Ernest Saves Christmas

There was a time in the 1980s when you could not escape the media empire of Ernest P. Worrell. Having risen from the obscurity of selling milk, cars, and aluminum siding on the Kentucky/Oklahoma airwaves, actor Jim Varney's dimwitted yet purehearted creation burst into the national spotlight with 1987's instant classic Ernest Goes to Camp, followed by the Saturday morning series Hey Vern, It's Ernest! Eventually the fickle American viewing public turned its back on Ernest as he continued to churn out obscure titles like Ernest Goes to School, Ernest Rides Again, and Ernest Goes to Africa. Before his star faded, however, he had one last hurrah with 1988's Ernest Saves Christmas.

In every Ernest movie (and this is an educated guess, since I've only seen 3 of the 9), Ernest has a job that he's terrible at. In Ernest Saves Christmas, he's a shitty cab driver who ends up in possession of both Santa's magic sack and a rebellious teen runaway named Harmony. Santa's in town to pick a successor, and his eye is on kindly local kids' show host Joe Carruthers. Unfortunately, Joe is also being courted by a sleazy Hollywood agent who wants him to star in a very kid-unfriendly horror movie called "Santa's Slay". Throughout the movie, Ernest and Harmony scramble to bust Santa out of jail, convince Joe to take the job, and get the reindeer and sled in the air on time - not to mention use Christmas Magic to make it snow in Orlando.

The movie features the usual callbacks to Ernest mythology, including the wacky duo of "Chuck & Bobby" and a visit to the perpetually put-upon "Vern". As far as Ernest goes, it's kind of ironic that an actor so adept at playing a wide array of characters managed to get typecast as one guy for the majority of his career, especially one whose schtick gets old really quick. The one saving grace of Ernest, though, is his childlike innocence and irrepressible enthusiasm - qualities that make him the perfect choice to save Christmas, a summer camp, or, presumably, Africa.