Central Park

There’s joy in the music, aided by the bright elastic animation, and a sense of purpose, too: “Central Park” openly defies, with tongue in cheek and a skip in its step, billionaire culture, arguing that it’s the duty of the people to stand up against their culturally smothering cupidity.

Its jokes are rat-a-tat yet unpredictable, its characters are quick to understand yet ever-deepening, its performances are delightful, its animation is crisply fluid, and its songs? Wowee, its songs. They get you right in the heart upon first listen, and I promise you the first listen will not be your last listen. Simply put: Central Park is a knockout.

Central Park is funny and warm, and has songs that will stick in your head.

There’s a lot of potential within an already streamlined package, even if it’s threatening to burst open at any minute. So long as the season settles into a groove and manages to avoid overwhelming itself, “Central Park” looks to be a worthy successor to a landmark sitcom — even if there’s still room for improvement along the way.

Creators Loren Bouchard, Nora Smith (Bob’s Burgers), and Josh Gad (Frozen) apply brainy, Broadway-style whimsy to the daily dramas of life. The result is a show that has a good heart, and you can dance to it, too.

Setting up the long game slows down the first episode, but the series builds in the four episodes screened for critics, powered by goofy, good-hearted humor. It has ideas and ideals, but it wears them lightly and keeps the messages to a minimum.

Central Park‘s songs are so infectious that the show’s areas for improvement were really only apparent well after I’d stopped watching each episode.

As an animated family comedy, Central Park is pleasant, amiable and sometimes funny, but probably not hugely impactful. As a musical, Central Park is something wonderful, a joyful and elating experience almost guaranteed to put a smile on your face at a moment when pure pleasure is a welcome salve.

A delightful animated comedy. ... There’s nothing preachy about the show, which is just as raunchy as Burgers.

Central Park is ultimately a fairly simple show about a family of strange, sweet people who are all trying to do their best in the world. But it’s also got a hefty amount of associated premise — probably more premise than is strictly necessary — and at times seems to trip over its own silly, ornate trappings. With some time to work out the kinks, though, it has the potential to become an extremely endearing show.

Once Bouchard and company finally strike that ideal balance between music and dialogue, this series has the potential to morph into a truly momentous experience.