''Central Park West'' (also known as ''CPW'') is an American prime time television

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

that ran from September 1995 to June 1996 on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. The series was created and executive produced by

Darren Star Darren Star (born July 25, 1961) is an American writer, director and producer of film and television. He is best known for creating the television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1990–2000), ''Melrose Place'' (1992–1999), ''Sex and the City' ...

. As the title suggests, ''CPW'' was set in New York, in the affluent

Central Park West Eighth Avenue is a major north–south avenue on the west side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic below 59th Street. It is one of the original avenues of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 to run the length of Manhattan, ...

area of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Mariel Hemingway Mariel Hadley Hemingway (born November 22, 1961) is an American actress. She began acting at age 14 with a Golden Globe-nominated breakout role in ''Lipstick'' (1976), and she received Academy and BAFTA Award nominations for her performance in ...

Mädchen Amick Mädchen Elaina Amick ( ; born December 12, 1970) is an American actress and television director. She is known for her starring role as Shelly Johnson on the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991), its prequel film '' Twin Peaks: Fire ...

, and

Kylie Travis Kylie Travis (born 27 April 1970) is an English-born Australian actress known for her leading role in the soap opera ''Central Park West''. Early life Travis was born in London, England, the oldest of four sisters. After her birth, her family ...

portrayed three of the central characters on the show. The program represented CBS's attempt to reestablish itself after a disastrous 1994-95

television season A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed bet ...

where the network lost a heavy amount of established affiliates due to affiliation switches related to Fox acquiring NFC football rights, and an attempt by the network to attract younger viewers. It was the network's most-promoted new show in many years with a promotional campaign exclusively produced to appeal to younger viewers, and attempted to recapture the network's past nighttime soap glory from the years of ''

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

'' and ''

Knots Landing ''Knots Landing'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on CBS from December 27, 1979, to May 13, 1993. A spin-off of ''Dallas'', it was set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles and initially centered on the lives of ...

''. Australian singer and actress

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

was offered a lead role, but declined. The series was not successful and was removed from CBS' schedule in November 1995, returning some months later with new additions made to the cast (Hemingway left by this point, and

Raquel Welch Jo Raquel Welch ( Tejada; September 5, 1940) is an American actress. She first won attention for her role in ''Fantastic Voyage'' (1966), after which she won a contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her contract to the British studio Hammer ...

was brought in). The retooling was not enough to save the show, which was canceled in June 1996. The failure of the series returned the network quickly back to their traditional broadcasting focus and repairing relations between both the network's new affiliates and their older stations which were frustrated by the network's moves in programming rights and programming within the

Laurence Tisch Laurence Alan Tisch (March 5, 1923 – November 15, 2003) was an American businessman, investor and billionaire. He was the CEO of CBS television network from 1986 to 1995. With his brother Bob Tisch, he was part owner of Loews Corporation. ...

era, which would end shortly thereafter with Westinghouse's purchase of CBS, Inc. in 1995 (approval of ''CPW'' to be placed on the network's schedule came well before Westinghouse's purchase).

Synopsis

''Central Park West'' premiered on September 13, 1995, and aired Wednesdays from 9:00 - 10:00 p.m. With a cast headlined by

, ''Central Park West'' centered around the glamorous and exciting life of the staff of trendy magazine ''Communique'', owned by Allen Rush (

Ron Leibman Ron Leibman (; October 11, 1937 – December 6, 2019) was an American actor. He won both the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play in 1993 for his performance as Roy Cohn in ''Angels in Amer ...

), "the Darth Vader of publishing". Mariel Hemingway played the role of Stephanie Wells, the newly appointed editor-in-chief of ''Communique''. Central to the

plot Plot or Plotting may refer to: Art, media and entertainment * Plot (narrative), the story of a piece of fiction Music * ''The Plot'' (album), a 1976 album by jazz trumpeter Enrico Rava * The Plot (band), a band formed in 2003 Other * ''Plot' ...

is the rivalry between Stephanie and Allen's stepdaughter Carrie Fairchild (

), a scheming young woman who does her best to seduce Stephanie's writer husband Mark Merrill (

Tom Verica Tom Verica (born May 13, 1964) is an American actor, director, and producer, best known for his role as Sam Keating in the ABC drama ''How to Get Away with Murder'' (2014-2020). He also played Jack Pryor in the NBC critically acclaimed drama ''Am ...

