Central Park (TV series)

Central Park
Genre	Animated sitcom Musical
Created by	Josh Gad & Loren Bouchard & Nora Smith
Voices of	Kristen Bell Tituss Burgess Daveed Diggs Josh Gad Kathryn Hahn Leslie Odom Jr. Stanley Tucci Emmy Raver-Lampman
Theme music composer	Kate Anderson Elyssa Samsel
Composers	Leo Birenberg Elyssa Samsel Brent Knopf Elegant Too John Dylan Keith
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	18 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Josh Gad Loren Bouchard Nora Smith Halsted Sullivan Jon Liebman Marc Gurvitz Robin Schwartz Sanjay Shah Janelle Momary-Neely
Producers	Kevin Larsen Lindsey Stoddart
Editors	Kris Fitzgerald Stephanie Earley Matthew Parcone
Running time	22–27 minutes
Production companies	Wilo Productions Angry Child Productions Brillstein Entertainment Partners 20th Television[a] (2020–21) 20th Television Animation[1] (2022–)
Release
Original network	Apple TV+
Picture format	4K (Ultra HD)
Original release	May 29, 2020 (2020-05-29) – present
External links
Website

Central Park is an American musical adult animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard, Nora Smith and Josh Gad for Apple TV+.^[2] Debuting on May 29, 2020, the series revolves around a family living in Central Park in New York City who must save it from a greedy land developer.

In March 2021, the series was given an early third season renewal and the second season premiered on June 25, 2021.^[3]

Premise[]

Told through the eyes of a fourth wall-aware busker narrator, named Birdie, the musical series tells the story of the Tillerman–Hunter family who live in Edendale Castle in Central Park. Patriarch Owen (the dorky manager of the park), his wife Paige (a journalist always stuck with writing fluff pieces and hopes to write a real story), their daughter Molly (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 frequently 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 issues and save the park.

Cast[]

Main[]

• Kristen Bell (season 1)^[4] and Emmy Raver-Lampman (season 2)^[5] as Molly Tillerman, Owen and Paige's daughter; Cole's sister; she likes drawing her 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 owner does. Burgess also voices Kelleth Vanbeaceler, the author of The Squirrel Quarrels, in "Squirrel, Interrupted".
• Daveed Diggs as Helen, Bitsy's assistant; she is frequently abused by her employer and hopes to inherit the Brandenham fortune for herself one day.
• 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. Birdie has trouble staying professional in his work. He believes a narrator's job is to act as a guardian angel to the protagonists in the story they are following.
• 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 treats it.
• 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. She is the owner of Brandenham Hotel in Manhattan.
  • Keala Settle as Young Bitsy.

Following her replacement for the voice of Molly, Bell will voice a new character in the third season of the series in a main capacity.^[6]

Recurring[]

• H. Jon Benjamin as Whitney Whitebottom (season 1), the Mayor of New York City who is in league with Bitsy.
• Eugene Cordero as Brendan Brandenham, a boy that Molly secretly has a crush on and often flies his kite in the park. Molly fantasizes about him as her superhero partner Kite-Boy. He is the grand-nephew of Bitsy Brandenham and opposes her plan to buy Central Park upon learning about it.
• Rory O'Malley as Elwood, a park ranger and Owen's partner who always seems in over his head. He has a pet worm named Diane and has a natural rhythm.
• David Herman as Dmitiry (season 1), a Russian oligarch that Bitsy hopes to get in league with.
• Brian Huskey as Doug, Paige's co-worker.
• Janelle James as Fran, another park ranger.
• Phil LaMarr as Randy, another park ranger.
• Tony Shalhoub as Marvin, Paige's boss.
• Fred Stoller as Leo Shallenhammer (season 1), a member of the City Council.
• Edward Asner as Ambrose Brandenham, Bitsy's older brother.
• Ester Dean as Hazel, Molly's friend and lab partner. In Molly's comic, her superhero counterpart is named "The Haze".
• Kerri Kenney-Silver as:
  • Lucy (season 2), a former maid whose employer left her everything in his will.
  • Dory Sterling (season 2), a hotel owner.
  • An unnamed member of the Park League (season 2).
• Marc Evan Jackson as Anton, Ambrose's butler.
• Stephanie Beatriz as Enrique, Cole's friend who shares his interest in the fantasy novel series The Squirrel Quarrels.

