack all things Ernest, an underrated archetype of late capitalism/pre-9/11 America: the lovable buffoon, the elastic-faced man behind the mask and the mysterious svengali controlling the camera...

ERNEST APPEARANCE #1
Knowhutimean? Hey Vern, It's My Family Album (1983): DTV comedy shorts anthology (57min) - SCORE 6/10

ERNEST APPEARANCE #2
Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam (1985): sci-fi comedy (92min) - SCORE 8/10

ERNEST APPEARANCE #2
The Ernest Film Festival (1985): collection of ~100 Ernest commercials (56min) - SCORE 6/10