Will Ferrell is just inspired when it comes to comedy. When you surround him with other comedic talents, what comes out has to be gold, and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is comedic gold.

Check out this cast: Paul Rudd, Christina Applegate, Fred Willard, Steve Carell, David Koechner, and there are appearances by Kathryn Hahn, Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller and Seth Rogen.

Ferrell plays the titular character, Ron Burgundy, San Diego’s top-rated Anchorman in 1970s San Diego. He has a reliable, if sexist, and enabling team around him in the form of journalist Brian Fantana (Rudd), sports reporter Champ (Koechner) and weatherman Brick (Carell).

They’re living the dream, though Burgundy would never admit he’s a little lonely.

Enter Veronica Corningstone (Applegate), a female reporter aiming for an anchor desk in an all-male environment.

By highlighting how ridiculous the sexism is, it skewers the entire concept of the old boys’ club and male-dominated work environments.

But it’s not only about that; it also leans into its goofiness, the competitiveness between the Channel 4 news team and other San Diego broadcasters, which leads to all-out conflict, and there’s also the wonderful banter and interactions between Ron and the rest of his team.

Watching the cast play together is a real joy, and you have to wonder about how much fun the set must have been as the group improvised together.

Ron and Veronica engage in a rocky relationship that disrupts their entire work environment and forces them against one another. An escalating series of events finally costs Ron his job, and lets Veronica achieve some success… but what if they learn to work together?

There are lots of humorous moments, including the fact that the biggest story in San Diego is a pregnant panda. And I truly enjoyed all the stuff with Ron’s dog, Baxter.

The whole thing just works, its silliness highlighting all the ridiculousness of the male-driven work environment. And you can’t help but laugh at all of it.

Brilliantly funny, I found myself laughing constantly and consistently throughout the film. Ferrell is just so wonderful in the characters he creates that you buy into the world he creates.

I remember back in the early 90s and early 00s I wasn’t always the biggest fan of Ferrell, but he’s not only grown on me, but he’s also become a comedic actor that I know I can rely on. It may mean I have to revisit some of his other films that I originally couldn’t be bothered with.