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I'm surprised people are
usually stunned when they learn that a commercial
spokesman or mascot is being turned in to a potential
video game, movie, or television series these days. Upon
learning the Cavemen from the popular Geico commercials
were being turned in to a television show, people were
genuinely shocked. Who can blame them for at least
trying for a television show? Sure, it's a god awful
idea (and the show's oh so brief run on television shows
it) but it's not unlike Hollywood to not pay attention
to interesting concepts and aim for some cash flow.
Subsequent the success of Pee Wee Herman, the late
eighties opened the doors for off the wall and wild
entertainment all led by someone completely wacky and
not afraid to take risks while entertaining children and
adults alike. "Pee Wee's Playhouse" was a bona fide
zeitgeist for children's programming that managed to
reach all audiences, and continues to be a cult fixture
since Pee Wee himself is a man whose unabashed
enthusiasm and absurd humor make him so beloved.
From there on we had over
the top but educational fare "Beakman's World," "Bill
Nye," and hell, even Weird Al Yankovic got in on the fun
for a little while. One of the bigger follow ups to the
Pee Wee Herman trail was Ernest P. Worrell, a
local television spokesman, who became a spokesman for
international products and soon enough transformed in to
his own franchise garnering movies, and even his own
short lived television series. As a child of the
nineties I fondly remember waking up every Saturday
morning to watch "Hey Vern!" on CBS kids to indulge in
Ernest P. Worrell's misadventures where he always gazed
directly in to the camera wide eyed and over the top,
like a living cartoon, and provided kids with the second
best alternative to animation. The late great Jim Varney
was a living moving cartoon, a man who could be about as
abundantly charismatic and slapstick as your normal
Looney Tunes cartoon, and even when he flopped, he was
always a man of incomparable charms and talents who keep
all eyes on him. |
| Mill Creek
Entertainment now offers the Complete Series of
"Hey Vern!" on DVD for all Ernest fans old and new,
in denial and true, who are anxious to indulge in
the four hour thirteen episode onslaught of loud and
raucous comedy bits that the whole family can watch
as Ernest takes part in some of his most favorite
and least favorite activities that almost always
have carnage and chaos right behind it. A large
portion of the comedy in "Hey Vern!" was carried
over in to his movies, save for his breaking of the
fourth wall and his conversations with his friend
Vern. In a heartbeat if Ernest wanted to have an
adventure, he'd surely have one, and with a rotating
array of recurring characters, "Hey Vern!" is a
stand out as one of the more entertaining follow-ups
to the Pee Wee Herman juggernaut that created its
own style while subtly taking from Pee Wee's
Playhouse and "You Can't Do That on TV." Some of the
funniest episodes are in the first disc where Ernest
reads a scary story to the audience and imitates the
boogeyman by rumbling his cheeks, a small gesture
that admittedly brought me to chuckles, and of
course there are Ernest's delving's in to the art of
magic that goes horribly awry, and his confrontation
with his favorite sports that end up with some
bruises along the way. Sure, it may not be high
brow, but "Hey Vern!" is a fun series set with
admittedly average picture quality, and no extras,
but at least you get to see Ernest show Vern all of
his favorite hobbies and having a damn good time
doing it, regardless of how much destruction
follows.
KnowhutImean? |
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