The miniseries stars Lesley Ann Warren as Marja Fludjicki, a poor but beautiful girl who is forced into prostitution despite sincere efforts to make a living and ultimately becomes New York City's most famous madam.
Tom Shales of The Washington Post called the series a "laughable tawdry throwback to movie eyebrow raisers of the '50s, though without any of their appealingly cheap panache.
"[8] Joan Hanauer of UPI described the series as "what is usually called a 'woman's show'", meaning, "the romance is unrealistically sentimental and the moral tone is high, which in no way interferes with depicting the sleaziest kind of sex."
[9] And although he credited the performances of the lead actors, John J. O'Connor of The New York Times was also underwhelmed by the series, calling it an "already tired story ... manufactured for mass consumption with all of the artistic concern afforded a can of baked beans.
"[10] O'Connor's year end review of 1977 television referred to 79 Park Avenue and Aspen as "dumb pot-boilers" which "tarnished considerably" the "promising concept of mini-series.