Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Ron Burgundy is as crass as a homophobic barroom racist. You love him because you hate him, although hate is too strong a word perhaps for a man with a foot in his mouth - permanently. He makes Alan Partridge sound like an intellectual.

Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy is actor Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay's creation, originating in 2004 to mixed reviews on the lines of how low can comedy stoop before it qualifies as certifiably stupid. Since then it has resurrected as cult viewing amongst the young and helped Steve Carell and Paul Rudd to gain the dizzying heights of boredom (stardom).

Burgundy is a TV newscaster from San Diego whose bloated opinion of his own importance is a dangerous cocktail for those with their brains still hinged.

The Legend Continues brings Ron and his team, which includes a mentally defective weatherman (Carell), the Don Juan of investigative journalism (Rudd) and a hot headed, rednecked sports jock (David Koechner), to the Big Apple where they are hired to cover the graveyard shift on a new TV channel.

Ferrell and McKay succeed in breaking every rule of script writing and surprising the audience with their twists and lifts. When jokes fail and subplots subside weaker and sillier ones are on hand as replacements.

Burgundy's ability to survive cockups on an industrial scale is impressive. His attitude towards women has not changed and the general feeling that political correctness should be kicked into the long grass remains central to his humour.

The film is mad, which means unpredictable and difficult to trust. Burgundy represents an element of tabloid television that appears to be growing. It's not the sleaze that sticks; it's the insensitivity.