Central Park (TV series)

Central Park is an American musical animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard, Nora Smith, and Josh Gad for Apple TV+, originally created for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series debuted May 29, 2020.[1][2] The series revolves around a family living in Central Park who must save it from a greedy land developer.

Central Park
GenreAnimated sitcom
Musical
Created byJosh Gad
Loren Bouchard
Nora Smith
Voices of
Theme music composer
  • Kate Anderson
  • Elyssa Samsel
Composer(s)
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6
Production
Executive producer(s)
  • Josh Gad
  • Loren Bouchard
  • Nora Smith
  • Halsted Sullivan
  • Jon Liebman
  • Marc Gurvitz
  • Robin Schwartz
  • Sanjay Shah
Producer(s)Kevin Larsen
Editor(s)Kris Fitzgerald
Running time22–25 minutes
Production company(s)Bento Box Entertainment
Wilo Productions
Angry Child Productions
Brillstein Entertainment Partners
20th Century Fox Television
Distributor20th Television
Release
Original networkApple TV+
Picture format4K (Ultra HD)
Original releaseMay 29, 2020 (2020-05-29) –
present
External links
Website

Premise

Told through the eyes of a busker named Birdie, the musical series tells the story of the Tillerman-Hunter family who live in Edendale Castle in Central Park. Patriarch Owen, who is the dorky manager of the park, his wife Paige, who is a journalist constantly stuck with writing fluff pieces and hopes to write a real story, their daughter Molly, who loves drawing comics about herself and a boy she has a crush on, and their son Cole, an emotional young boy who loves animals. Their lives change when an elderly heiress and entrepreneur named Bitsy Brandenham, and her constantly abused assistant Helen, plot to buy up all the land in Central Park and turn it into more condominiums, shopping stores and restaurants as a way of getting back at the world. The Tillermans must also deal with their own issues and save the park.

Cast

Main
  • Kristen Bell (Season 1)[3] and TBA (Season 2) as Molly Tillerman, Owen and Paige's daughter; Cole's sister; she likes drawing her own comic books about herself as a hair powered superhero named Fista-Puffs who fights crime alongside a hero named Kite-Boy.
  • Tituss Burgess as Cole Tillerman, Owen and Paige's son; Molly's brother; an emotional boy who wants Bitsy's dog, Shampagne, as he shows more affection and care for him than his own owner does.
  • Daveed Diggs as Helen, Bitsy's assistant; she is constantly abused by her employer and hopes to one day inherit the Brandenham fortune for herself.
  • Josh Gad as Birdie, a busker at the park and the show's narrator who gleefully talks about the events while also offering friendly, albeit occasionally annoying, support for Owen.
  • Kathryn Hahn as Paige Hunter, Molly and Cole's mother; Owen's wife; a reporter for a not very notable New York newspaper who wants to report on real stories and not fluff pieces so that she can prove her worth.
  • Leslie Odom Jr. as Owen Tillerman, Molly and Cole's father; Paige's husband; the park manager who wishes that he had more respect from his family and that the park, which he worships, was treated as carefully as he does.
  • Stanley Tucci as Bitsy Brandenham, a business entrepreneur who wants to replace Central Park with a bunch of condos and retail space for personal reasons. She is the owner of Shampagne, a Shi-Poo that she unknowingly abuses and Cole is unhealthily obsessed with.

Recurring
  • Eugene Cordero as Brendan Brandenham, a boy that Molly secretly has a crush on who is always flying his kite. Molly fantasizes him as her superhero partner Kite-Boy. He is actually the nephew of Bitsy Brandenham.
  • Rory O'Malley as Elwood, a park ranger and Owen's partner who always seems in over his head.
  • Fred Stoller as Leo Shallenhammer, a member of the Central Park League.
  • Tony Shalhoub as Marvin, Paige's boss.
  • Phil LaMarr as Randy, another park ranger.
  • Janelle James as Fran, another park ranger.
  • Kelvin Yu as Sheng, another park ranger.
  • Andrew Rannells as Griffin, another busker and the replacement narrator after Birdie gives away a spoiler to Paige.
  • Jessica Lowe as Anya, the wife of Zack and daughter of Dmitiry.
  • David Herman as Dmitiry, a Russian oligarch that Bitsy hopes to get in league with.
  • Brian Huskey as Doug, Paige's co-worker.

