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Funny or Die

Will Ferrell's "Funny or Die" tour: Anchorman, meet anchorman

WillferrellradiocityHey, look who showed up Sunday night at Radio City Music Hall for the last night of Will Ferrell's "Funny or Die" comedy tour: Tom Brokaw.

The NBC anchorman emeritus proved that the good sense of humor he always displayed in all those  "Late Night with David Letterman" appearances has not been lost in retirement. Ferrell by all accounts (here's the New York Times' take on the perf) had a lot of fun in his Ron Burgundy guise with this "anchorman-vs.-anchorman" moment, alternately grilling and chilling with the TV icon that Burgundy quickly dubbed "T-Bo."

All kidding aside, the eight-city  "Funny or Die" tour (designed to promote his latest comedy, "Semi-Pro," which bows this week, and the tour's namesake FunnyOrDie.com website in which Ferrell is a partner) did boffo business as it wound through college towns in chilly Northeastern climes this month. It's a comedy caravan that is likely to be replicated in some form in a city near you in the near future, as Variety noted earlier this week. There's been a clamor on this coast because Ferrell and his co-stars, Zach Galifianakis, Demetri Martin and Nick Swardson, haven't come anywhere near the 310, 323 or even the 818.

You gotta respect Ferrell for his love of the game. Instead of going for the cushy presenter slot (and swag bag) on the Oscar telecast, he spent Hollywood's Biggest Night on the opposite end of the country, digging the company of a few thousand fans, a fellow anchorman and three loopy cohorts who got an early, career-boosting Christmas present from Ferrell this year.

Judd Apatow joins FunnyorDie.com: Here's the vidclip

FerrellapatowNow here's some good news for a town that could use a good laugh. Judd Apatow is lending his talents to FunnyorDie.com, joining the the comedy website promulgated by his pals Will Ferrell and Andy McKay as a partner.

"I am beyond thrilled to have Judd join us at FunnyorDie. However I do find him to be odd in social situations," Ferrell quipped. "This is very awkward but I don't know who Judd Apatow is," said McKay, adding that "Although, after looking him up on IMDB, he seems very impressive.”

Apatow's milieu already has been popular on the site through faux outtakes and clips from his raunch-coms "Knocked Up" and "Superbad."

“Adam and Will and myself have been friends for many years and we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to create a situation where the friendship could not survive." Apatow said.

FunnyOrDie.com, in which users are invited to vote on the mirth merits of various clips, launched in April and can already hang up the "over 35 million served" sign.

Here's a vid clip of Ferrell, McKay and Apatow heralding the news of his arrival. Fair warning, it's a little randy, as you might expect from these guys.

(Pictured above: Ferrell and Apatow at the June 2004 preem of "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy." Pic by Lee Celano/WireImage)


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About Variety ON THE AIR

Variety's Team TV -- Cynthia Littleton, Stu Levine, Jon Weisman, Andrew Wallenstein and A.J. Marechal -- provides a roundup of stories big and small, as well as opinions and analysis from across the TV dial.