Guest[]

Introduced in season one[]

• Fred Armisen as
  • Esposito, a sanitation engineer manager.
  • Zoom Abromavich, a movie tour guide whose tours often involve obscure films or deleted scenes of films.
• Danny Burstein as Dick Flake, a fishing enthusiast.
• John Early as Augustus, Shampagne's dog therapist.
• Ron Funches as Danny, a boy who challenged Molly to chess.
• Christopher Jackson as Glorious Gary, a local skater in Central Park.
• Jessica Lowe as Anya, the wife of Zack and daughter of Dmitiry.
• Audra McDonald as Ashley, a likability consultant.
• Andrew Rannells as Griffin, another busker and the replacement narrator for the episode "Rival Busker" after Birdie previously gave away a spoiler to Paige.
• Robin Thede as Anita, an auditor that Bitsy hires to sabotage the park.
• Kelvin Yu as Sheng, another park ranger.

Introduced in season two[]

• Yvette Nicole Brown as Gina Tracker, the main character of the Tillermans' favorite police procedural.
• Thomas Lennon as Leslie Portergrave, the owner of a hotel in Brooklyn.
• Norm Lewis as Lionel, a bartender at the Brandenham hotel.
• Amber Ruffin as Shauna, a friend of Hazel's from her basketball team that Molly gets jealous of. In Molly's comic, her superhero/supervillain counterpart is named "Sha-Boom".
• Keith David as Ward Wittlinger, Owen's idol.
• Patti LuPone as Roberta McCullough, the owner of What's New, New York?, the newspaper where Paige works.
• Henry Winkler as Hank Zevansky, an insurance investigator.
  • Gavin Creel as Young Hank.

Episodes[]

Series overview[]

Season		Episodes		Originally aired
				First aired	Last aired
	1	10		May 29, 2020 (2020-05-29)	July 24, 2020 (2020-07-24)
	2	16[7]		June 25, 2021 (2021-06-25)	April 8, 2022 (2022-04-08)[7]

Season 1 (2020)[]

