And now, the news
'Anchorman' makes fun of an already funny subject
By Todd Leopold
CNN
 |  Will Ferrell in "Anchorman" |
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| | ON CNN TV |  "Eye on Entertainment" talks about the weekend's happenings on CNN's "Live Today" between 10 a.m. and noon ET Thursday. |
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(CNN) -- In "Anchorman," Will Ferrell plays Ron Burgundy, a pompous, vain, shallow-minded local news anchor.
And I have to wonder -- are there any other kind?
Not in real life, of course. (Of course.) But since time immemorial -- or about 1960 in TV history -- the classic local anchor has often been a serious, unflappable, overmodulated guy with perfect hair. They're almost parodies of themselves -- which makes them ripe for parody on TV or in the movies.
"The Mary Tyler Moore Show" perhaps had the most famous, WJM's Ted Baxter, allegedly based on Los Angeles anchors George Putnam and Jerry Dunphy. (One story about Dunphy claims he once complained about the thickness of the paper in the TelePrompTer.)
For Baxter, played by Ted Knight, "It all started in a small 5,000-watt radio station in Fresno, California." One suspects that Lou, Mary, Murray and the rest wish that it had ended there, too.
"The Simpsons" has produced Kent Brockman, voiced by the always marvelous Harry Shearer, who does phony pomposity better than anybody. Brockman is fond of offering "my two cents" and turning on a dime from horrible tragedies to the most cheerful, and empty, human interest story.
And now there are comedy news teams that seem just like real news teams -- witness some of "Saturday Night Live's" "Weekend Update" teams (most notably Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin) and the crew of "The Daily Show," at their funniest when the serious news is at its most ludicrous.
In fact, perhaps someone should take an actual local news team -- say, the bloody and manic "Action News" squad of Philadelphia's WPVI, circa 1988 -- and dub in a "Mystery Science Theater 3000" commentary track. It could be boffo! Double murders and municipal corruption can't get much funnier.
Eye on Entertainment doesn't blink.
Eye-opener
In "Anchorman," Burgundy and his fellow anchors -- sports guy Champ Kind (David Koechner), weatherman Brick Tamland (Steve Carell, a "Daily Show" regular) and intrepid reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) face a crisis of nightmarish proportions: a woman (Christina Applegate) is joining their show!
Her addition is the idea of producer Ed Harken (Fred Willard), who recognizes that the times -- the mid-1970s -- are a-changin'. Not only is Applegate's character, Veronica Corningstone, a pretty face, but she's also a good journalist.
Given that this is a Ferrell movie, hijinks ensue. There's a rumble with the news team of a competing station, chauvinist jokes and a strange romance between Burgundy and Corningstone.
For Ferrell, "Anchorman" could consolidate his success on top of the comic actor heap.
"Old School" was a surprising hit, largely thanks to his Frank the Tank, and "Elf" earned $175 million over the holidays. Now comes a big, sweet, stupid summer comedy in a summer so far dominated by clever animation ("Shrek 2"), action ("The Day After Tomorrow," "Spider-Man 2"), Harry Potter ("Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban") and Michael Moore ("Fahrenheit 9/11").
If "Anchorman" is successful, that would be very good news, indeed -- for Ferrell, at any rate.
On screen
"King Arthur" isn't "Idylls of the King." It's not even "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." It's a version that shows how things really were -- dirty and gritty (like "Grail," actually) but with more arrows. The film, which has received tepid reviews, opened Wednesday.Kevin Kline stars as Cole Porter in a biography of the songwriter's life, "De-Lovely." The film also stars Ashley Judd as his wife, Linda, who's not -- in a change from Judd's recent roles -- on the lam from a serial killer. Opens nationwide Friday."Sleepover" is about a bunch of 14-year-old girls who get involved in a scavenger hunt. Yawn. Opens Friday.On the tube
"The Great Domestic Showdown" is a show for all those budding Martha Stewarts out there. Six contestants will prove their mettle in decorating, cooking and other household arts. Hosted by Adam Corolla, of all people. Sunday, 9 p.m., ABC.Baseball's annual All-Star Game is Tuesday. The game, at Houston's WhateversponsortookoverforEnron Field, starts sometime after 7 p.m. and ends sometime before the World Series. On Fox. (Get all your All-Star coverage at SI.com.) Sound waves
"License to Chill" (RCA), Jimmy Buffett's new album, comes out Tuesday.It's worth buying They Might Be Giants' new album, "The Spine" (Zoe), just for the song titles: "Memo to Human Resources," "Museum of Idiots," "Stalk of Wheat." Hope the music is as good. Releases Tuesday.The Roots' last album, "Phrenology," was hailed as one of the best of 2002. The group's new one, "Tipping Point" (Geffen), comes out Tuesday. Paging readers
Carl Hiassen knows how to cover south Florida and all of its eccentricities. His new book, "Skinny Dip" (Knopf), comes out Tuesday.What's Sue Grafton going to do when she gets to the end of the alphabet? Use Cyrillic? Her new book, "R is for Ricochet" (Putnam), comes out Tuesday. I think her book cover graphic artists have given up.
