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Justin Theroux to Create Cartoon for Fox

Actor Justin Theroux attends the Hand And Footprint Ceremony of his girlfriend actress Jennifer Aniston at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on July 7, 2011 in Hollywood, California. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS (Photo credit should read GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)
Photo: GABRIEL BOUYS/2011 AFP

Zooey Deschanel gave Fox one of the biggest comedy hits of the fall with New Girl, so perhaps it’s no surprise the network is continuing to mine the hipster world for potential comedy series. Vulture has learned the network has bought a script for an untitled animated comedy project from Justin Theroux, Deschanel’s co-star in last spring’s Your Highness and Jennifer Aniston’s current co-star in life. (It’s a big day for ‘toons with celebrities attached). Theroux is writing the half-hour, which revolves around a present-day Archie Bunker type who pines for the nineties and loathes his New York surroundings. There’s a twist, however: Unlike the Archie of the the seventies, this curmudgeon falls on the left wing of the political spectrum. On board to exec produce the 20th Century Fox TV/3 Arts Entertainment project is Michael Rotenberg (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, King of the Hill). While Theroux is known mainly for acting work in a wide mix of TV shows (Parks and Recreation, Six Feet Under) and movies (American Psycho, Mulholland Drive), he’s also a legit screenwriter: He co-penned Tropic Thunder and wrote Iron Man 2.

Justin Theroux to Create Cartoon for Fox