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Prod. code
1	1	"Episode One"	Gavin Dell	Loren Bouchard, Nora Smith & Regina Hicks	May 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 the Brandenham fortune ("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 incredibly ("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").
2	2	"Skater's Circle"	Corey Barnes	Halsted Sullivan	May 29, 2020 (2020-05-29)	1LBV02
Owen tries to get things right with the Central Park League, who is in charge of funding the park. He has 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 hides 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 is having a debate that could impact the park's funding. 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 the skaters' value while Birdie foreshadows his eventual discovery ("Do It While You Can").
3	3	"Hat Luncheon"	Ian Hamilton	Chuck Tatham	June 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 Mayor Whitney Whitebottom influenced Leo's vote 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. The city officials and socialites get into a food fight ("The Park is Mine") while Brendan reveals that Bitsy is his great-aunt, and Paige receives an answer from the mayor who says that "we can do better" and escapes. Afterward, Molly kisses Brendan but gives him an allergic reaction as she had peanut ice cream. Owen's speech ends up being a success, mostly because everyone was tired of fighting.
4	4	"Garbage Ballet"	Gavin Dell	Monica Padrick	June 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 ill, 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 find a loophole with the help of a sympathetic trash manager Esposito ("Manager to Manager"). Bitsy challenges her employees to room 723 in her hotel, which is haunted. As she enters to disprove this to the maids, she supposedly senses her father.
5	5	"Dog Spray Afternoon"	Joel Moser	Annie Levine & Jonathan Emerson	June 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 cannot 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.
6	6	"Rival Busker"	Corey Barnes	Sanjay Shah	June 26, 2020 (2020-06-26)	1LBV06
This episode's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (January 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Griffin 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 fiancé 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.
7	7	"Squirrel, Interrupted"	Mario D'Anna	Jeff Drake	July 3, 2020 (2020-07-03)	1LBV07
This episode's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (January 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Cole celebrates that tomorrow will be the "Sqavenger" Hunt in Central Park based on his favorite book series The Squirrel Quarrels by Kelleth Vanbeaceler ("Nuts Nuts Nuts"). Owen agrees to take Cole to the event while Paige spends some mother-daughter time with Molly over chess. To her surprise, Molly turns out to be good at it and decides to take her to play against the pros. Owen and Cole go on the scavenger hunt and Cole's friend Enrique, but Owen begins to have trouble understanding the complexities of the book series. Meanwhile, Bitsy attends her family reunion, where she openly despises them, especially her brother ("Big Deal"). She tells them her plan to buy Central Park with Brendan, her nephew, being the only one showing real concern over it. Paige voices her excitement at having Molly be a chess player while Owen feels terrible for messing up his relationship with his son ("Can We Do Today Again?"). Molly ends up losing to a professional player, which causes Paige to worry that Molly will not like chess anymore ("Can We Do Today Again? (Reprise)"). However, Molly is okay with losing, which relieves Paige. Owen decides to double down his efforts and helps Cole and Enrique win the scavenger hunt, and eventually having dinner with the author.
8	8	"Hot Oven"	Corey Barnes	Rachel Hastings	July 10, 2020 (2020-07-10)	1LBV08
Molly and Brendan have resumed their relationship and privately voice their love for one another as they text each other ("I'm in a Perfect Relationship"). Still, when Cole suggests they invite him over for dinner, she is reluctant, especially since Paige cannot stop asking questions and Owen's pizzas notoriously fail. Meanwhile, Shampagne pees on Bitsy's bed, and she calls dog expert Augustus to help out. He informs Helen that if Shampagne begins biting, he is a TOSGANO (this one sucks get a new one), and Helen hatches a scheme to get Shampagne removed ("TOSGANO"), only for it to once again fail. Bitsy puts a letter out about how Central Park is a dump, offending Owen and Paige. As Molly brings Brendan over, she discovers that he is a Brandenham and struggles to keep this a secret from her parents. Owen rushes out with Birdie to perfect the pizza, and despite dropping it on the floor when he gets home, everyone discovers that it tastes good. Paige gets Brendan to reveal his namesake, and he, in turn, reveals Bitsy's plan to buy the park. Despite this, Owen and Paige are unfazed by Molly's relationship with Brendan and are glad about how things turned out ("Imperfectly Perfect"). Molly and Brendan make multiple attempts to kiss, with each shot ending poorly.
9	9	"Live It Up Tonight"	Mario D'Anna	Syreeta Singleton	July 17, 2020 (2020-07-17)	1LBV09
This episode's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (January 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) As Bitsy prepares for her award ceremony ("Live It Up Tonight"), she has Mayor Whitebottom hire Anita, an auditor, to dig up some dirt on the park so that she can get Owen fired from his job. Cole and Molly want to attend a pop-culture tour for Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Owen and Paige decide to let the two go on their own, despite Cole's fear of the dark, while they choose to have a date night. While Cole and Molly join the tour ("Zoom's Home Alone 2 Deleted Scenes Tour"), Owen and Paige cease their date night when Anita notices a misplaced receipt, forcing them to rush to the store to find it. Cole gets scared from the tour by bats ("Rated Hard PG, for Spookiness"), just as it begins to rain, making the Tillerman-Hunters frustrated ("I Did Not Account for This"). Eventually, Owen and Paige get the receipt and return it in time while Molly retrieves Cole, and they head home. Meanwhile, Bitsy and Helen accidentally end up trapped in a prohibition tunnel and find themselves locked in a wine cellar, which they believe is from a rival hotel, and destroy the stock. They make it to the award ceremony with Bitsy, upset that Owen was not fired and that the stock was theirs. Owen and Paige enjoy cleaning the bathroom together ("Live It Up Tonight (End Credits)"). Note: This episode is dedicated to the memory of Nick Cordero, a Broadway actor who passed away due to COVID-19 complications.
10	10	"A Fish Called Snakehead"	Corey Barnes	Mark Alton Brown	July 24, 2020 (2020-07-24)	1LBV11
This episode's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (January 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Owen is informed about a snakehead possibly living in the Harlem Meer which horrifies him as it could damage the ecosystem ("Hell-Fish"). The rest of the family decide to join him to get some firsthand experience. Meanwhile, Bitsy learns that she is unlikeable, and the mayor hires a likability professional named Ashley, who plans to change her image for the better ("New York Doesn't Like Your Face"). Soon, the snakehead's story becomes a media sensation, and Bitsy decides to take advantage of it by hiring a fishing expert named Dick Flake ("Dick Flake"). Bitsy's likability rises, but only if Dick catches the fish and gets paid. He manages to do so as Bitsy tries to damage Central Park's image once again. However, Paige notices that the fish already seemed dead and deduces that Dick just bought one from a butcher's store. Owen feels like giving up, but his family encourages him to fight for the park. They head out together at night, and Owen successfully catches the snakehead. Paige breaks the story as it outs Dick as a fraud and humiliates Bitsy once again. Bitsy vows to continue her campaign against the park while the Tillerman-Hunter family rest easy, knowing that they can pull together to protect the park from people like Bitsy ("Die Trying").

