I recently found that most (all?) episodes of Hey Vern It's Ernest have been uploaded on YouTube (interestingly, I remember searching for it earlier this year and didn't find anything, but when I found the episodes, I saw they were uploaded last year).
I only vaguely remember watching the show when it was originally on (the main thing I remember was Ernest's talking tongue, who I for some reason thought was a human face on the floor). It was interesting... It was kind of like Laugh-In, Sesame Street, and The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence. Seems like Ernest had his own plots, Chuck and Bobby had their own plot, and then several other skits were disconnected. Seems like most of the characters were disconnected from Ernest. I wonder if kids might have been confused by this format. I would have liked it if more of the show's characters interracted with Ernest every once in awhile (maybe they did and I just didn't see the episodes). I wouldn't have expected any of Jim Varney's characters to appear with Ernest, but the others could have.
There are some things that I think would have been discontinued if the show lasted another season, like Ernest's tongue and Earl the Barber (though I found his skits funny... If the series lasted longer and he continued maybe they could have changed the haircut Ernest always wanted). And I wonder what was up with the random scenes showing kids faces inside cardboard TVs (that makes it look like a preschool series a bit).
It's interesting how many of this show's actors appeared in the Ernest movies, in different roles. Until watching this I didn't realise that the judge from Ernest Goes to Jail and "animal patrol officer #1" from Ernest Saves Christmas were playe dby the same person, but instantly recognized Mrs. Simon Simmonds and Coo (of "Bill and Coo") as that actress, realising they were the same. And I knew that Daniel Butler was in the first four movies in different roles, but didn't realise he was on this series. Looking at the filmographies of some of the actors I found that a few more were in the movies.
Chuck and Bobby appeared in some of the movies, as did Autnie Nelda (in the form of Ernest in disguise), but it would have been great if they'd have found some way to work in the dust bunny, Woody, Earl the Barber, the guy with the iguana roomate (and the iguana, of course), and maybe Ernest's tongue. I don't think Bill and Coo or any of Gailard Sartain's characters besides Chuck would have worked well in the context of the movies.