Last December’s long-awaited Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues didn’t exactly set the world afire with its arrival, but it proved that it was possible for a comedy sequel to (mostly) succeed provided its heart was in the right place. The bloated, insane follow-up to the 2004 classic Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy was released on Blu-ray in time for April Fools’ Day in a stuffed set that includes the PG-13 theatrical cut, an unrated version, and a longer R-rated cut containing 763 new jokes.

But apparently there exists a completely different edit of the film with every trace of funny business stripped away. You can check out a clip from Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues – The No Joke Cut here below.

I don’t know much about The No Joke Cut but it obviously couldn’t be as long as the cuts that contain actual humor. The clip provided does illustrate how much seriously Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues could play without the gags, pratfalls, and nonsensical musical numbers. Maybe it could have been a contender…an Oscar contended that is.

According to producer Judd Apatow, “Comedies often fail to get the consideration they deserve because laughter masks the serious storytelling going on beneath the surface. This new cut illustrates that Anchorman 2 can hold its weight against any drama.”

Director Adam McKay offered his thoughts about this joke-free cut of the Anchorman sequel:

By the way, you do know this is a joke, right?

Anchorman: The Legend Continues is now available on a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack that includes the aforementioned three different cuts of the film and hours of bonus features including featurettes, deleted and alternate scenes, and more.

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[Source: /Film]