VIDEOS Will Ferrell surprises North Dakota viewers by co-anchoring news as Ron Burgundy

Without missing a beat, Ron Burgundy filled in as co-anchor for North Dakota’s KX News on Saturday night. The interesting newscast came just weeks before the release of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, which features Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy.

Although the guest appearance was a surprise to viewers in Bismarck, Ron’s fellow hosts — including co-anchor Amber Schatz — knew they were in for an unusual experience.

“The second he said, ‘Good evening, I’m Ron Burgundy,’ I lost it,” Amber told The Associated Press. “It was really hard not to laugh.”

According to sales manager Tammy Blumhagen, Will and the Anchorman 2 publicity team came up with the scheme back in May.

“When they called us, we kind of jumped at the opportunity,” she said, adding station managers just wanted to make sure the integrity of the newscast would be maintained.

Although Ron was able to keep it mostly professional, he did slip in a few quips.

“Amber, you look lovely tonight,” Ron said to his co-anchor before asking if she is married. “Well I am, so don’t get any ideas.”

Here’s the complete video of the 30-minute newscast…

KX News also shared a shorter clip of the highlights…

Still in character as Ron, Will spoke after the newscast about the experience.

“I think it was great for the news team to really learn from a veteran newscaster,” Ron said while his interviewer laughed in the background. “Amber, my co-anchor, she kept touching me underneath the table, which I found very unprofessional and delightful all at the same time.”

The day after the newscast, Will went north to Canada to continue the Anchorman 2 publicity tour by covering the Olympic curling trials.

Ron and his news team will appear in Anchorman 2, which premieres Dec. 18.