Children's programming doesn't get any better than this. I grew up with Ernest P. Worrell. "Hey, Vern! It's Ernest" was an excellent show and is still better than the children's programming they air today. As the song goes: "It's Ernest P. Worrell with a story and a moral." The entire song is catchy and I find myself singing along with it when I pop in the DVD. Having won 2 Emmy's(one going to Jim Varney), I cannot see why the show only had 13 episodes(what's up with that, CBS?) I wanted more. There was lovable Ernest, of course, Dust Bunny, Lonnie Don, Sgt. Glory, bitter old Auntie Nelda, Existo the magician, Earl the Barber, Willie the Homemade Robot, Mrs. Simon Simmons, Vern(who we never see, but is addressed in every episode), Chuck and Bobby, the crazy Dr. Otto, My Father, The Clown, Bill and Coo, Ernest's Tongue, Mac and George, and an assortment of other characters. Each story had a moral message to it and wasn't preachy about it and it didn't feel like you were being lectured to but treated as an equal. When I was a kid, I really gravitated toward that. Ernest was a playmate that never aged. This is great for the kids but there is plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor for the adults. I was 12 when this came out and even though I'm an adult, I still enjoy the series and find myself feeling like a kid again. This gets a perfect rating from me. Amongst all the filth that Hollywood creates, Jim kept 'Ernest' clean, honest, down to earth, he was never vulgar or laced his shows with any sexual content whatsoever. I can't say that about children's programming today. "Jim, you made us laugh until we cried. You will always be my hero. And what you did as 'Ernest P. Worrell', no one will ever be able to duplicate." R.I.P. 1949-2000.
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