John Beard as John Beard

In most of the country, news anchors are superstars. After all, Hollywood celebs don't make it a habit of passing through spots like Lincoln, Neb., or Columbus, Ohio, so local TV news talent has to do.

But here in L.A., in a strange irony, TV reporters and anchors aren't as well-known or celebrated -- despite operating in the nation's No. 2 market. After all, when you can catch Brad Pitt at the Coffee Bean, seeing Fritz Coleman grabbing a latte doesn't have the same allure.

That's probably why so many local TV news talent can't resist moonlighting as themselves in TV and film. Not only are they perfectly situated in Hollywood to play essentially themselves as a TV anchor or reporter, but it also gives them a little more exposure both locally and nationally.

Wall Street Journal's Joe Flint takes a specific look at KTTV/Fox 11's John Beard, who's been seen all over the Fox primetime lineup as of late. Beard plays himself -- but as the anchor of a fictional "Fox 6" (which, in what I believe is a coincidence, is actually a station in San Diego) -- on "Arrested Development," and also plays himself -- but as an anchor on the Fox News Channel -- on "24."

Writes Flint: "I'm always ambivalent, yet always feel whatever I decide, I made the wrong decision," says Jose Rios, KTTV's vice president of news, about allowing Mr. Beard to play an anchor on television. He looks at the scripts of both shows before they air, and also figures that if he sees someone from a rival station on a Fox show, "my reaction will be, 'why didn't they use my talent?'"

Mr. Beard doesn't think his appearances on "24" and "Arrested Development" should be cause for concern from the media watchdogs.

"I won't do anything that can be construed as real," he says, adding that both shows are "so over the top" there is no risk of that happening. Mr. Beard, who is paid for his acting roles but says the amount is minimal, says he has turned down many other such requests. He says he decided to do these two shows because the writing was so good.

Mr. Beard certainly has the desired effect the producers were looking for in casting him. His appearances on "Arrested Development" are very amusing, and the fact that he is an anchor in the same southern California region where the fictional Bluth family resides is a nice inside joke.

On "24," though, the distinctions are less apparent. Mr. Beard's fictional reports on terrorism, such as an episode involving the kidnapping of the defense secretary, aren't all that different from stories that he addresses in his day job.

Asked whether Tom Brokaw would do this, Mr. Beard points out that even Walter Cronkite once appeared on an episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."