58 Fun Facts About Anchorman

In which city is Ron Burgundy's Channel 4 news team based in the first Anchorman film?

The real city appears almost only in aerial shots; the film was mostly shot in Los Angeles, Glendale and Long Beach.

Who plays Ron Burgundy?

Will Ferrell plays Ron Burgundy and co-wrote the film with Adam McKay, whom he met when both joined Saturday Night Live in 1995.

Who plays Veronica Corningstone?

Christina Applegate plays Veronica Corningstone, the ambitious new reporter who becomes Channel 4's first female co-anchor; Applegate reprised the role in Anchorman 2 (2013).

What is the name of Ron Burgundy's dog?

Baxter is Ron's beloved dog; he is punted off a bridge by a motorcyclist, survives, and later talks a bear out of attacking Ron at the zoo.

What job does Brick Tamland hold at the station?

Brick Tamland (Steve Carell) is Channel 4's Weatherman; his dim-witted forecasts and non sequiturs such as 'I love lamp' became the film's signature running gag.

Who plays sportscaster Champ Kind?

David Koechner plays Champ Kind, the cowboy-hatted sportscaster with the 'Whammy!' catchphrase; Koechner and Ferrell overlapped in the 1995-96 Saturday Night Live cast.

Which actor plays field reporter Brian Fantana?

Paul Rudd plays Brian Fantana, the mustachioed field reporter; Rudd reprised the role in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013).

Who directed both Anchorman films?

Adam McKay made the original his directorial debut and later won an Oscar for adapting The Big Short.

Who produced the first Anchorman film?

Judd Apatow produced the first Anchorman film in 2004; he next directed The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), starring Anchorman's Steve Carell.

What is the call sign of Ron's station?

Ron's station is KVWN Channel 4; Wes Mantooth's rival Channel 9 Evening News Team broadcasts on KQHS.

Which studio released the first Anchorman film in 2004?

DreamWorks Pictures released the first Anchorman on July 9, 2004; Paramount, whose parent Viacom bought DreamWorks in 2006, distributed the 2013 sequel.

Roughly what was the first Anchorman's production budget?

The first Anchorman cost about $26 million to make and grossed roughly $90.6 million worldwide, about $85 million of it in North America.

Which film kept Anchorman out of the number one spot on its opening weekend?

Spider-Man 2, in its second weekend, held number one while Anchorman opened second with $28.4 million on July 9-11, 2004.

Who plays rival anchor Wes Mantooth?

Vince Vaughn plays Wes Mantooth, anchor of the rival Channel 9 Evening News Team and Ron's sworn enemy; Vaughn returned briefly as Mantooth in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.

Which actor plays the motorcyclist who punts Ron's dog off the bridge?

Jack Black cameos as the motorcyclist; after Ron's tossed burrito hits him, he retaliates by punting Ron's dog off the bridge.

Who plays the Public News anchor in the news-team brawl?

Tim Robbins plays the pipe-smoking, cardigan-clad anchor of the Public News Team, the public-television crew that joins the multi-station news brawl.

Ben Stiller's cameo in the first film is as which character?

Ben Stiller's cameo is as Arturo Mendez, the hot-headed anchor of the Spanish-language news team that joins the brawl.

Which real newsman narrates the first Anchorman film?

Bill Kurtis, the veteran Chicago anchor and documentary narrator, narrates the first film and returned to narrate Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.

Who plays station director Ed Harken?

Fred Willard plays Ed Harken, the harried Channel 4 station director forever fielding alarming phone calls about his son; Willard returned in Anchorman 2.

In how many countries is Brian Fantana's Sex Panther cologne illegal?

Brian Fantana boasts that Sex Panther by Odeon is illegal in nine countries and made with bits of real panther; Ron concedes it stings the nostrils.

How does Ron get himself fired in the first film?

A colleague had tipped Veronica off that Ron reads anything put in front of him.

What zoo event draws every news team to the first film's climax?

