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.

We’ve seen teaser trailers for the highly anticipated sequel to the 2004 comedy insta-classic Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and now the first full trailer for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues has just hit the web.

Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) and friends dominated the ’70s San Diego news scene before disappearing into obscurity. But now, firmly embraced by the ’80s and all its glory, they’re heading to New York City and ready to make the comeback everyone has been waiting for.

Continue below now to check out the trailer for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues!

I remember when I first saw Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy — it was on the big screen opening dayin 2004, and as I fondly recall I laughed my ass off many times during that first viewing and then some. Then when the movie was released on DVD I bought it and began to watch it repeatedly. Soon Anchorman became one of my top five favorite comedies. It has become a signature movie in my life, a wonderful comedy loaded with memorable characters, hilarious gags, classic comedic set-pieces, and terrific dialogue that my friends and I never tire of quoting to each other. The movie was so great in fact that I seriously desired for a sequel to be made. That doesn’t usually happen much with comedies I love.

Action, science-fiction, and horror films easily lend themselves to being franchised, but franchising comedy is a much difficult prospect. But the principal cast and crew of Anchorman saw what a hilarious and special film they had made and sought for years to make a sequel, not out of the mercenary pursuit of greater wealth and exposure but out of the love they had for the characters and the world they created. It was just that the studio was adamant against making it for reasons that sound utterly ridiculous when you say them out loud. The project’s future seemed so questionable that the original film’s star was considering it dead in the water as recently as a few weeks again.

Then a funny thing happened just a few days ago….

It’s been rumored off and on for many years now, but fans of the hit 2004 comedy Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy can finally celebrate: Anchorman 2 is officially happening.

Star Will Ferrell made the announcement in full character on tonight’s episode of Conan, which can be seen in a video below.