Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

Ron Burgundy is San Diego's top-rated newsman in the male-dominated broadcasting of the 1970s, but that's all about to change for Ron and his cronies when an ambitious woman is hired as a new anchor.

Director:

Adam McKay

Writers:

Will Ferrell, Adam McKay

Stars:

Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Steve Carell

1 win & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Will Ferrell	...	Ron Burgundy
Christina Applegate	...	Veronica Corningstone
Paul Rudd	...	Brian Fantana
Steve Carell	...	Brick Tamland
David Koechner	...	Champ Kind
Fred Willard	...	Ed Harken
Chris Parnell	...	Garth Holliday
Kathryn Hahn	...	Helen
Fred Armisen	...	Tino
Seth Rogen	...	Eager Cameraman
Paul F. Tompkins	...	MC
Danny Trejo	...	Bartender
Scot Robinson	...	Waiter at Tino's
Ian Roberts	...	Stage Manager
Darcy Donavan	...	Hot Blonde

Storyline

In 1970s San Diego, journalism was a well respected profession and people actually cared about what they saw on TV. And the top rated anchor man in the city is Ron Burgundy. He enjoys his run at the top, and has for the last five years. And his news team is equally as good as he is. Professional jock and former professional baseball player Champ Kind handles the sports, the curiously dim witted Brick Tamland - who's a few channels short of a cable subscription - handles the weather, and ladies' man Brian Fantana - whose collection of fine scents would be in the Guinness Book Of Records - handles the on-field reporting. But now all that is about to change forever. The TV station Burgundy works for, Channel 4, has embraced diversity and has hired a beautiful new female anchor named Veronica Corningstone. While Ron Burgundy and the rest of the Channel 4 news team enjoys fighting with competitors, drinking, and flirting with the ladies, Veronica quietly climbs her way to the top. And ...

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Plot Keywords:

erection visible through clothing | tv station | male objectification | erect penis | colleague colleague relationship | 

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Taglines:

His news is bigger than your news.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual humor, language and comic violence

Details

Official Sites:

DreamWorks

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Spanish

Release Date:

9 July 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Action Newsman

Filming Locations:

Dresden Room Restaurant - 1760 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$26,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$28,416,365, 11 July 2004, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$85,288,303

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$90,574,188

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks,Apatow Productions,Herzog-Cowen Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min 97 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ron's dog is named after Ted Baxter (Ted Knight), WJM news anchor of Mary Tyler Moore (1970).

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Goofs

Slot machine in the news directors office was a type used after the time frame of the film. It is a Double Diamond made by IGT and introduced in 1989.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Bill Lawson: [narration] There was a time, a time before cable. When the local anchorman reigned supreme. When people believed everything they heard on TV. This was an age when only men were allowed to read the news. And in San Diego, one anchorman was more man then the rest. His name was Ron Burgundy. He was like a god walking amongst mere mortals. He had a voice that could make a wolverine purr and suits so fine they made Sinatra look like a hobo. In other words, Ron Burgundy was the balls.

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Crazy Credits

The end credits feature outtakes from the film, as well as one outtake from the film Smokey and the Bandit II (1980)

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Alternate Versions

Differences between the theatrical release and the director's cut:

• After Brian Fantana comments on being hung over from the previous night's party, Champ states "I woke up on the floor of some Japanesse family's living room, and they would NOT stop screaming!", to which Brick replies, "I ate a big red candle". In the director's cut, Champ says "I woke up this morning and I shit a squirrel. The hell of it is, the damn thing's still alive. So I've got this shit covered squirrel down there in the office, and I don't know what to name it." Brick replies, "I'm sorry, I think I ate your chocolate squirrel".
• The scene of Ron Burgundy walking around the office with an erection is extended by about fifteen seconds.
• Ron daydreams of being married to Veronica, and has two children. After coming home from work, she appears from the kitchen in negligee, tells him that she's just prepared dinner in the nude, and they somewhat violently make out in the hallway.
• The scene of Ron being carried away by the crowd after reading the phrase "Go fuck yourself, San Diego" on the air is extended, with Ron screaming, "I would never say fuck! I would never fucking ever fucking say that!"
• After the above, Ron goes to Tino's where he is forced to eat cat poop in regard to the above incident.

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Connections

Referenced in Honest Trailers: Harry Potter (2013)

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Soundtracks

Use Me
Written & Performed by Bill Withers
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

more a pleasant parody than a biting satire

"Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" takes us back to those halcyon days of the 1970's, when the hair was as big as the lapels and women were just beginning to assume their rightful place in America's television newsrooms.

Will Ferrell plays a Ted Baxter-type anchorman (is it mere coincidence that his dog is named Baxter?) - vain, narcissistic, none too gifted in the brains department - who has worked for years as the sole news dispenser at a top-rated San Diego station. All is going well for Ron Burgundy until the station manager decides the newscast needs a bit more "diversity" and hires a female reporter named Veronica Cornerstone (Christina Applegate) to come on board. Cornerstone is a brainy, blow-dried blonde with a driving ambition to be the first female anchor on network news. Since most of the men who work at the station, including Burgundy, are dyed-in-the-wool misogynists, Ms. Cornerstone faces an uphill battle of sexist comments, schoolboy pranks, and subtle (and not so subtle) undermining as she climbs her way to the top (though she is not above pulling a few dirty tricks herself to get what she wants). Things really get dicey when Burgundy and Cornerstone begin dating and quickly fall in love, a situation rife with potential disaster as Cornerstone begins to encroach on Burgundy's professional territory.

"Anchorman" is a light-hearted, enjoyable little comedy that, unlike a full-throated satire (say, like "Network"), often goes for the easy laugh instead of the incisive barb. The movie is at its best when it is parodying the corny graphics and the tendency to over hype the trivial ("Panda Watch: Day 46") that define modern newscasts - and at its worst when it is indulging in silly, often scatological jokes and slapstick throw away bits. Like most mainstream comedies, the humor in "Anchorman" ranges from the mildly funny to the downright hilarious, the latter including a clever "West Side Story" parody involving a rumble between rival news teams, and a conversation between a dog and a bear that ends the movie on a ludicrous but knee-slapping high note.

Ferrell (who co-wrote the film) is his usual manic self, unctuous but likable, and Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, David Koechner, and Fred Willard do fine work in supporting roles. Moreover, writer/director Adam McKay provides a smattering of guest appearances from such well known stars as Jack Black, Luke Wilson, Tim Robbins, Vince Vaughn, Jerry Stiller and even Ben Stiller, many of who are not listed in the official credits.

"Anchorman" goes down easily - a bit too easily, perhaps, for a film that, with a little more courage, might have become a scathing satire on an industry that could do with a little merciless skewering right about now. Still, "Anchorman" is fun while it lasts - and these days we'll settle for what we can get when it comes to laughs.