Season 2 (2021)[]

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No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by [8]	Original release date [9]	Prod. code
11	1	"Central Dark"	Mario D'Anna	Dan Hernandez & Benji Samit	June 25, 2021 (2021-06-25)	2LBV01
Birdie and the Tillerman-Hunter family reintroduce themselves ("Middle of it All"). Meanwhile, Bitsy and Helen are in Weehawken for an event where the latter regales her closeness to her hometown ("Weehawken"). They arrive at the event where Bitsy speaks to all the other hotel owners and reveals that she has the future plans for cheap real estate that she plans to use while also insulting her rivals. The Tillerman-Hunters sit down to watch television together where Molly reveals that she is going to a concert with Brendan. However, there is a major tri-state blackout and everyone is affected ("Come into the Darkness"). The family opts to play a Salem Witch hunt board game where they begin to suspect one another, especially when Cole reveals that Molly lied as it is a double date with juvenile delinquents. Bitsy's rivals chase her and Helen as the latter uses her knowledge of the town to get them home during the blackout ("W(h)ich Way"). Bitsy manages to secure the plans just as the power comes back on. The Tillerman-Hunters realize that none of the them were the witch as the witch card got lost during the blackout and Molly apologizes while Owen and Paige allow Molly to go to the concert and watch an encore of their show ("In the Dark").
12	2	"Mother's Daze"	Tom King	Chuck Tatham	June 25, 2021 (2021-06-25)	2LBV02
It is Mother's Day and Owen, Molly and Cole are setting up the morning for Paige ("All About You"). Molly and Cole prepare their gifts for Paige, but Cole realizes that the pearls he bought are cheap and Molly realizes that her gift, a scarf, is not special and they desperately try to find a new gift for her. Owen and Paige have a walk in the park, but Paige spots a mysterious "unsanctioned plaque" which is read like a clue and leads Owen on a scavenger hunt. Meanwhile, Helen has her day off and Bitsy becomes sober; frightening her. She asks the bartender, Lionel, for her drink ("Pour Poor Me More Please"), but he quits when he is denied service tenders and all his customers leave. Helen finally has a day off at a spa, but discovers that she cannot stand relaxing and returns to the Brandenham ("This is It"/"This is It Reprise"). She forces Bitsy to apologize and Lionel gets what he asked for. Paige finds the last clue is at the park bench where she discovered that she was pregnant with Molly and learns that the scavenger hunt was elaborately set up by Owen and the kids who return with their homemade gifts. She accepts them because she loves them and has them promise that no matter how old they get, she will always be a part of their lives ("Promise").
13	3	"Fista Puffs Mets Out Justice"	Mario D'Anna	Chuck Tatham	June 25, 2021 (2021-06-25)	1LBV13
In Molly's comic book world, Fista Puffs is trying to stop a monster at the museum ("The Fistapuffs Theme Song"), however it is a simulation and she somehow is unable to resolve it. Her fellow heroes, Haze and Sha-Boom, are training her to join their team the Pow Pow Boom Booms ("Pow Pow Boom Booms"), but Fista Puffs realizes that Sha-Boom is evil and Haze apologizes for not believing her. Molly, still in comic book form, is called to dinner where her family seems very compliant and tells her to forget her problems ("No One's Home"). Molly realizes that this is wrong and gets called down to dinner for real. Molly reveals that at the museum that day, her friend Hazel began talking to Shauna and was laughing at her jokes. She felt uncomfortable and started making flat jokes. Paige tells an embarrassing story about how she threw up in a friend's mouth while riding a roller coaster to cheer her up, but Molly goes back upstairs disappointed. She resumes the compliant family in her comic, but they all turn on her for hiding her problems and Molly finally confronts them head on ("Trying Too Hard"). Haze and Sha-Boom are back to being Fista Puffs' friends while in the real world, Molly is now hanging out with both Hazel and Shauna ("Pow Pow Boom Booms Reprise"). Note: Birdie, Bitsy, and Helen do not appear in this episode.
14	4	"Of Course You Realize This Means Ward"	Matt Garafolo	Jeff Drake	July 2, 2021 (2021-07-02)	2LBV03
Owen is nervous because the person he hired to speak for the Central Park field trip had to cancel. Owen refuses to be a speaker himself as he is nervous and recalls getting inspired by another park manager named Ward Whitlinger ("The Answer is Ward"). Paige decides to use her journalism skills to find and locate Ward so that he can speak. Molly and Cole go to see Brendan for his indoor kite flying competition and try to spice up his performance ("Kite String"). Meanwhile, Bitsy has Helen type her memoir, but discovers that her brother Ambrose is typing one too and they race to the publisher. She tells them that they are both terrible, but that Bitsy's is "slightly" better, causing her to gloat, though she later ponders if she is just trying to impress her parents. Brendan gets overwhelmed by the preparation and Molly apologizes as he goes and performs. Ward arrives at the park, but he has lost faith in the earth and gives a cynical speech. Owen, along with Birdie and Elwood take the stage and give an uplifting speech about saving the planet ("Why Bother"). Ward is impressed with Owen's determination and leaves on good terms with him, while Birdie and Elwood suggest making a band with Owen, much to his annoyance ("Why Bother (End Credits)"). Note: This episode credits an extra song called "Just Type" (Patrick Dacey, Tim Dacey and Jeff Drake) which is not featured in the episode, nor listed on the episode soundtrack.
