Mrs. Maisel has my heart
And why you should watch it too..
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, is a stunning and breathtaking show taking two women on their journey to success that nobody wants them to go on. Folks, this show is not for kids as it involves colourful language but it makes up for it with colourful everything. The remarkable sets, the New York City lights in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the studded vintage apartments with splendid bright & contrasting colour palettes.
Oh and the dresses! My god, the dresses! One-of-a-kind, radiant, and dazzling dresses.
The heart of the show follows Midge’s ups and downs in her journey to be somebody famous. Before wanting to be famous, she was perfectly happy with her life as a housewife, with a loving husband & two kids in her elegant and gorgeous apartment in New York’s Upper West Side. She claimed she had everything she wanted but when her husband leaves, she is left to pick up the pieces by stumbling upon her hidden talent of being a stand-up comedian all because of a nervous breakdown. You need to watch the show to crack this particular egg.
Did I say her dresses are beautiful? Beautiful doesn't cut it, the outfits of all the women in the series are stunning and the bold colours are magnificent. Just like her dresses, Midge’s will to get things is downright phenomenal. The show involves Midge’s family & her ex-husband Joel Maisel’s family throughout the show and every single character is so well written. Miriam’s father Abraham Weissman has to be one of the best supporting characters. His wit and his pet peeves go hand in hand. I absolutely love everything about this show.
The comedy-drama & multiple award winner series, created by Amy Sherman-Palladino who is also one of the show's writers, can be streamed on Amazon Prime. Amy Sherman-Palladino is also known for her creation of the series Gilmore Girls. I watched Gilmore Girls after watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and I was filled with joy when I started to recognize some of the cast members of the Gilmore Girls appearing on Mrs. Maisel, one of the leading roles going to Alex Borstein playing Susie Myerson - a talent manager, a few others worth mentioning who appeared on the show are Kelly Bishop, Liza Weil, Emily Bergl, Chris Eigeman, Milo Ventimiglia, Sean Gunn, and more.
The show closely follows the “friendship” of the leading characters Midge Maisel and Susie Myerson (shown above) throughout the show over 5 seasons (containing 8-9 episodes each season). The stand-up comedy sets performed by the Midge are mind-blowing. Every stand-up is unique and outstandingly performed. The story also shows an advanced relationship between Midge and her ex-husband Joel Maisel (played by Micheal Zegen). While there are several progressive storylines taking place in the show, a woman finding her voice, women starting their businesses, etc, the show quite easily lets us know about societal conservatism quite quickly when in the first episode, Midge’s husband walks out on her and her father asks her ‘to get him back’. The prospect of not having a husband was presented as a dreadful fate for a woman. Watching that scene, it was surprising to me but of course, it was understandable. In fact, the various times Midge getting no support from anybody around her made me remember the stories that my mom told me about her own experiences during her youth. The similarities were uncanny.
A recurring role that we see and love is that of real-time late comedian Lenny Bruce portrayed by the actor Luke Kirby. He has been awarded for his performance as well. His alluring performance is a delight every time he comes on the screen. The show matched the real-life performances of Lenny Bruce on several occasions and most of them are available on YouTube. I watched those & I was highly impressed by how Luke Kirby enacted them. I asked my best friend to watch this show who doesn’t usually watch a lot of shows. She became deeply invested in the show and I was grinning proudly when she told me because that woman does not watch anything that easily.
I have too many praises for this show. It covers so many topics and breaking boundaries at the same time. When the final episode aired, my friend and I watched it together and we loved every second of it. That final stand-up that Midge does when she takes it upon herself not to waste the opportunity she gets to appear on a ‘Tonight Show’. How everybody comes together for support. It’s just brilliant.
My absolute favorite episodes are the finale of season 4, specifically a choreographical act performed by strippers at a strip club on a song called ‘Femininity’, (by Eileen Rodgers) and what I love is the cinematography of it all. It’s just genius. I highly recommend watching it.
And, the second is of the final season 5, episode 6 called ‘The Testi-Roastial’. I love it because this episode single-handedly moves along the storyline by narrating the events in the characters’ lives. The best part is, that the narration is mostly done by guest stars who only appear once in the entire history of the show, just for this particular episode. The guest stars portray famous celebrities hosting a roast of Susie Myerson. It was a delight to watch.
I request you all who are reading this that if you haven’t seen the show, please watch it and enjoy this glorious stream of joy.
All the pictures are from wallpaperaccess.com