Central Park Helps Turn A New Paige For Cartoon Moms

Central Park premiered less than a month ago, but already it has won acclaim from fans for its humor, heart, and wacky musical stylings. Coming from creators Loren Bouchard, Nora Smith, and Josh Gad, the Apple TV series revolves around a family of four. Kristen Bell and Tituss Burgess play two kids, while Leslie Odom Jr. shines as their father Owen and Kathryn Hahn brings to life their mother, Paige.

Paige is a big personality in a show full of big personalities. Like many other characters on the show, she’s kooky and off-beat. She can be brash, passionate, and over the top at times, as demonstrated in the show’s fourth episode, Garbage Rats, where she goes to war against a gang of (maybe) imaginary rats making their nests inside the family’s home. In some ways, she shares a lot of traits with the gaggle of cartoon moms like Linda from Bob’s Burgers and Marge from The Simpsons. Paige and Linda are both outgoing, assertive people who love to get a little wild. I can image Linda having a plot just like Paige’s rat war. And like Marge, Paige is very grounded when it comes to caring for her family and making sure the day’s chores, activities, and checklists get done.

But one big difference when it comes to Paige’s role in Central Park is that she isn’t merely a stay-at-home mother. I love Linda, but she doesn’t really have much of a drive outside of dealing with her kids and helping her husband out with his restaurant. And we all know that Marge isn’t the most modern depiction of parenting. That’s why it’s so interesting to see that Central Park gives Paige some career motivations of her own that aren’t tied to others in her family. She’ a reporter for an under the radar New York newspaper, but has aspirations to become a serious journalist who covers real stories, not just fluff pieces like style reviews.

This choice not only allows the show to represent the working mother, but gives the writers a lot more leeway when it comes to storylines for Paige. While she can always have fun at home with the kids, like in the Garbage Rats episode, we can also follow along with her as she pursues her dreams of becoming a serious writer and stands up to the boss who consistently underestimates her. That’s something that everyone can identify with, and makes her a more interesting, relatable character.

While many other women in TV animation are stay-at-home mothers, Paige is able to balance her kids and her career, even if it’s not always a walk in the park.