Guest
  • H. Jon Benjamin as Mayor Whitney Whitebottom, the mayor of New York City who is in league with Bitsy.
  • Christopher Jackson as Glorious Gary, a local skater in Central Park.
  • Fred Armisen as Esposito, a sanitation engineer manager.
  • Ester Dean as Hazel, Molly's friend and lab partner.

Episodes
No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date [4]Prod.
code
11"Episode One"Gavin DellLoren Bouchard & Nora Smith & Regina HicksMay 29, 2020 (2020-05-29)1LBV01
Birdie, a busker, introduces the audience to Central Park ("Central in My Heart") as well as the Tillerman-Hunter family who live in Edendale Castle: Owen, the manager of the park, his wife Paige, a journalist, and their kids Molly and Cole. He introduces Bitsy Brandenham ("Heiress to a Fortune"), who owns Brandenham Hotel which sits opposite the park. Her dog, Shampagne, has disappeared there due to the intentional mishandling by her assistant Helen. Everyone voices their wants: Owen wants to have some respect for himself and the park, Paige wants to get a big story, Molly wants a boy named Brendan to notice her, Cole, who has Shampagne, wants to care for him and Helen wants to own everything ("Own It"). Bitsy offers a reward for the return of her dog, causing everyone to swarm the park and destroy Owen's prized Turtleheads. Owen discovers Cole's crime and he tries to get his dad to listen to him ("Poops I'll Pick Up"). They ultimately return the dog to an ungrateful Bitsy, saddening Cole greatly ("Shampagne Was My Best Friend"). Paige reveals that she wrote an article on the Turtleheads' destruction which mildly pleases Owen. Bitsy reveals her plan to buy up Central Park ("Central to My Plot").
22"Skater's Circle"Corey BarnesHalsted SullivanMay 29, 2020 (2020-05-29)1LBV02
Owen tries to get things right with the Central Park League, who are in charge with funding the park. He ends up having to resolve an issue regarding the Skater's Circle which has been left abandoned after he banned skating due to their constant littering. Birdie tries to have him resolve his conflict with skater Glorious Gary whom he does not respect. Wanting to feel heroic, and inspired by the comics she draws, Molly decides to help Cole see Shampagne again ("Weirdos Make Great Superheroes"). Meanwhile, Bitsy tries to get several investors to agree with her plan to buy the park which hide her unbridled rage at the world and those who looked down on her ("Make 'Em Pay"). Molly and Cole fail to rescue Shampagne, but learn that he does remember Cole, much to their joy ("Weirdos Make Great Superheroes Reprise"). Paige has to report on a town meeting and discovers that the Central Park League are having a debate which could impact the funding for the park. Bitsy decides to use this opportunity to enact her plan on eliminating Central Park for good. Paige tries calling Owen, but he is learning to skate with Gary and begins seeing value in the skaters while Birdie foreshadows his eventual discovery ("Do It While You Can").
33"Hat Luncheon"Ian HamiltonChuck TathamJune 5, 2020 (2020-06-05)1LBV03
Birdie updates the audience ("Birdie Busking") and reveals that the upcoming Hat Luncheon between all the important people in Central Park is coming soon. Owen must give a speech while presenting the golden rake to a long time employee. Paige wants to know why the single Park League member, Leo Shallenhammer, voted against the park's funding and heads to the spa to interview him while bringing the kids along ("Momma's Got This"). She learns that Leo's vote was influenced by Mayor Whitney Whitebottom, but does not know why and she resolves to ask him herself ("Momma's Got This Reprise"). Bitsy prepares for the luncheon and has the politicians and socialites turn on each other while Owen nervously tries to prepare for his speech ("Don't Think About the Failures"). Cole helps Molly talk to Brendan who excitedly agrees to procure ice cream from the luncheon; while also revealing that Bitsy is his aunt. Afterwards, Molly kisses Brendan, but gives him an allergic reaction as she had peanut ice cream. The politicians and socialites get into a food fight ("The Park is Mine") and Paige gets an answer from the mayor who says that "we can do better" and he escapes. Owen's speech ends up being a success, mostly because everyone was tired from fighting.
44"Garbage Ballet"Gavin DellMonica PadrickJune 12, 2020 (2020-06-12)1LBV04