Every news team rushes to the zoo because a panda is giving birth; the coverage becomes the film's climax when Veronica is shoved into an animal pen.

Into which animals' enclosure is Veronica pushed at the zoo?

Veronica is pushed into the Kodiak bears' enclosure; Ron and the team jump in after her and are cornered until Ron's dog returns and talks the bear down.

According to the epilogue, Brick Tamland ends up as a political adviser to which president?

The epilogue says Brick Tamland, married with 11 children, became a top political adviser to George W. Bush; Brian hosts a Fox reality show, Intercourse Island.

Which NFL commentator gets Champ Kind fired in the epilogue by accusing him of harassment?

The epilogue says Champ Kind became an NFL commentator until he was fired for sexually harassing Terry Bradshaw; Ron and Veronica end up co-anchoring the World News Center.

An early draft parodied which survival film, with the newsmen stranded after a plane crash?

The first draft parodied Alive, the 1993 Andes plane-crash survival film, with the newsmen stranded in the mountains and fleeing orangutans armed with ninja stars.

What was the title of the companion film built from Anchorman outtakes, released to DVD in December 2004?

Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie, released direct to DVD on December 28, 2004, stitches deleted scenes and alternate takes into a second feature with its own plot.

Where is Ron when he wails that he is 'in a glass case of emotion'?

After his dog is punted off the bridge, Ron calls the station from a phone booth, sobbing that he is 'in a glass case of emotion'.

Which real anchor did Ferrell cite as a key inspiration for Ron Burgundy?

Ferrell has said Ron Burgundy was inspired by Mort Crim, a 1970s Philadelphia anchor he saw in a documentary admitting he had been a chauvinist toward a female co-anchor.

Which real newscaster served as a model for Veronica Corningstone?

Jessica Savitch, the Philadelphia anchor who rose to NBC News, was Ferrell's model for Veronica; a documentary about her sparked the Ron Burgundy idea.

The film's jazz flute solo was actually played by which studio musician?

Studio flutist Katisse Buckingham played the jazz flute solo that Ron mimes at the club; Alex Wurman composed the film's score.

Which 1976 hit does the news team sing in four-part harmony in the office?

When Brian asks what love feels like, the news team breaks into the Starland Vocal Band's 1976 hit 'Afternoon Delight' in four-part harmony.

Which unmade Ferrell and McKay script, "Glengarry Glen Ross meets a car dealership", preceded Anchorman?

August Blowout, Ferrell and McKay's unproduced comedy about a car dealership's sales push, was admired in Hollywood but never filmed; the pair then wrote Anchorman.

In Anchorman 2, Ron joins the world's first 24-hour news network. What is it called?

He is hired for the unpopular late-night slot and bets rival Jack Lime he can beat his ratings.

Which Hollywood legend plays retiring anchor Mack Tannen, who fires Ron Burgundy, in Anchorman 2?

Harrison Ford's Tannen makes Veronica the first female nightly news anchor in TV history and fires Ron.

What does rival anchor Lime have to do after losing his ratings bet with Ron?

After Ron's ratings beat his, Jack Lime (James Marsden) must legally change his name to Jack Lame, which he sheepishly announces on air.

Who plays Chani, the oddball network staffer Brick falls for in Anchorman 2?

Kristen Wiig's Chani has the surname Lastnamé, and the film ends at her beach wedding to Brick.

What kind of animal do Ron and his son Walter rehabilitate while Ron is blind?

Ron and Walter nurse a baby great white shark they name Doby; at the beach wedding Doby returns and attacks Ron, who is saved by his dog.

Where does Ron hide away after being blinded in Anchorman 2?

After going blind, Ron retreats to a lighthouse, where his son Walter joins him and Veronica eventually tracks him down.

Which city stood in for New York during Anchorman 2's filming?

Anchorman 2 was shot largely in and around Atlanta, Georgia, whose streets doubled for the film's New York City.

Sacha Baron Cohen's Anchorman 2 cameo is as an anchor for which broadcaster?

