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2 • September 25 - October 1, 2016 TVWeek By Jacqueline Spendlove TV Media I t's an age-old story: absentee father appears out of the blue to make good with the wife and kids and winds up upend- ing everybody's lives. Such a fig- ure is seldom able to make a seamless re-entry into the lives of those he's been away from for years on end, but in some fami- lies it's an especially jarring event. Like in "Son of Zorn," for instance. The partly animated comedy joins Fox's cartoon- packed Sunday night lineup this fall and features the voice talents of Jason Sudeikis. The "Saturday Night Live" alum stars as Zorn, an animated barbarian hailing from the far-off island of Zephyr- ia, who returns to Orange County to reconnect with his live-action ex-wife and son. The series pre- mieres Sunday, Sept. 25, on Fox. Poor Zorn. The long-haired, hulking, muscle-bound toon may be hot stuff in his homeland, but in suburban California, he's pretty much at sea. The animated island nation of Zephyria is lo- cated somewhere in the Pacific Ocean and is utterly chaotic. Its landscape is dotted with ice caves and lava pits, it's teeming with monsters, and killing and violence are part of everyday life. What a shock, then, to make the move to sunny Orange County, where he learns that his ex-wife, Edie (Cheryl Hines, "Curb Your Enthusiasm"), is engaged to a mild-mannered psychology professor named Craig (Tim Meadows, "Saturday Night Live"), and his teenage son Alan- gulon (Johnny Pemberton, "21 Jump Street," 2012) is a sensitive, slightly dweeby vegetarian. Undaunted, Zorn is deter- mined to establish himself in the 'burbs, where he can begin to be a father to Alangulon (who goes by Alan) in earnest, which is terribly entertaining. Evidently, what constitutes an impressive résumé in Zephyria doesn't go far in Orange County, but Zorn manages to land an assistant job at an industrial soap com- pany, where he pairs an office- appropriate shirt and tie with his knee-high boots and furry briefs. He's delightfully oblivious to the fact that his boss is female, the concept of a woman being his superior being entirely foreign to him. For her part, Linda (Artemis Pebdani, "Scandal") takes her subordinate's eccentricities in stride, displaying the patience of a saint. As for the fact that Zorn is clearly a cartoon, nobody in the live-action world is too phased by it, and that's exactly the way showrunners wanted it. Zephy- ria's a far-off land, but it's not a secret — the general population is aware that some of the world's inhabitants are simply animated. "We never wanted to call him a cartoon," co-creator and executive producer Reed Agnew explained at this summer's Televi- sion Critics Association press tour. "We talk about it as if you were to see someone from Liberia who would seem strange and look weird." Says Sudeikis of his character: "He wears a battle strap and furry underpants. Other than that, he's just a normal guy." Ten years is a long time to be away, but Zorn's desire to be a father to Alan is sincere and fun to watch. He takes him to din- ner, where Zorn is baffled and dismayed by his son's refusal to eat meat; he helps Alan with girl problems; he buys his son an enormous "death hawk" — which Edie quite understandably balks at — much as a father might buy his son his first car. The series boasts some re- spectable star power in front of the camera, but there are some big names behind the scenes as well. Executive producers Chris- topher Miller and Phil Lord have their names attached to a num- ber of funny and successful proj- ects, and "Son of Zorn" isn't their first foray into the cartoon world. The pair wrote and directed the animated films "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" (2009) and "The Lego Movie" (2014), both of which scored Golden Globe nods for Best Animated Feature Film. They also directed "21 Jump Street" (2012) and its 2014 sequel, and have several writing, directing and producing credits, including "Clone High" (which they also co-created and lent their voice talents to), "How I Met Your Mother," "The Last Man on Earth" and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine." Cover Story Artemis Pebdani as seen in "Son of Zorn" New toon in town Fox blends animation with live action in 'Son of Zorn' D - Danville V - Veedersburg H - Hoopeston O - Oakwood V - Veedersburg Ca - Cayuga Co - Covington W - Westville Communities listed Glory Days 2 x 2.5 Iron Tide Gallery 2 x 1.25 Big Boy 2 x 1.25 ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS IN Call Advertising at 446-9400 tv week

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