Birdie explains how Central Park's garbage collecting works ("Garbage Ballet"). However, due to Bitsy's interference, the Mayor has the collectors announce that they are at full capacity, filling up the park with trash. At home, Paige has suddenly become sick and begins to hallucinate rats everywhere. Worried that she will kill them, Cole feigns sickness, though later actually becomes sick, and tries to prevent any rat deaths ("Rats"). They eventually discover a family of rats in the basement and flee, though it is implied to be a hallucination. At school, the story of Molly's disastrous kiss with Brendan spreads, though her identity is safe, and her Fista-Puffs comics begin to reflect this ("I'm the Worst"). Her friend Hazel, deduces her problem through her comics and tells her to forget about Brendan. She realizes that she has his phone and they erase her numerous texts from it. Owen suddenly gets the idea to create a "trash train" and bring all the garbage to the collectors where he discovers the deception. They eventually discover a loop hole with the help of a sympathetic trash manager Esposito ("Manager to Manager"). Bitsy challenges her employees to room 723 in her hotel which is apparently haunted. As she enters to disprove this to the maids, she supposedly senses her father.
55"Dog Spray Afternoon"Joel MoserAnnie Levine & Jonathan EmersonJune 19, 2020 (2020-06-19)1LBV05
Bitsy hires a tagger named Shart to deface Central Park. As Birdie tells the audience this, he explains how as the narrator he is unable to inform the players of vital information ("Spoiler Alert"). Owen becomes unnerved at the graffiti and Molly offers to come along with him in trying to out the perpetrator. Meanwhile, Bitsy has Helen take Shampagne out for a walk when they run into Cole. Helen allows him to walk Shampagne; angered by the attention that he gets from Bitsy ("If There's a Will"). Paige learns that someone is illegally buying up buildings for cheap, but cannot figure out who. Birdie blurts out that Bitsy is behind the purchases; claiming that he overheard it from people in the park. Owen, Molly and the park employees root out that Shart is trying to spell his name in the park ("Method to This Madness"). Thinking that Bitsy is signing her fortune to Shampagne instead of her, Helen tries to kill him ("If There's a Will Reprise"), but is overcome with guilt and ironically saves the dog and Cole from traffic. Owen, Molly, Cole and Paige work together and catch Shart in the act; angering Bitsy. Birdie grows concerned about spoiling information to Paige, which seems to be confirmed when a new narrator named Griffin introduces himself.
66"Rival Busker"Corey BarnesSanjay ShahJune 26, 2020 (2020-06-26)1LBV06
Griffin, the new narrator, immediately takes over Birdie's job. He explains how as narrators, they are not allowed to take part in the story and thus, Birdie lost his narration privileges when he gave vital information to Paige ("First Class Hands"). The park has installed an owl cam for a nest that will go live at night. While Owen and Cole are excited, Paige wants to continue reporting on Bitsy and decides to book a stay at her hotel with Molly coming along. Owen and Cole immediately become concerned for the baby owls and rush out to help them, only to get stuck in the tree. Bitsy discovers that Dmitry, one of her investors, needs to hold a wedding for his daughter Anya and demands a spot at the hotel. As everything is prepared, Anya suddenly disappears. Griffin once again warns Birdie of the dangers of getting close ("Too Close"). Molly discovers Anya and soon Paige learns of the wedding. Anya does not want to marry her fiance because of her father's mob connections, but Molly and Paige convince her to go through with it anyway with Anya confirming that Dmitry is in league with Bitsy ("Show Up"). Birdie ignores Griffin and rushes out to rescue Owen and Cole; declaring that narrators should also be guardian angels. To Griffin's shock, this works and Birdie is reinstated as narrator.
TBATBA"Squirrel, Interrupted"[5]Mario D'Anna[6]Jeff Drake[7]TBATBA
TBATBA"Hot Oven"[8]Corey Barnes[9]Rachel Hastings[7]TBATBA
TBATBA"Live it Up Tonight"[10]Mario D'Anna[11]TBATBATBA
TBATBA"A Fish Called Snakehead"[12]Corey Barnes [13]Mark Alton Brown[7]TBATBA

Production

Development

Central Park was developed by 20th Century Fox Television and was originally eyed for the Fox Broadcasting Company, which had been looking to develop more animated series. The Walt Disney Company subsequently announced its intention to acquire 21st Century Fox, the parent of 20th Century Fox Television, excluding the Fox broadcasting network.