Sacha Baron Cohen plays a BBC News anchor in the sequel's all-star brawl, alongside Jim Carrey and Marion Cotillard's Canadian crew and Liam Neeson's History Network team.

John C. Reilly's uncredited cameo in the sequel is as whom?

John C. Reilly, uncredited, plays the Ghost of Stonewall Jackson on Liam Neeson's History Network team in the sequel's brawl; Reilly and Ferrell had co-starred in Talladega Nights and Step Brothers.

Which rapper plays MTV host Wesley Jackson in the Anchorman 2 brawl?

Kanye West plays Wesley Jackson, the MTV news host who joins the brawl; Will Smith appears in the same scene as ESPN anchor Jeff Bullington.

On which late-night show did Ron Burgundy announce the Anchorman sequel in March 2012?

Conan got the scoop on March 28, 2012; Paramount had turned the sequel down in 2010 despite the stars offering pay cuts.

Which brand of ice cream launched a Ron Burgundy flavour to promote Anchorman 2?

Ben & Jerry's launched Ron Burgundy's Scotchy Scotch Scotch, a butterscotch ice cream, in late 2013; Dodge also ran Burgundy ads for the Durango.

Which beer revived its 1970s packaging for Anchorman 2 and kept it afterward?

Miller Lite's 1970s white can appeared in the film, and the retro design sold so well that MillerCoors made it the standard packaging in 2014.

Ron Burgundy co-anchored a real local newscast in November 2013 in which city?

Ron Burgundy co-anchored KX News in Bismarck, North Dakota, on November 30, 2013, a half-hour that went viral; he also called curling on Canada's TSN that December.

Which school renamed its communication program after Ron Burgundy for a day in December 2013?

Emerson College in Boston renamed its School of Communication the Ron Burgundy School of Communication for one day in December 2013, with Burgundy on hand; the Newseum also mounted an Anchorman exhibit.

What milestone did Anchorman 2 mark for Paramount's distribution?

A 'super-sized' R-rated cut with 763 new jokes returned to cinemas for one week in February 2014.

What was the title of Ron Burgundy's 2013 'autobiography'?

Let Me Off at the Top! was released on November 19, 2013, under the Ron Burgundy moniker, a month before the sequel opened.

Roughly how much did Anchorman 2 gross worldwide?

Anchorman 2 grossed about $174 million worldwide, $127 million of it domestic, on a budget of roughly $50 million, nearly double the first film's.

Which film beat Anchorman 2 to number one on its opening weekend?

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug held number one in its second weekend (December 20-22, 2013) while Anchorman 2 opened second with $26.2 million, just under the original's debut.

On which platform did The Ron Burgundy Podcast, written by Jake Fogelnest, launch in 2019?

The Ron Burgundy Podcast launched on iHeartRadio in early 2019, produced with Funny or Die, with Carolina Barlow as Ron's long-suffering co-host.

In which year is Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues set?

Anchorman 2 opens in 1980, with Ron and Veronica co-anchoring in New York just as the world's first 24-hour cable news channel prepares to launch.

Steve Carell, Anchorman's Brick Tamland, was a correspondent on which program from 1999 to 2005?

The Daily Show paired him with Stephen Colbert in 'Even Stevphen' segments, alongside his 'Produce Pete' bits.

Champ Kind's actor is also known for playing which obnoxious character on The Office?

Todd Packer, the boorish traveling salesman and Michael Scott's crude old friend, recurs across several seasons of The Office, played by Champ Kind's actor.

Before Anchorman, Veronica's actress found fame as Kelly Bundy on which sitcom?

Married... with Children ran on Fox from 1987 to 1997, with Kelly Bundy as the Bundys' dim, glamorous daughter; the role made its actress a teen star.

Where was Ron Burgundy's actor born?

Ron's actor was born in Irvine, California, in July 1967, kicked for University High School's football team there, and joined Saturday Night Live from the Groundlings in 1995.