In 3 episodes of I Love Lucy, Tennessee Ernie Ford appears as Lucy's country bumpkin cousin, Ernie. Where was this character from?

Seems the producers weren't too imaginative in coming up with the cousin character. They named him Ernie in honor of Tennessee Ernie Ford, and made him be from Tennessee in honor of...Tennessee Ernie Ford. On the show, the character refers to the Ricardos and the Mertzes as "cousin," based on the stereotype that everyone from hillbilly places called each other "cousin".

Asked by Tom Cohen · Last updated 5 years ago · 215.4K views