April 1, 2025
Ernest Goes to School
When Chickasaw Falls High School’s (CFHS) faculty comes under scrutiny, maintenance worker Ernest P. Worrell (Jim Varney) is forced to return to high school to obtain his diploma or be fired.
For Ernest, a klutzy adult with a low IQ, having to return to school and earn a diploma is a recipe for disaster. Navigating high school at a time when it is still good to be bad, he falls victim to the school bullies and mistreatment by cruel faculty members. Happily, he has some friends in the school who take notice of those difficult situations and want to help him. Two of those friends, science teachers who have been developing an intelligence-enriching device, offer Ernest an opportunity to increase his knowledge, enabling him to pass his classes and earn a diploma. Ernest accepts, and after each session, he is less ignorant, less clumsy, and, unfortunately, less likable.
While attending CFHS as a student, Ernest develops romantic feelings for his music teacher, who makes him the drum major of the marching band. With his newfound knowledge, he trains and teaches the band to follow his lead toward the best football half-time show to ever be performed at CFHS. Meanwhile, the school’s bullies vandalize the mind machine, causing Ernest’s cognitive abilities to return to normal. This forces him to lead the marching band and finish his quest for a high school diploma on his own merit.
In true Ernest fashion, he finds himself an underdog in a failing fight to succeed and prove himself a worthy recipient of kindness, respect, and love. With the help of real friends and some hard work, Ernest studies hard and passes his classes without the mind machine, truly earning the credit and praise he so often craves.