15	5	"Down to the Underwire"	Mario D'Anna	Meredith Dawson	July 9, 2021 (2021-07-09)	2LBV05
Molly tells her family that she needs a new bra ("I Have a Bra-blem"), but Paige has to go into work, so Owen goes in her stead. Meanwhile, Helen finds a key which Birdie explains is to Bitsy's records ("Little Key"). Helen needs to take Shampagne to the park so that Cole can walk him, but during the walk, Helen loses the key. She takes Shampagne back and enlists Cole, Enrique and Elwood to help search for it ("Keep It Low Key"). Owen is overwhelmed by the abundance of bras and Molly is dissatisfied so they enlist the help of a kind, dutiful employee. Bitsy shows up at the paper to meet with the owner Roberta McCullough and Paige and Marvin think they will lose their jobs. It turns out that Roberta had raced Bitsy when they were younger, but lost when Bitsy cheated. They decide to have another footrace around the office to determine the winner ("Down to the Wire"). Roberta wins and demands the ribbon while Owen finds the perfect bra for Molly. Helen gives up the search, but Cole finds the key and claims that Shampagne ate and pooped it out to divert Bitsy's suspicion. Cole decides to stop obsessing over Shampagne and enjoy his youth and Molly thanks Owen for his help with finding a new bra for her ("Bra-blem Solved/Keep It Low Key (End Credits)").
16	6	"The Shadow"	Mario D'Anna	Dan Hernandez & Benji Samit	July 16, 2021 (2021-07-16)	1LBV12
With the Tillerman-Hunters not doing anything special today, Birdie takes the audience the time to focus on Bitsy for once; specifically a moment in the past relating to a famous hotel thief called the Shadow ("The Shadow"). The supposed thief strikes again at the Brandenham Hotel. Bitsy, as usual, shows little to no compassion or concern for what has transpired and is further put off when a former officer, now insurance claimer named Hank Zevansky comes with the intent to solve the case. Bitsy is annoyed at Hank's insistence, especially when looking for a "calling card"; forcing Bitsy to confess that she was the Shadow in her youth due to her parents caring very little for her ("That Was All Me"). Hank admits that he knew it was her and had a brief encounter with her in the past ("A Moment Forever Ago"). Satisfied, Hank leaves Bitsy alone who was slightly glad to be noticed. Birdie explains that while it was a small thing, that minor act of kindness meant a lot. In an instrumental segment ("A Thing On Strings (A Busker's Serenade)"), Birdie interacts with an elderly woman and nurse. The woman dies, but Birdie is comforted by the nurse and later by a little boy who dances to his music as he quietly returns to busking ("A Moment Forever Ago (End Credits)"). Note: "A Thing On Strings (A Busker's Serenade)" is listed as "Sungrai's Song (Birdie Short)" in the end credits.
17	7	"A Decent Proposal"	Tom King	Ava Tramer	July 23, 2021 (2021-07-23)	2LBV06
Molly is getting ready to go to Bitsy's birthday party with Brendan ("Will I Fit") as Owen returns with a bottle he fished from the lake. He discovers that it held a proposal and he and Paige find Taylor, who tried to propose to his girlfriend Lauren. Owen resolves to fix his proposal. As Bitsy minces her guests ("My Worst Day"), Molly begins to feel out of place ("Will I Fit Reprise"). She runs into Bitsy who takes an interest in her crude drawings of the guests until she sees that she drew one of her. Nevertheless, she likes it and approves of her and Brendan who comes and apologizes to Molly. Helen takes Shampagne to the park where Cole begins to play with him until the dog becomes enamored with a Great Dane named Kingston ("Puppy Love"). With Helen's help, the dogs get together and she smiles for once. Owen becomes obsessed with fixing the proposal and finally breaks down his terrible proposal to Paige to his employees ("How It Happened"). Paige realizes that he was mostly disappointed in himself and tells him that it was okay. They let Taylor propose to Lauren his way to success. Afterwards, Molly, Cole and Paige set up a new proposal in the living room for Owen who happily accepts ("How It Happened Reprise/Puppy Love (End Credits)")
18	8	"Sir Bricks-A-Lot"	Mario D'Anna	Mnelik Belilgne	July 30, 2021 (2021-07-30)	1LBV10
Birdie explains that the Tillerman-Hunters have had a rough week until Owen was offered a job at Kingsley University in Connecticut. As he mulls the idea over, the family begin to play with building block toys and decide to create their own ideal future should Owen take the job. Molly imagines that she would be a janitor at the University with dreams of being an artist ("Paint the World"), before creating an extraordinary drawing that advances her career in life; her inspiration being Owen. Paige decides to be a successful fiction author ("A Different Paige"), but gets captured by an obsessive fan named Margarett (who resembles Bitsy), only to be saved by a relaxed Owen. Cole takes a spaceship where he befriends an alien, but must return him before the government takes him and is aided by Owen. Owen reveals that he wants to create the perfect park at Kingsley ("Follow Through"), but realizes that no matter where he goes, similar problems are always going to follow him and makes peace with the idea of staying in New York. To his surprise, the rest of the family is happy as they all realize that they cannot leave their favorite things behind and continue playing with the blocks while Birdie sums up the moral ("A Different Paige End Credit").

