| abstract | - Ernie was a supporting character from the show's early days through Power Rangers Zeo. He was the owner of the Angel Grove Youth Center, the most popular hangout spot for teens in the area. Ernie was around to lend a helping hand or advice to various characters and was often annoyed by Bulk and Skull's antics in the show's first season. He was also a fan of the Power Rangers. Ernie was extremely popular with the Youth of Angel Grove hosting parties, school activities, special events and community charity events. He also showed tremendous trust to the Youth Center regulars often leaving teens in charge whilst he ran errands. Ernie is especially known for his hospitality, serving a variety of drinks and foods ranging from sandwiches to ice cream available for dine in or takeaway. In Life's A Masquerade, he even interacted with Alpha 5 briefly, however, he thought he was just a little boy in a robot costume and not a real robot. Ernie opened an outdoor cafe and a Hawaiian themed beach cafe in season three and Power Rangers Zeo, respectively. They only appeared in these seasons. Ernie departed the show to do volunteer work in South America between the Turbo movie and series, leaving the Youth Center to Jerome Stone. Jerome Stone's actual quote about Ernie's leaving, "Well, his foreign service unit recalled him and he had to suddenly leave. I don't know, something about building a bridge in the Amazon." (Ernie is the only minor character amongst the Angel Grove civilians to have his departure explained in this fashion; Caplan, Stone's and Appleby's departures from the show later in the same season are mysterious and unexplained.) He is also the only one of the original Angel Grove civilians to have 102 episodic appearances in the franchise while Caplan, Appleby, Phenomenus and Stone have significantly smaller amounts, 26 to 29 episodes maximum. Originally, it was to be revealed that Ernie knew of the Rangers' secret identities all along, but this plan was scrapped for unknown reasons. However, in Happy Birthday, Zack, he knew the term 'Dinozords' and in other episodes he is very supportive of the Rangers.
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