'Central Park' Review
TV-14
Runtime: 21-26 minutes per episode
Production Companies: Bento Box Entertainment, Brillstein Entertainment Partners, 20th Century Fox Television
Distributor: Apple TV+
Created By: Loren Bouchard, Josh Gad, Nora Smith
Voice Cast: Kristen Bell, Tituss Burgess, Daveed Diggs, Josh Gad, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Stanley Tucci
Release Date: May 29, 2020 (weekly)
Loren Bouchard took the world by storm with Bob’s Burgers. I mean, people loved his first series, Home Movies on Adult Swim, but let's be honest, no other primetime animated series today slaps as hard as Bob’s Burgers. It’s the best animated show that’s running on Fox as of now. Hell, next year we’re getting a Bob’s Burgers movie. One of the aspects that makes the show unique is its creative, flashy, yet brief musical moments. They’re great, but they aren’t enough. Now the team behind Bob’s Burgers has expanded their horizons and, along with friggin’ Josh Gad, created a new musical animated comedy for Apple TV+ called Central Park, which is — and I am being completely honest when I say this — the best show currently on Apple TV+.
Narrated by a park musician who often inserts himself into the story, the show focuses on the Tillerman family who resides in the heart of the park. You have Owen the park manager (Odom Jr.), his wife Paige (Hahn), who’s determined to become a more respected journalist, and their two kids — Cole (Burgess), who is desperate to own a pet for himself, and Molly (Bell), a cartoonist who is having a hard time expressing herself to a boy she likes. They often must tackle their own misadventures throughout the city while having to fend off hotel heiress Bitsy (Tucci), who plans to destroy the park and turn it into a gentrification condo complex.
Unlike Bob’s Burgers, Central Park is a consistently cohesive story-driven series. It does a great job building up your interest in each episode and what the Tillerman family must face next in their unconventional day-to-day lives. They fall under the familiar “animated dysfunctional family” bracket that has been done to death. Certain characters have traits that remind me of characters from other Bouchard series, like Molly, who is a mixture of Tina and Louise, for she is snarky but extremely socially awkward, especially around boys and Birdie, who is basically a musically-tuned version of Teddy. That said, it doesn’t take long to warm up to these characters because they’re all funny, charming, and got them bars.
The show prides itself on its music and by God does it excel at it. We haven’t had an animated series that embraces its comical musical theater format in so long. It might be the first show I’ve seen to do it in a light, subversive manner since Phineas and Ferb. The animators and storyboard artists really give it their all when crafting large bombastic musical sequences that truly shine on their own, and the music itself is also pretty damn good. I’ve had my screener for nearly a month and I would go back and rewatch some of the musical moments because they’re that good. I’m wondering what their plan is for marketing the music because you know they have to drop singles and an album soon, especially when you have the likes of Sara Bareilles, Brent Knopf, Rafael Casal, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Cyndi Lauper penning some of the music. Oh yeah, all of those notable artists worked on the music in this series and that’s only the first four episodes. I’m eager to see who else they nabbed for the remainder of the series. Each episode contains a variety of songs, each dabbling in a different genre ranging from hip-hop and pop to power ballads and theatrical ensemble pieces. They are clearly inspired and are full of unique and lively energy. Aforementioned, it’s been a long time since a series of this nature balanced the humor, story, and music in this format, especially for 22-minute episodes.
The voice cast is incredible. They hired many performers who are known to be great singers in their own right. The leads are friggin’ Leslie Odom Jr, Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, and Tituss Burgess, who we are known to have great sets of pipes on them. While they do a great job in their designated roles, the characters I love watching are the conniving antagonist, Bitsy, and her right hand, Helen. Bitsy wants to destroy the park for power and Helen wants Bitsy to pass on so she can inherit her wealth. They have a hilarious dynamic, but it’s funnier when you realize it’s Stanley Tucci and Daveed Diggs voicing these old women. Tucci is doing a raspy low-octave voice for Bitsy, but Daveed Diggs’s natural voice comes out of Helen, which cracked me the hell up. Loren Bouchard, keeping the tradition of having great male voice actors portray female characters without any of us batting an eye because they’re funny and you love them.
Though I’ve only seen a quarter of what’s to come, it’s safe to say that Central Park is undoubtedly the best series that Apple TV+ has to offer. It’s a funny, charming, and energetic musical comedy that fully embraces its flair, which I haven’t seen done so well since Phineas and Ferb. It features a great blend of the familiar Bob’s Burgers-like tone and visual style, along with other cool art styles. You’re hooked from the opening number as you fall into this colorful yet manic world and I am eager to see more of it.
