Ron Burgundy, Saturday Night Live, and now a short Internet video called "The Landlord" - these things all share something in common.
To most people, the answer would be Will Ferrell. But behind "You stay classy, San Diego," those Celebrity Jeopardy! skits and that cute little girl with an attitude problem, there's another man: former SNL head writer and former Penn State student Adam McKay.
McKay, who worked with Ferrell as the director of Anchorman as well as Talladega Nights, attended Penn State for just one year, so he doesn't really count as a Penn State alum. But this was his first college before transferring to Temple University for three years, failing to graduate, and moving to Chicago to hit the sketch comedy scene.
McKay said he started Penn State during a summer session before his freshman year, but he felt he didn't fit in with the school very well.
"All my friends from the summer session all joined frats and I didn't," McKay said. "Back then there was a lot of drinking."
After working for a year for a student comedy radio show called Absolutely Live at Penn State, McKay transferred to Temple and began his stand-up career.
"You have to be in the city to do that stuff," he said.
McKay didn't last long on the stand-up circuit in Philadelphia, and after a few years in the city, moved to Chicago.
"I had heard about long-form improv," he said. "They do a form called the herald, so that was it. I dropped out of college, sold all my stuff and moved out there."
From then on, McKay crafted his comedic style, and now he's directed one of the most beloved movies for college students: According to Facebook's network statistics on Penn State, Anchorman is the fourth-most popular film among Penn Staters. He took some time out last week to have a conversation about his legacy at SNL, his new production company, and his future projects.
Q: Chuck Norris jokes have been popular recently, but they seem like a rip-off of your old Bill Brasky skits. How do you feel about that?
A:I think they even use some lines directly from the sketch, which I don't mind at all. Those Bill Brasky sketches never really caught on in a great way. It was two hosts, it was John Goodman and Alec Baldwin always wanted to do Bill Brasky when they were on. So twice a year, we got to do them.
Q: You have a new production company, Gary Sanchez Productions. What made you decide to get into that?
A: When Will [Ferrell] and I started working together writing scripts, we talked about starting a company. That's kind of where it came out of. And finally we had a little bit of a break after Talladega Nights. We met this guy Gary Sanchez. He'd since gone back to paraguay. Will and I just decided he'd be a good guy to get into the business with.
Q: And are you guys running the FunnyOrDie.com site?
A: We're in partnership with a company that does all the kind of technical stuff called Sequoia. We just looked at it as a place that we can do stuff we can't do on TV. And at the same time, with people submitting their stuff, we also use that as a place to scout talent.
Q: You've caught some flak for letting your daughter Pearl curse in "The Landlord" video. What's your feeling on that?
A: Some people were a little freaked out about that. But the truth is, we shot in 45 minutes, it was really fun. And at the end, she holds a bottle of organic ginger ale and says it's a beer. That girl is happy and loved and has not repeated any of those words since.
