With the overwhelming success of Ernest Goes to Camp in 1987, Ernest-mania was in full force. The lovable southern bumpkin, a familiar face in numerous television commercials in the 80s, had finally reached the big screen and now it was time for a stint on television in Hey Vern, It s Ernest! Jim Varney who created the Ernest P. Worrell character starred in this imaginative Saturday morning kid s program composed of a series of live-action comedy sketches. Each show follows a particular weekly theme such as outer space; hobbies, scary things or magic. Hey Vern, It s Ernest! has been compared to other live-action kids comedy series such as You Can t Do That On Television and Pee-Wee s Playhouse!