Trivia / Ernest Goes to Jail

• Acting for Two: Jim Varney plays both Ernest P. Worrell and Felix Nash.
• Deleted Scene: Many scenes were cut for unknown reasons, but were inserted back in for the television broadcast.
  • Ernest's conjugal visit. Ernest gets taken to a lushly-decorated room with a silhouette saxophone player and a beautiful woman, who says "It's been a long time...". After this, a horrified Ernest gets dragged offscreen as the officers outside quip that things are getting wild. We then see a dazed, yet pleased Ernest being dragged out with kiss-marks all over his face, clothes ragged and hat half-cocked.
  Ernest: (drunkenly) Let's hear it for the criminal justice system... (passes out)
  • Ernest lamenting to Lyle about how much of a screw-up he is, comparing his job to school and his boss, Mr. Pendlesmythe, to a principal. He also wishes that he had another chance to prove himself, but knows he doesn't.
  • Ernest in the death row cell. After telling a guard he can't finish his last meal, the guard comments that it must be the heat from "the chair" getting to him. Poor, poor Ernest.
  • Warden Carmichael and his men checking Ernest's house after he escapes the prison.
  • Chuck confessing to Charlotte to accidentally getting Bobby's childhood cat sick on Halloween candy during the final battle between Ernest and Nash.
  • Additional attempts by Ernest to escape from prison.
  • The original ending. Chuck and Bobby install computers in the bank to adapt to newer technologies, and Ernest finally becomes a bank teller. He does, however, retain the magnetism, and gets chased off by some filing cabinets after getting shocked by his computer.
• Follow the Leader: Disney wanted a prison-themed Ernest film solely to capitalize on the hyped release of Lock Up the previous year, which they thought would be a massive hit. Not only did Lock Up underwhelm at the box office, but Ernest Goes To Jail went on to have a larger gross.
• What Could Have Been: At the end of the movie, Ernest was supposed to hook up with Charlotte, and she was going to be his recurring girlfriend from then on. Disney vetoed the idea.

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