* AllStarCast: This Creator/FratPack movie had nearly all the members (save Creator/OwenWilson) playing a role.
* BeamMeUpScotty:
** In a minor way. Ron's surprised statement, "Boy... That escalated quickly!" is often misquoted as a deadpan "Well, ''that'' escalated quickly..." instead.
** Similarly, Ron's line, "I'm not even mad...that's amazing!" is often misquoted as, "I'm not mad...I'm impressed!"
* CaliforniaDoubling: Much of the film was shot in Los Angeles and Glendale, on backlot sets designed to look like '70s San Diego, and additional outdoor shots were done in Long Beach.
* CastTheRunnerUp:
** Creator/ChrisParnell was originally considered for Brick Tamland before being cast as Garth.
** Creator/BenStiller was originally considered for Brian Fantana. He makes a cameo as Arturo Mendes.
* TheCastShowoff: Creator/WillFerrell has played flute since elementary school.
* CreatorCouple: Adam [=McKay=]'s wife, Shara Piven, plays the girl's mother.
* {{Defictionalization}}: You can buy Sex Panther in real life. Fortunately, it's a fairly normal aftershave, rather than the horror described in the film.
* DeletedScene: So many that they were able to make a whole other movie out of them.
* DeletedRole: Joe Flaherty had one as a Texas TV station manager whom Veronica Corningstone works for before joining Ron Burgundy and his crew. A bit of ActorAllusion as Flaherty was previously best known for playing corrupt TV network owner/president Guy Caballero, among other roles, on ''Series/{{SCTV}}''.
* DevelopmentHell: The sequel. Paramount had expressed interest then lost it then renewed interest...then stepped off again...and finally greenlit the project come 2012, over seven years after the first movie.
* FakeNationality: Creator/BenStiller has a cameo as a Mexican newsreader for a Spanish-language station.
* FocusGroupEnding: Bad test audience reactions more or less shaped it into an entirely different movie. Originally, the film centered around a group of bank robbers calling themselves 'the Alarm Clock' — yes, the footage that became the direct-to-video film ''Wake Up, Ron Burgundy!'' When this story failed to strike a chord with audiences, all references to the Alarm Clock were removed, and a sizeable chunk of the film was reshot to include the familiar panda subplot. Also, Baxter (initially a large, masculine dog) became little, fuzzy and cute, adding another memorable element to the film.
* HarpoDoesSomethingFunny: Like many of the films that Creator/WillFerrell and Creator/JuddApatow would go on to create throughout the rest of the decade, the final film is the result of hours upon hours of improvisation and multiple-rapid-fire takes of the same gags (aka "Line-O-Rama") being edited into a feature presentation.
* MissingTrailerScene: A good portion of scenes from the trailers were omitted from the final cut. These scenes include Burgundy taking a bullet for Veronica, and a later shot of him and her emerging from a television van to a cheering crowd, with Burgundy visibly showing a bandaged wound. The line where Ron asks Garth about his divorce while at a party, is also missing. Other shots cut include Ron walking into a filing cabinet and falling over, alternate dialogue when Ron asks Veronica what her dream is, Veronica and Ron tackling each other on the conference room table, collapsing (with Ron shouting "Let's make a baby!"), Ron admiring his own billboard, asking Ed Harken what a "lead" is, sitting by a poolside, standing by the side of the road with a long beard and guitar on his back trying to hitchhike, and others.
* RealLifeRelative: Adam [=McKay=]'s daughter, Lili Rose, makes a cameo as a girl insulting Ron while he's walking on the street.
* StarMakingRole: While ''Film/{{Elf}}'' had proven that Creator/WillFerrell could carry a feature, this was the film that made him a star as both an actor and a creative force, as it would define the particular comedic niche he'd become famous for throughout the rest of the 2000s. It was also one of Creator/DavidKoechner's first big roles and helped put Creator/SteveCarell on the map.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Creator/WillFerrell and Creator/AdamMcKay took the script to several studios before Creator/DreamWorksSKG that all turned it down. Even [=DreamWorks=] SKG only greenlit the film after ''Film/OldSchool'' became a hit.
** During the production, a lot of alternate takes were produced and a lot of plotlines were cut, including a major plotline about an inept terrorist organization known as "The Alarm Clock". So many, in fact, that instead of being included in a Director's Cut version, they were edited together to produce a DirectToDVD sequel ''Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie''.
** Champ Kind was initially written with Creator/JohnCReilly in mind, but he was busy working on ''Film/TheAviator''. (Reilly would eventually appear in the sequel as [[ItMAkesSenseInContext the ghost of Stonewall Jackson]].)
** Creator/EdHarris for Ed Harken, Creator/DanAykroyd for Garth Holliday, and Creator/AlecBaldwin for Frank Vitchard.
** The script specified another member of the news team, Marshall Connors, with Creator/WilliamHMacy suggested for the part.
** Creator/MaggieGyllenhaal auditioned for Veronica.
** The original producer was, of all people, Creator/PaulThomasAnderson. In fact, he instigated the film! After director [=McKay=] and Ferrell wrote a different screenplay and couldn't get it greenlit, Anderson said that they should make a new script and whatever they made, he'd produce it. For one reason or another, he couldn't produce after all.
** Adam [=McKay=] has said that in the first draft of the script, the story was about a planeload of news anchors who crash in the mountains and discover that the plane which they collided was carrying monkeys and martial arts equipment, leading to a battle between cannibalistic newsmen and star-throwing monkeys.
** The scene with Creator/JackBlack as the biker was intended to go on a lot longer, but was heavily trimmed down for the final product. The original version of the scene can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29cpKJevG_Y here]].
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