The new Amazon Prime comedy/drama series "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" is funny, charming, heartfelt, honest, and hopeful. Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino ("Gilmore Girls"), "Mrs. Maisel" follows the life of Miriam / Midge Maisel (Rahel Brosnahan), a 1960s housewife who becomes a stand-up comedian after her husband leaves her.
When Midge Maisel grabs the microphone she also grabs our hearts
The pilot episode portrays Midge as a perfect housewife. She's able to care for her two children, keep the house sparkling clean, and emotionally babysit her attention-starved needy husband, Joel, all while looking incredible. Joel is a horrible, hacky comedian. Midge spends hours of her day crafting delicious brisket in order to bribe a comedy club to give him stage time at open mics. After a particularly bad set, he weakly packs up her suitcase, confesses that he's been having an affair with his young secretary, and leaves Midge.
Upset, Midge goes to her parents for support. Instead, they berate her, and she is forced to console them. They convince her to go search for her husband, and she checks out the comedy club. Drunkenly, she winds up going on stage, delivering a hilarious, vulnerable, killer set. Midge then befriends the comedy club's bar manager Susie (Alex Borstein) who volunteers to help Midge hone her act and manage her career.
Amy Sherman-Palladino's fast-paced, clever dialogue is perfect for the spunky Midge.
"The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" is reminiscent of another Amazon Prime series "Good Girls Revolt." The period piece aspect is adorable and quirky, though I'm not quite sure audiences truly felt the pathos off the sexism, homophobia, and racism that prevailed in the comedy scene of that time.
Midge is a strong, resilient, smart, and positive woman, who shrugs off the oppression and rises above it. I'm not sure if "Mrs. Maisel" is trying to say that if women comedians just ignore the sexism of the industry and do our best that we'll succeed. If so, that seems naive. My only gripe with the series is that I wish the racism, sexism, and homophobia were dealt with more openly, as opposed to subtly implied. But, I'm sure that tone deafness was (sadly) common for the 1960s. I hope they get more into it for season two.
The period piece aspect is adorable and quirky
Alex Borstein's portrayal of Susie was funny, sweet, and adorable. I hope her character, personal motivation, and background story is more fleshed out in season two.
"The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' is a funny, unique, heartwarming, and triumphant tale of resilience and inner strength.