After the Fox network decided to pass on Central Park, 20th Century Fox Television, which was about to change ownership, began shopping the project, sparking a heated bidding war among Apple, Netflix, and Hulu.[14]

On March 12, 2018, Apple announced it had given the production a two-season straight-to-series order consisting of twenty-six episodes in total. The series was created by Loren Bouchard, who co-wrote it with Nora Smith and Josh Gad. Executive producers for the series include Bouchard and Gad with Kevin Larsen serving as producer. Production companies involved with the production include Bento Box Entertainment and Brillstein Entertainment Partners, and 20th Century Fox Television distributes and owns the show.[15][14][16][17][18]

On July 27, 2018, it was announced that Regina Hicks was joining the series as an executive producer and co-showrunner alongside Bouchard and Gad,[15] but credits show her only being listed as a consultant. Former King of the Hill writer Sanjay Shah and former The Office writer Halsted Sullivan serve as the series' showrunners.[19]

Casting

Alongside the initial series announcement, it was reported that Gad, Leslie Odom Jr., Tituss Burgess, Kristen Bell, Stanley Tucci, Daveed Diggs, and Kathryn Hahn had been cast as series regulars.[14][20][21][22]

Music

Each episode includes about four original musical numbers sung by the cast. In total, the first season alone will include 48 original songs. Gad joked he had to "beg, plead and barter to get four songs an episode."[23] The songs in the first two episodes were written by several songwriters, including Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson (the songwriters for Olaf's Frozen Adventure), Bouchard, Smith, Davis, Sara Bareilles, and Brent Knopf. Songs in future episodes were written by such artists as Fiona Apple, Meghan Trainor, Cyndi Lauper, Alan Menken and Glenn Slater, Darren Criss, Utkarsh Ambudkar and Aimee Mann. The songs from the first two episodes were made available by Hollywood Records on streaming services the day the show premiered.[24]

Track listing
Song-tral Park (Episode 1-2)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Central in My Heart"Kate Anderson & Elyssa Samsel2:37
2."Heiress to a Fortune"Anderson & Samsel0:20
3."Own It"Anderson & Samsel3:46
4."Poops I'll Pick Up"Steven Davis, Nora Smith & Loren Bouchard2:08
5."Shampagne Was My Best Friend"Anderson & Samsel (lyrics), Smith (music)0:57
6."Central to My Plot"Anderson & Samsel1:01
7."Weirdos Make Great Superheroes"Sara Bareilles2:34
8."Make 'Em Pay"Brent Knopf1:51
9."Weirdos Make Great Superheroes Reprise"Knopf & Bareilles1:02
10."Do It While We Can"Knopf2:51
Song-tral Park (Episode 3)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Momma's Got This"Kate Anderson & Elyssa Samsel1:37
2."Momma's Got This Reprise"Anderson & Samsel0:35
3."Don't Think About the Failures"Anderson & Samsel1:02
4."Birdie Busking"Samsel, Josh Gad, Loren Bouchard & Nora Smith1:35
5."The Park Is Mine"Rafael Casal & Utkarsh Ambudkar1:52
Song-tral Park (Episode 4)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Garbage Ballet"Cyndi Lauper & William Wittman1:19
2."Rats"Lauper & Teddy Sinclair1:50
3."I'm the Worst"Brent Knopf0:50
4."Manager to Manager"Knopf, Steven Davis & Kelvin Yu1:59
5."Rats Calypso Reprise (Rats - End Credits)"Lauper & Sinclair1:08
Song-tral Park (Episode 5)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Spoiler Alert"Alan Menken & Glenn Slater1:38
2."If There's a Will"Kate Anderson & Elyssa Samsel2:12
3."Method to This Madness"Anderson & Samsel1:38
4."If There's a Will Reprise"Anderson & Samsel1:12
5."If There's a Will (End Credits)"Anderson & Samsel0:45
Song-tral Park (Episode 6)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."First Class Hands"Darren Criss3:09
2."Too Close"Kate Anderson & Elyssa Samsel2:32
3."Show Up"Anderson & Samsel2:01
4."What Could Go Wrong?"Brent Knopf1:16

