'Central Park': Sara Bareilles' quirky 'Weirdos Make Great Superheroes', among other songs, a hit with fans
Loren Bouchard, Josh Gad, and Nora Smith’s Apple TV+ animated series ‘Central Park’ is both enjoyable and wholesome. The comedy follows the Tillerman family that lives inside the titular green expanse in New York City. Owen (Leslie Odom Jr.), the park manager, and Paige (Kathryn Hahn), his journalist wife, and their kids Molly (Kristen Bell) and Cole (Tituss Burgess) lead an idyllic existence.
All is hunky-dory until Bitsy Brandenham (Stanley Tucci), a bite-sized, evil, old hotel heiress, tired of seeing the park’s views from her penthouse balcony, decides to destroy it, by turning it into a real estate project.
While the “saving the orphanage” trope -- a band of misfits rescuing something from the clutches of the evil and the powerful -- feels slightly tired, the animated series has one card up the sleeves that helps it rise above the rest. It’s a musical. And the show tunes in the series, to quote Samin Nosrat from ‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat’, are “Bellissimo”!
And viewers of the show can’t seem to get enough of it.
The songwriting credits for the show, just like the cast, is a dazzling ensemble. It includes female singer-songwriters like Sara Bareilles, Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple, Cyndi Lauper, and Meghan Trainor. And fans especially seem to love Bareilles, particularly her song ‘Weirdos Make Great Superheroes’.
‘Batwoman’ writer Natalie Abrams shared the song on Twitter, writing, “Searches who wrote this song… OF COURSE, I LIKE IT. It was written by @SaraBareilles!”
Aside from the love for the music, however, there was some amount of criticism for the show as well, especially regarding the casting of Kristen Bell for a biracial character. One viewer wrote, “Loving #CentralPark on AppleTV but I’m just curious what made them pick Kristen Bell for the biracial daughter? I love her, just an interesting casting decision.”
Another wrote, “I love Kristen Bell just as much as the next [expletive], but of all of the Black/mixed voice actors we coulda amplified, y’all got Kristen Bell playing a mixed-race character who’s imaginary superpower is her Afro, something about that don't sit right with me.”
Besides that, most viewers seemed to be happy about having another 'Bob's Burgers'-like series to watch. A viewer wrote on Twitter, "Highly recommend 'Central Park'. Multiple songs per episode. Writing on level with 'Bob's Burgers', and the story is heartwarming and makes you wonder what happens next."
Catch new episodes of ‘Central Park’ every Friday on Apple TV+.
