"Ernest Goes to Camp" (1987) grossed $23.5 million at the U.S. box office, on a $3 million production budget, and stayed in the box-office top five for its first three weeks of release. Though Varney was nominated for the Razzie Award for Worst New Star, only one year later, he earned the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series for "Hey Vern, It's Ernest!" Subsequent theatrically released Ernest films include "Ernest Saves Christmas" (1988), "Ernest Goes to Jail" (1990), "Ernest Scared Stupid" (1991), and "Ernest Rides Again" (1993). After the financial failure of "Ernest Rides Again", all further films were released direct-to-video: "Ernest Goes to School" (1994) which had a brief theatrical run in Ohio, "Slam Dunk Ernest" (1995), "Ernest Goes to Africa" (1997), and "Ernest in the Army" (1998).