Production[]

Development[]

Central Park was developed by 20th Television and was initially eyed for the Fox Broadcasting Company, which had been looking to create 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.^[10] 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, 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.^{[11][10][12][13][14]}

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.^[11] Still, 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.^[15] On March 10, 2021, Apple TV+ renewed the series for a third season ahead of the second season premiere and the second season premiered on June 25, 2021.^[3] Loren Bouchard said seasons two and three will consist of 29 episodes and an additional 115 songs.^[16]

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.^{[10][17][18][19]} On July 24, 2020, Emmy Raver-Lampman was cast as Molly Tillerman, the mixed-race protagonist originally portrayed by Bell.^[5]

Controversy[]

In June 2020, Bell, who is white, announced that she would no longer provide the voice of Molly, who is biracial, in the second season of Central Park. Molly's role would be recast with a person of color, and Bell would instead voice a new role.^[20] Loren Bouchard had 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."^[21] Bouchard apologized for that statement in June 2020.^[22] The following month, Raver-Lampman was recast to voice the role of Molly.^[5]

Music[]

Each episode includes about four original musical numbers sung by the cast. In total, the first season alone includes 46 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. Samsel also plays the violin for Birdie's solos.^[24] Songs in the first season 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.^[25] Among songwriters announced for the second season include cast members Diggs and Gad, as well as Rufus Wainwright, They Might Be Giants, Ingrid Michaelson, returning songwriter Rafael Casal, John Cameron Mitchell, Tank and the Bangas, and Don't Stop or We'll Die.^[26]

Track listing[]

