Fall TV: ‘Son of Zorn’ is more silly than funny

New show: “Son of Zorn”

When: 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, Fox

Cast: Cheryl Hines, Tim Meadows, Artemis Pebdani, voice of Jason Sudeikis

Premise: Zorn, an animated He-Man clone, steps out of his ultra-violent cartoon world to help raise his human son with his former (and also human) wife in the real world.

Verdict: Decidedly different, but also very dumb. There are a couple of laughs as Zorn (the voice of Sudeikis) tries to fit in with an environment that’s nothing like he’s used to. I like that the muscle-bound dude has trouble opening mustard packets just like the rest of us. And his reaction to having a vegetarian son is amusing. Still, hardly anyone bats an eye at the loincloth-wearing cartoon swinging an animated sword around in restaurants and the grocery store? Or when a giant cartoon bird is stabbed with that same sword on a suburban street? (OK, I’ll admit I laughed when Meadows had to hose away cartoon bird blood from the driveway.) Hines, as the long-suffering ex, and Meadows, as her new fiance who teaches psychology at an online college, try their best. But you can’t help wishing they – and Sudeikis – had a funnier script to work with.

Staff writer Thad Ogburn