“Comedy is fuelled by oppression. Judging by those standards, only women should be funny.”
So proclaims the 1950s housewife turned stand-up comedian Miriam Maisel, better known as Midge, as played unforgettably by Rachel Brosnahan in the multiple Emmy comedy The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel - a show which helped kick start a fresh wave of feminist powered hits like GLOW, The Morning Show and more recently Hacks.
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, whose other credits include the endlessly endearing Gilmore Girls, and at least partially inspired by Sherman-Palladino’s own father who was a writer and comedian, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is the kind of rare show that uses its period setting to touch on universal themes that speak to today.
Infused with the lush 50s and 60s styling of Mad Men, the rapid-fire dialogue that has become Sherman-Palladino and husband Daniel’s stock in trade, and one of the most gifted supporting casts ever assembled for TV, it’s not hard to see why Mrs. Maisel is a cut above your standard sitcom fare.
Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) on stage. Credit: Nicole Rivelli
As our plucky protagonist, Brosnahan leaps off the screen from the show’s opening minutes, in a dizzying prologue that introduces us to Midge on the night of her wedding to the handsome but hapless Joel (Michael Zegen), as she regales stories of their courtship to a room full of adoring guests. It’s clear from the outset that not only does Midge have the gift of the gab, but also possesses an uncanny ability to drive home a killer punchline better than your average bride.
Four years and two children later, her seemingly perfect life on the upper West Side is turned upside down after discovering Joel has been cheating on her with his secretary - setting in motion an existential crisis for the once loyal housewife and her doting parents. But after a drunken, expletive laden monologue at a local comedy club lands her in jail for the night, she soon draws the attention of manager Susie (Alex Borstein), who sees something in Midge that perhaps she never saw in herself - a natural inclination for stand-up comedy.
As the newly single Midge sets out in search of her dream and her family question her life decisions, the comedic tone makes way for a much more poignant examination of gender stereotypes, societal prejudices and the uphill battle faced by countless women in any male dominated industry. Midge is said to have been at least partially based on comedian Joan Rivers, who in real life cut her comedy teeth at the Gaslight Cafe in Greenwich Village - the very same venue where Mrs. Maisel makes her revealing debut in the show's first episode.
The equally effective supporting cast of characters offer us further glimpses into more real-life figures who helped inspire the story. As Lenny Bruce, actor Luke Kirby does an uncanny impression of the edgy comedian, who acts as a sort of mentor to Midge as their careers overlap at different points throughout the show. And as the rambunctious talent manager, Alex Borstein gets the lion's share of one-liners in a role she seems born to.
Rachel Brosnahan and Tony Shalhoub. Credit: Amazon Studios / Nicole Rivelli
Yet at its core, this is about so much more than stand-up comedy, as we watch these characters learn and grow during a time of radical change both in their lives and America. Many of the people we spend time with are flawed or unhappy in some way, but like all good showrunners Sherman-Palladino understands that you don’t need to like a character to empathize with them. And on top of all the brilliantly written gags, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is littered with countless pearls of wisdom that lend the show added dramatic weight, whether it be life lessons from Midge’s father (a scene stealing Tony Shalhoub) or acid tongued barbs from her archrival Sophie Lennon (Jane Lynch).
And as Miriam Maisel, Brosnahan is the kind of multi-layered protagonist that skewers the rose-coloured image of the 50s and 60s housewife and gives us an underdog we can truly root for across the show’s five seasons. It’s not hard to see why the actress scored one of the show's impressive 22 Emmy wins - one more than The Sopranos for those keeping count.
So if you’ve ever been curious as to how a story about one woman’s quest to tell a good joke became one of the most talked about shows on television - perhaps it’s high time you head to your nearest comedy club (or in this case streaming service), grab a front row seat, and discover the magic of Mrs. Maisel for yourself.
Seasons 1-4 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel are streaming now at SBS On Demand, with the final season coming later this year.
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The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
