Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam
part of Ernest

Ernest P. Worrell, is working as a maintenance man at a summer camp and hoping to become a counselor. Ernest gets his chance when he is assigned a small group of juvenile delinquents. At first, the boys torment Ernest, playing practical jokes and mocking his efforts to get them interested in the outdoors. Their efforts are also met by resistance from other, more affluent campers. Meanwhile, an evil mining corporation run by the ruthless Sherman Krader has its sights on the summer camp, a site rich with the fictional mineral petrocite. However, Chief St. Cloud, the camp owner, refuses to sell. Krader manipulates the naive Ernest, one of the few people who speaks the chief's language, into convincing St. Cloud to sign away the land, believing it to be a conservation petition. Ernest decides to fix the situation by storming into the construction site and picking a fight with the foreman. Ernest is savagely beaten; however, he begins to gain the respect of his campers after the camp's doctor points out that Ernest is the only person who has defended them. Recruiting the campers, Ernest plans a full-scale assault as the construction company begins to demolish the camp.

Ernest Saves Christmas is the third film to feature the character Ernest P. Worrell, and chronicles Ernest's attempt to find a replacement for an aging Santa Claus

Ernest is spotted in a jury by a man on trial who notices that he is the spitting-image of death-row inmate Felix Nash, who is the prison "boss". He convinces the jury to tour the prison, where Ernest is kidnapped and forced to swap roles with Nash. He has various misadventures in prison (especially when trying to escape) until he is sent to the electric chair by the prison warden. The electrocution fails, and he is transformed into a type of superhuman, with the ability to shoot lightning bolts from his hands, which shock various other jail members. Ernest escapes from the prison and makes his way home, only to discover that his Pee-Wee Herman-like décor has been replaced by a slick lounge lizard style of decorating. Ernest then goes to the bank where he works as a janitor at night, only to find that Nash has assumed his identity and is in the process of robbing the bank. He uses his super powers to fly through the skylight of the bank with a bomb that Nash had attached to the vault and two bank employees, which leads to a spectacular mid-air explosion. Everyone assumes that Ernest has been killed, until he falls through the skylight and lands on Nash.

Ernest accidentally unleashes an army of trolls upon a small town on Halloween.

In this movie, Ernest and a history professor discover a long-lost Revolutionary War cannon and must protect it from others who want the precious jewels hidden inside.

Ernest takes a job with a cleaning service, and soon seeks to join his co-workers' basketball team, "Clean Sweep", as they compete in the city league tournament. He is reluctantly accepted by the team, but given only a minor role as their cheerleader and mascot. In his despair, he is visited by an angel, played by basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and given a pair of magic shoes. When an injury to a key player leaves the team desperate for a replacement, Ernest is given an opportunity to play. In the process, he discovers that the supernatural shoes have imbued him with super-speed and the ability to fly. Armed with these extraordinary abilities, he leads the team to a series of victories leading ultimately to a showdown with the NBA's Charlotte Hornets. As the city league tournament champions, Clean Sweep earns the right to play an exhibition contest against the Hornets, but suffers turmoil as Ernest's team-mates soon grow weary of his ball-hogging antics.

In the movie, Ernest unknowingly comes into the possession of some stolen jewels, and is kidnapped and brought to Africa where he must rescue the woman he loves.

Ernest is working as a golf ball collector at a golf course, but fantasizes about being a war hero. A friend tells him that if he joins the Army, he will get to drive large vehicles and never have to go into actual combat. Ernest signs up, but is deployed to the fictional country of Karifistan, where his unit has to save the country from being invaded by an evil dictator.