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Song-tral Park (Episodes 1-2)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Central in My Heart"	Kate Anderson & Elyssa Samsel	2:37
2.	"Heiress to a Fortune"	Anderson & Samsel	0:20
3.	"Own It"	Anderson & Samsel	3:46
4.	"Poops I'll Pick Up"	Loren Bouchard, Steven Davis & Nora Smith	2:08
5.	"Shampagne Was My Best Friend"	Anderson & Samsel (lyrics), Smith (music)	0:57
6.	"Central to My Plot"	Anderson & Samsel	1:01
7.	"Weirdos Make Great Superheroes"	Sara Bareilles	2:34
8.	"Make 'Em Pay"	Brent Knopf	1:51
9.	"Weirdos Make Great Superheroes Reprise"	Bareilles & Knopf	1:02
10.	"Do It While We Can"	Knopf	2:51

Song-tral Park (Episode 3)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Momma's Got This"	Anderson & Samsel	1:37
2.	"Momma's Got This Reprise"	Anderson & Samsel	0:35
3.	"Don't Think About the Failures"	Anderson & Samsel	1:02
4.	"Birdie Busking"	Bouchard, Josh Gad, Samsel & Smith	1:35
5.	"The Park Is Mine"	Utkarsh Ambudkar & Rafael Casal	1:52

Song-tral Park (Episode 4)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Garbage Ballet"	Cyndi Lauper & William Wittman	1:19
2.	"Rats"	Lauper & Teddy Sinclair	1:50
3.	"I'm the Worst"	Knopf	0:50
4.	"Manager to Manager"	Davis, Knopf & Kelvin Yu	1:59
5.	"Rats Calypso Reprise (Rats - End Credits)"	Lauper & Sinclair	1:08

Song-tral Park (Episode 5)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Spoiler Alert"	Alan Menken & Glenn Slater	1:38
2.	"If There's a Will"	Anderson & Samsel	2:12
3.	"Method to This Madness"	Anderson & Samsel	1:38
4.	"If There's a Will Reprise"	Anderson & Samsel	1:12
5.	"If There's a Will (End Credits)"	Anderson & Samsel	0:45

Song-tral Park (Episode 6)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"First Class Hands"	Darren Criss	3:09
2.	"Too Close"	Anderson & Samsel	2:32
3.	"Show Up"	Anderson & Samsel	2:01
4.	"What Could Go Wrong?"	Knopf	1:16

Song-tral Park (Episode 7)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Nuts Nuts Nuts"	Jeff Drake & Knopf	2:18
2.	"Big Deal"	Aimee Mann	2:00
3.	"Can We Do Today Again?"	Drake & Knopf	2:21
4.	"Can We Do Today Again? Reprise"	Knopf	0:32

Song-tral Park (Episode 8)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"I'm in a Perfect Relationship"	Meghan Trainor	2:17
2.	"TOSGANO"	Knopf	1:46
3.	"Imperfectly Perfect"	Anderson & Samsel	2:29
4.	"I'm in a Perfect Relationship (End Credits)"	Trainor	1:05

Song-tral Park (Episode 9)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Live It Up Tonight"	Anthony Hamilton & Charles Holloman Jr.	0:40
2.	"Zoom's Home Alone 2 Deleted Scenes Tour"	Knopf	1:27
3.	"Rated Hard PG, for Spookiness"	Knopf	1:12
4.	"I Did Not Account for This"	Anderson & Samsel	1:49
5.	"Live It Up Tonight (End Credits)"	Hamilton & Holloman	1:14

Song-tral Park (Episode 10)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Hell-Fish"	Knopf	1:51
2.	"New York Doesn't Like Your Face"	Fiona Apple & David Lucky	2:28
3.	"Dick Flake"	Anderson & Samsel	1:11
4.	"Die Trying"	Anderson & Samsel	3:20

Central Park Season Two, The Soundtrack - Songs in the Key of the Park (Blackout) [Original Soundtrack]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Middle of It All"	Samsel & Anderson	1:26
2.	"Weehawken"	Supercommuter	2:08
3.	"Come into the Darkness"	Yu, Davis, Dacey	1:25
4.	"W(h)itch Way"	Samsel & Anderson	2:47
5.	"In the Dark (End Credits)"	John Cameron Mitchell	0:46

Central Park Season Two, The Soundtrack - Songs in the Key of the Park (Mothers Daze) [Original Soundtrack]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"All About You"	Taura Stinson	2:07
2.	"Pour Poor Me More Please"	They Might Be Giants	2:25
3.	"This Is It"	Stinson	1:15
4.	"This Is It Reprise"	Bouchard, Stinson	0:54
5.	"Promise"	Jess Furman, Alana De Fonseca	1:58

