''Knowhutimean? Hey Vern, It's My Family Album'' is an anthology of comedic

short subject A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film or ...

s directed by

John R. Cherry III John Robert Cherry III (October 11, 1948 – May 8, 2022) was an American film director and screenwriter, most notable for creating the character of Ernest P. Worrell, played by Jim Varney. Career A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Cherry atte ...

, and released direct-to-video in 1985. It was filmed in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. As a whole, it is the first film to feature the advertising character

Ernest P. Worrell Ernest P. Worrell is a fictional character that was portrayed by American actor Jim Varney in a series of television commercials and then later in a television series (''Hey Vern, It's Ernest!'') and a series of feature films. Ernest—creat ...

, played by

Jim Varney James Albert Varney Jr. (June 15, 1949 – February 10, 2000) was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his comedic role as Ernest P. Worrell, for which he won an Emmy Award, as well as appearing in films and numerous televis ...

(who also portrays numerous other characters throughout the picture).

Synopsis

The film is set up as a series of sketches featuring Jim Varney's various characters, some of which he introduced in his

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

routines: Corporal Davy, the frontiersman; Lieutenant Ace, the fighter pilot; Uncle Lloyd, the mean-spirited mountain man; Cousin Billy, the jive-talking carny; Rhetch, a reckless riverboat gambler; and Ernest's "Pa."

's appearances serve as a

framing device A frame story (also known as a frame tale, frame narrative, sandwich narrative, or intercalation) is a literary technique that serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, where an introductory or main narrative sets the stage either fo ...

, with the characters introduced as his relatives and the ever-insistent Ernest trying to tell the unwilling-as-usual Vern about the characters.

Home media

This comedy short anthology had its first DVD release from Mill Creek Entertainment on October 31, 2006 as part of the DVD box sets Maximum Ernest and Essential Ernest Collection along with ''"Your World As I See It"''.

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...

re-released it on June 5, 2012 as part of Ernest's Wacky Adventures: Volume 2 and on January 12, 2016 along with ''"Your World As I See It"'' as part of Ultimate Ernest Collection.

References

External links

* 1983 films American anthology films 1983 comedy films Films directed by John R. Cherry III American comedy films Ernest P. Worrell films Films shot in Tennessee 1980s English-language films 1980s American films {{1980s-US-film-stub