Passes the Bechdel test
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
2004. Directed by Adam McKay, written by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
9 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 101. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
In 1970s San Diego, journalism was a well respected profession and people actually cared about what they saw on TV. And the top rated anchor man in the city is Ron Burgundy. He enjoys his run at the top, and has for the last five years. And his news team is equally as good as he is. Professional jock and former professional baseball player Champ Kind handles the sports, the curiously dim witted Brick Tamland - who's a few channels short of a cable subscription - handles the weather, and ladies' man Brian Fantana - whose collection of fine scents would be in the Guinness Book Of Records - handles the on-field reporting. But now all that is about to change forever. The TV station Burgundy works for, Channel 4, has embraced diversity and has hired a beautiful new female anchor named Veronica Corningstone. While Ron Burgundy and the rest of the Channel 4 news team enjoys fighting with competitors, drinking, and flirting with the ladies, Veronica quietly climbs her way to the top. And Veronica's success drives Ron Burgundy crazy. So much that Veronica's meddling causes Ron to get demoted and ultimately lose his job with Channel 6. Now left with nothing, Ron must find a way to get back to the top - and that involves a story about a rare Chinese panda giving birth on US soil. Will Ron be the one to report the story on a national level?
- Released
- 09 Jul 2004
- Genres
- Comedy
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 63 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 13 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Ron 282 lines, man
- Alicia Corningstone 138 lines, woman
- Brian Fantana 57 lines, man
- Champ Kind 57 lines, man
- Ed Harken 53 lines, man
- Paul Danover 34 lines, man
- Music 30 lines
- Brick Tamland 20 lines, man
- Jess Moondragon 17 lines
- Narrator 13 lines
Full cast, 53 people
- Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy
- Christina Applegate as Veronica Corningstone
- Paul Rudd as Brian Fantana
- Steve Carell as Brick Tamland
- David Koechner as Champ Kind
- Fred Willard as Ed Harken
- Chris Parnell as Garth Holliday
- Kathryn Hahn as Helen
- Fred Armisen as Tino
- Seth Rogen as Eager Cameraman
- Paul F. Tompkins as MC
- Danny Trejo as Bartender
- Scot Robinson as Waiter at Tino's
- Ian Roberts as Stage Manager
- Darcy Donavan as Hot Blonde
- Renee Weldon as Petite Brunette
- Jerry Minor as Tino's Bassist
- Holmes Osborne as Director
- Charles Walker as Security Guard
- Shira Piven as Mother
- Lili Rose McKay as Child
- Thomas E. Mastrolia as Biker Guy
- Jay Johnston as Eyewitness News Member
- Peter A. Hulne as Man in Kitchen
- Laura Kightlinger as Donna
- Adam McKay as Custodian
- Joseph T. Mastrolia as Custodian
- Judd Apatow as News Station Employee
- Debra McGuire as News Station Employee
- Kent Shocknek as Network Reporter
- Monique McIntyre as Yelling Woman
- Bob Rummler as Bum
- Charles Poynter as Announcer
- Esmerelda McQuillan as Middle Class Mother
- Angela Grillo as Elderly Woman
- Lionel Allen as Wealthy Family Father
- Trina D. Johnson as Wealthy Family Mother
- Mary Alice G. Goodin as Wealthy Family Child
- Yasmine Nickle as Wealthy Family Child
- Fred Dresch as Doctor
- Glen Hambly as Middle Class Dad
- Stuart Gold as Nursing Room Resident
- Bill Kurtis as Bill Lawson
- Jack Black as Motorcyclist
- Ben Stiller as Arturo Mendes
- Luke Wilson as Frank Vitchard
- Frank Gorgie as Frank the Bartender (uncredited)
- Missi Pyle as Zoo Keeper (uncredited)
- Tim Robbins as Public TV News Anchor (uncredited)
- Vince Vaughn as Wes Mantooth (uncredited)
- Jerry Stiller as Man in Bar (uncredited)
- Matthew Vlahakis as Zoologist with Panda in Doug or Glen scene (uncredited)
- Barney as Bear (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 18% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 101
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 1 | 13 |
| 4 to 6 | 1 | 12 |
| 7 to 9 | 6 | 21 |
| 10 to 12 | 10 | 30 |
| 13 to 15 | 5 | 49 |
| 16 to 18 | 7 | 12 |
| 19 to 21 | 2 | 6 |
| 22 to 24 | 3 | 10 |
| 25 to 27 | 7 | 17 |
| 28 to 30 | 9 | 14 |
| 31 to 33 | 21 | 36 |
| 34 to 36 | 7 | 32 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 18 |
| 40 to 42 | 8 | 26 |
| 43 to 45 | 4 | 21 |
| 46 to 48 | 10 | 14 |
| 49 to 51 | 4 | 27 |
| 52 to 54 | 1 | 11 |
| 55 to 57 | 1 | 20 |
| 58 to 60 | 1 | 14 |
| 61 to 63 | 16 | 19 |
| 64 to 66 | 4 | 15 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 21 |
| 70 to 72 | 12 | 7 |
| 73 to 75 | 1 | 13 |
| 76 to 78 | 1 | 24 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 20 |
| 82 to 84 | 1 | 8 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 6 |
| 88 to 90 | 7 | 13 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 5 |
| 94 to 96 | 3 | 23 |
| 97 to 99 | 8 | 16 |
| 100 to 101 | 2 | 8 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
ALICIA CORNINGSTONE: Donna can I get the unedited tape from that cat fashion show I did a while back? DONNA: Sure Ms.Corningstone.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 21 are women's.
163 lines from women, 601 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
9 women and 29 men in the cast. 5 women and 31 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 15 of 928.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 60 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 21% of the words (1,794), men 79% (6,645).
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
3
Two men
78
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 34% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Adam McKay (man)
- Written by
- Will Ferrell (man), Adam McKay (man)
- Produced by
- Judd Apatow (man)
- Shot by
- Thomas E. Ackerman (man)
- Edited by
- Brent White (man)
- Music by
- Alex Wurman (man)
- Production design by
- Clayton Hartley (man)
- Costumes by
- Debra McGuire (woman)
- Cast by
- Juel Bestrop (woman), Jeanne McCarthy (woman), Blythe Cappello (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
4 women, 12 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
4 women, 3 men, 5 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 6 men, 5 not listed
-
Other crew
3 women, 8 men
-
Production
5 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 0 men
-
Directing
1 women, 4 men
-
Editing
1 women, 3 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 31 on average. Men: 40 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Kathryn Hahn 30, Christina Applegate 32
Men
Seth Rogen 22, Paul Rudd 35, Will Ferrell 36, Chris Parnell 37, Fred Armisen 37, Steve Carell 41, David Koechner 41, Fred Willard 70
Exhibit H: the money
It made 3.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $26 million
- Box office
- $90.6 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 101 scenes and 928 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