Central Park Season Two, The Soundtrack - Songs in the Key of the Park (Fista Puffs Mets Out Justice) [Original Soundtrack]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Fista Puffs Theme Song"	Knopf	1:54
2.	"Pow Pow Boom Booms"	Gad, Ben Romans	2:42
3.	"No One's Home"	Samsel, Anderson	2:26
4.	"Trying Too Hard"	Samsel, Anderson	3:16
5.	"Pow Pow Boom Booms (End Credits)"	Gad, Romans	0:46

Central Park Season Two, The Soundtrack - Songs in the Key of the Park (Of Course You Realize, This Means Ward) [Original Soundtrack]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Answer Is Ward"	Drake, Patrick & Tim Dacey	2:23
2.	"Kite String"	Rufus Wainwright	2:09
3.	"Why Bother?"	Drake, P. & T. Dacey	2:45
4.	"Why Bother? (End Credits)"	Drake, P. & T. Dacey	0:47

Central Park Season Two, The Soundtrack - Songs in the Key of the Park (Down to the Wire) [Original Soundtrack]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"I Have a Bra-blem"	Tank and the Bangas	1:44
2.	"Little Key"	Ciampi, Meredith Dawson, Smith	0:30
3.	"Keep It Low Key"	Samsel & Anderson	2:13
4.	"Down to the Wire"	Samsel & Anderson	2:04
5.	"Bra-blem Solved"	Tank and the Bangas	0:42
6.	"Keep It Low Key (End Credits)"	Samsel & Anderson	0:42

Central Park Season Two, The Soundtrack - Songs in the Key of the Park (The Shadow) [Original Soundtrack]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Shadow"	Daveed Diggs	1:53
2.	"That Was All Me"	Samsel & Anderson	2:25
3.	"A Moment Forever Ago"	Samsel & Anderson	2:34
4.	"A Thing on Strings (A Busker's Serenade)"	Samsel	5:14
5.	"A Moment Forever Ago (End Credits)"	Samsel & Anderson	0:42
6.	"A Moment Forever Ago (Demo Version)"	Samsel & Anderson	2:17

Central Park Season Two, The Soundtrack - Songs in the Key of the Park (A Decent Proposal) [Original Soundtrack]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Will I Fit"	Regina Spektor	1:17
2.	"Will I Fit Reprise"	Spektor	1:01
3.	"My Worst Day"	Casal	2:08
4.	"Puppy Love"	Don't Stop or We'll Die	1:16
5.	"How It Happened"	Samsel & Anderson	2:41
6.	"How It Happened Reprise"	Samsel & Anderson, Ava Tramer	0:59
7.	"Puppy Love (End Credits)"	Don't Stop or We'll Die	0:49

Central Park Season Two, The Soundtrack - Songs in the Key of the Park (Sir Bricks-A-Lot)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Paint the World"	Ingrid Michaelson	2:50
2.	"A Different Paige"	Samsel & Anderson	2:17
3.	"Follow Through"	Samsel & Anderson	2:53
4.	"A Different Paige (End Credits)"	Samsel & Anderson	0:56

Reception[]

Critical response[]

Central Park has received acclaim from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds an approval rating of 94% based on 47 reviews, with an average rating of 7.45/10. 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."^[27] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 81 out of 100 based on 13 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".^[28]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has an approval rating of 100% based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 7.71/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Featuring more stellar songs and a tenderhearted focus on family, Central Park is even more delightful in this reprise.^[29] On Metacritic, the second season has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100 based on 4 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".^[30]

Accolades[]

Year	Award	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
2020	AAFCA TV Honors	Best Animated	Central Park	Won	[31]
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance	Leslie Odom Jr. as Owen Tillerman (for "Episode One")	Nominated	[32]
2021	Artios Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Television Animation	Julie Ashton	Nominated	[33]
	Critics’ Choice Super Awards	Best Animated Series	Central Park	Nominated	[34]
	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Animated Series	Central Park	Nominated	[35]
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance	Tituss Burgess as Cole Tillerman (for "A Fish Called Snakehead")	Nominated	[36]
			Stanley Tucci as Bitsy Brandenham (for "A Fish Called Snakehead")	Nominated

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• Central Park – official site
• Central Park at IMDb
• Central Park at Rotten Tomatoes
• Central Park at Metacritic