Zooey Deschanel Talks 'New Girl' Theme Song, She & Him Holiday Album (Video)

Zooey Deschanel will make her highly anticipated debut as a sitcom star when New Girl premieres on Fox this fall. The actress and singer not only flexes her comedic muscle on the new series, she also provides the vocals on the show's theme song, which she wrote.

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"There were theme songs I had in mind as inspiration, like, I love the theme from Welcome Back, Kotter," Deschanel told The Hollywood Reporter on Monday, Sept. 12. "John Sebastian wrote that, from The Lovin' Spoonful. I really love that sound, so I wanted something upbeat that really felt like a theme song."

The Elizabeth Meriwether created show focuses around a young woman, named Jess, who moves in with three male roommates after discovering that her boyfriend is cheating on her. Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield and Lamorne Morris co-star, along with Hannah Simone as Deschanel's best friend.

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"The theme song from Mary Tyler Moore felt really upbeat and gets you ready for a show about someone who is taking on a new life," Deschanel continued. "So, that was basically my inspiration, Musically, I wanted something uplifting -- and then when we went in to produce it, we sort of thought we wanted to have a Lovin' Spoonful kind-of-feel production."

Deschanel, who is married to Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard, is also one part of the indie pop duo, She & Him. Deschanel and M. Ward recently announced that they would be releasing a Christmas album titled A Very She & Him Christmas on Oct. 25.

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"It's all holiday classics and just we recorded it really quickly," the songstress explained. " [We] just sort of wanted it to feel intimate, like we were in your living room playing Christmas songs."