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 93% based on 27 reviews, with an average rating of 7.55/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "With warmth, wit, and a pitch perfect ensemble, Central Park is a joyously hilarious musical love letter to the Big Apple."[25] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 80 out of 100 based on 12 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[26]

Controversy

In June 2020, it was announced Bell, who is Caucasian, would no longer voice the role of Molly, who is biracial, with the role being re-cast with a person of color, with Bell instead voicing a new role.[27] Previously, Bouchard defended this casting at a January 2020 TCA panel, stating that Bell "needed to be Molly, she was always going to honor that character. We couldn’t make Molly white or Kristen mixed race, so we had to go forward."[28] Bouchard has since apologized for that statement.[29]

References
  1. Chong, Simon (March 10, 2020). "Here we go, it's the first trailer for our new musical comedy Central Park! Coming on May 29th on Apple TV, this show is so much fun!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvrXv63y4kI&feature=emb_title …".
  2. Caruso, Nick (January 19, 2020). "Bob's Burgers EP's Musical Comedy Central Park Slates Apple TV+ Premiere". TVLine. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  3. Lenker, Maureen Lee (June 24, 2020). "Central Park to recast Kristen Bell's biracial character with Black actress". Entertainment Weekly.
  4. "Central Park – Listings". The Futon Critic. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  5. "Catalog of Copyright Entries "Squirrel, Interrupted (1LBV07)" Central Park".
  6. "Australian Classification".
  7. "Central Park". Writers Guild of America West. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  8. "Catalog of Copyright Entries "Hot Oven (1LBV08)" Central Park".
  9. "Australian Classification".
  10. "Catalog of Copyright Entries "Live it Up Tonight (1LBV09)" Central Park".
  11. "Australian Classification".
  12. "Catalog of Copyright Entries "A Fish Called Snakehead (1LBV11)" Central Park".
  13. "Australian Classification".
  14. Andreeva, Nellie (March 12, 2018). "Animated Comedy 'Central Park' From 'Bob's Burgers' Creator & Josh Gad Lands 2-Season Pickup By Apple With Star Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  15. Andreeva, Nellie (July 27, 2018). "Regina Hicks Inks Overall Deal With 20th Century Fox TV, Joins 'Central Park' Apple Animated Series As Co-Showrunner". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  16. Holloway, Daniel (March 12, 2018). "Apple Orders Animated Comedy 'Central Park' From 'Bob's Burgers' Creator". Variety. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  17. Goldberg, Lesley (March 12, 2018). "Apple Lands Star-Studded Animated Musical Comedy From 'Bob's Burgers' Creator With 2-Season Order". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  18. Etherington, Darrell (March 12, 2018). "Apple orders first animated show from 'Bob's Burgers' creator". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  19. SXSW Schedule. Central Park.
  20. LeFebvre, Rob (March 12, 2018). "Apple nabs 'Bob's Burgers' creator for new animated comedy". Engadget. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  21. Cross, Jason (March 12, 2018). "Apple's original TV shows and series: Apple signs two-year deal for animated musical comedy Central Park". Macworld. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  22. McLean, Tom (March 12, 2018). "Bouchard's 'Central Park' Lands at Apple". Animation World Network. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  23. Nakamura, Reid (May 31, 2020). "'Central Park': How Josh Gad and Loren Bouchard Assembled 'The Avengers of Musical Theater' for Apple TV+ Series". The Wrap. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  24. Harnick, Chris (May 29, 2020). "Central Park Is Here to Give You New Music by Sara Bareilles, Darren Criss and Many More". E! Online. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  25. "Central Park: Season 1 (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  26. "Central Park: Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  27. Thorne, Will (June 24, 2020). "Kristen Bell Will No Longer Voice Mixed-Race Character in Apple's 'Central Park'". Variety. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  28. Haithman, Diane (January 19, 2020). "'Central Park' Exec Producer Takes Heat for Voice Casting Choices – TCA". Deadline. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  29. Bouchard, Loren (June 24, 2020). "Bouchard apology". Twitter. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
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