). The series followed several other ambitious New Yorkers, as well as the evil and deceitful

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n bombshell Rachel Dennis (

), the new fashion editor at ''Communique''.

Reception

''Central Park West'' was initially geared towards

Generation X Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western world, Western demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years a ...

viewers and was heavily promoted by CBS. The series failed to draw in viewers and was put on hiatus in November 1995. ''Central Park West'' was then revamped in an effort to attract older viewers. Mariel Hemingway's character was written out of the series, and

Gerald McRaney Gerald Lee McRaney (born August 19, 1947) is an American television and film actor. McRaney is best known as one of the stars of the television shows ''Simon & Simon'', '' Major Dad'', ''Promised Land'' and ''House of Cards''. He currently stars ...

Noelle Beck Noelle Beck (born December 14, 1967, in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American actress, best known for her role as Trisha Alden on the ABC daytime soap opera ''Loving''. Career Beck graduated from Baltimore School for the Arts. She portrayed ''Lov ...

and

joined the cast. Retitled ''CPW'', the revamped version, which consisted of eight episodes, began airing June 1996, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10:00 - 11:00 p.m. The changes were unsuccessful as CBS canceled the series on June 28, 1996.

Cast

Main

as Carrie Fairchild *

John Barrowman John Scot Barrowman (born 11 March 1967) is a Scottish-American actor, author, presenter, singer and comic book writer. He is known for his role as Captain Jack Harkness in '' Doctor Who'' and ''Torchwood'', and as Malcolm Merlyn in the Arrow ...

as Peter Fairchild *

Melissa Errico Melissa Errico (born March 23, 1970)"Melissa Errico"
profile, Bro ...

as Alex Bartoli *

Lauren Hutton Lauren Hutton (born Mary Laurence Hutton; November 17, 1943) is an American model and actress. Born and raised in the southern United States, Hutton relocated to New York City in her early adulthood to begin a modeling career. Though she was ini ...

as Linda Fairchild-Rush *

Justin Lazard Justin Lazard (born November 30, 1967) is an American retired actor, producer, director, and model. Early life Lazard was born in New York, but raised in Connecticut. His father, Sidney Lazard, is a former foreign correspondent, and his mother, ...

as Gil Chase *

Michael Michele Michael Michele Williams (born August 30, 1966) is an American actress and fashion designer. She began her career on stage before appearing opposite Wesley Snipes in the 1991 film ''New Jack City''. In the 1990s, Michele had leading roles in tw ...

as Nikki Sheridan *

as Mark Merrill *

as Rachel Dennis *

as Stephanie Wells (season 1) *

as Jordan Tate (season 2) *

as Dianna Brock (season 2) *

as Adam Brock (season 2)

Recurring

as Allen Rush *

Michael Reilly Burke Michael Reilly Burke (born June 27, 1964) is an American actor. He played Rex Van De Kamp on the unaired pilot of ''Desperate Housewives''. Steven Culp replaced him before the pilot aired. He also appeared in The WB series ''Charmed'' in the epi ...

as Tyler Brock (season 2)

Episodes

Season 1 (1995)

Season 2 (1996)

Nielsen ratings

''Central Park West'' debuted on Wednesday, September 13, 1995, ranking 61st for the week with 9.7 million viewers and a rating/share of 7.5/12.

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* * {{epguides, id=CentralParkWest, title=Central Park West 1990s American drama television series 1995 American television series debuts 1996 American television series endings American television soap operas American primetime television soap operas Central Park English-language television shows Serial drama television series CBS original programming Television series by CBS Studios Television shows set in New York City Television series created by Darren Star