Marvellous Mrs Maisel

A feel-good web-series nothing short of a masterpiece.

by: Hannan Arshad

I first ran into a trailer for Marvellous Mrs Maisel back in 2017 while scrolling through youtube looking for a new series to watch. But owing to its bright colours, atypical script, and fresh, but at the time, seemingly quirky characters, I didn’t think to watch the show. Set in the 1950’s, this never-been-done-before story of a late-twenties, female comedian taking the streets of New York by storm, all while dressed in perfect, pretty outfits, seemed like a story not made for me. A year later, though, I regretted not watching it sooner.

The name Marvellous Mrs Maisel refers to the show’s main character Midge Maisel and her unmatched talent for stand-up comedy. Being married to a wannabe comedian, Midge would often accompany him to his weekly acts at a New York coffeehouse. However, post his shocking decision to divorce her for his secretary, she finds herself at the very same cafe taking on to the stage to vent. What started as a whimsical, drunk attempt at releasing her emotions became an unexpected revelation of her talent for comedy. Her effortless jokes left the cafe in riots and this is where her story begins.

What followed was an unfolding of a recent divorcee’s life as she takes on an unconventional career instead of patching things with her unloyal husband. Despite the mindset of the 50’s, what is most refreshing is her modern ideologies and joyful approach to it all. Although, more than the journey she takes, and its interesting starting point, it is the carefully crafted script, sets and incredible casting that I fell in love with.

Being a millennial kid, having a show transform me into Midge’s world was a magnificent experience. The sets, made perfectly to recreate the many 1950s diners, cafes and hotels, and costumes capturing the eye-catchy colours of that era as well as its elegant outfits and extravagant hats, together made for an immersive world. Along with that, the carefully written characters and dialogues made it impossible to not feel engaged. Their pretty, pastel colour palette, beautiful dresses and consistent, bright lighting, brings in a natural feeling of joy and hope much like the main character’s personality. However, more than the visuals, the reason for my interest in this show lies in the characters’ use of language.

Its characters being spectrums apart from each other, like Susie Myserson, a coffeehouse owner turned talent agent, or Abe Weissman, a typical Jewish middle-aged man, the show provides a multitude of personalities. Moreover, directed and written by Amy Sherman-Palladino, much like her direction of the famous Gimore Girls, this show is planned as a fast-paced, conversation heavy series. With its actors often mentioning they had 70-80 pages of dialogues for a single scene, her aim was to engage the audience with consistent deliverance of one-liners and witty comebacks. Tony Shaloub, who plays Midge’s father, says

 the show forces its audience to hone “a way of listening at high speed”. Personally, this made for the best part about the show. While engrossed in the multitude of chaotic dialogues, having some of the jokes hit you a minute or two after adds to the adrenaline of watching the characters and their energy. Their hour-long episodes would pass by like lightning with the amount of fun I’d have watching them.

With the amount of dialogues in one scene, one of the show’s specialties is its attempt at highlighting the personalities of all characters within the room. This makes it impossible to lose attention; all the more reason to marvel at Amy’s craft. Moreover, with the lead actor, Rachel Brosnohan, the quality of the show’s humour and deliverance is evident in her prep as she claimed to have studied the likes of Joan Rivers, Lenny Bruce and Jean Carroll.

Having won the Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy, and eight Emmys including Outstanding Comedy Series, all for just the first season, what’s fascinating about the show’s success is how powerful a script really is. Till date, I struggle to convince most of my friends into watching the show and I see them hesitate because of the age-gap between the leading characters and themselves as well as the largely dissimilar time period. However, once a few of them watch the first episode, it lures them in the same way it did me. Amy’s power-packed deliverance of dialogues, each written to perfection emphasises the power of language and how it resonates with the audience. With each of Midge’s dialogues written by herself and her husband, she proves that storytelling aided by humour and intellect can attract even the most recent generations of audience into watching a character based in the 50’s despite zero connection to her life and experiences; a fact I still ‘marvel’ at despite being a fan for four straight years now.

The Marvellous Mrs Maisel Season 1 Trailer

(Viewer Discretion: Explicit Language)