https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5788792/?ref_=ttpl_pl_ttSet in 1950s Manhattan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is a 60-minute dramedy that centers on Miriam "Midge" Maisel, a sunny, energetic, sharp, Jewish girl who had her life mapped out for herself: go to college, find a husband, have kids, and throw the best Yom Kippur dinners in town. Soon enough, she finds herself exactly where she had hoped to be, living happily with her husband and two children in the Upper West Side.
A woman of her time, Midge is a cheerleader wife to a man who dreams of a stand-up comedy career, but her perfect life is turned upside down when her husband suddenly leaves her for another woman. Completely unprepared, Midge is left with no choice but to reevaluate what to do with her life.
When she accidentally stumbles onto the stage at a comedy club, she soon discovers her own comedic skills and decides to use this newfound talent to help her rebuild a different life for herself. The series will trace the trajectory of Midge's journey as she goes on to pursue a career ...
It's a lot funnier than that fairly dry description would indicate...
(Sue, if you haven't seen it I think you in particular would like this; I'm sure a lot of the "cultural references" would sound familiar...
)In addition to the star, Rachel Brosnahan, (who's won both a Golden Globes Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy, and a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series) there are fantastic performances turned in by the supporting cast...
Two particular standouts are Alex Borstein as Susie Myerson, Midge's über caustic manager, ( a role that a few years ago would probably have been played by Rhea Pearlman... I didn't think I was at all familiar with Borstein until I looked her up on IMDB and saw that she's been the voice of Lois Griffin on Family Guy for the past 20 years) and Tony Shaloub (Monk) as Midge's long-suffering father Abe. (Shaloub is probably the only major cast member who would be considered well-known.)
There are eight episodes with another eight that should be airing this fall. (It seemed to me like the main plot was developing kind of slowly, but that was because I didn't realize the story arc had been planned for 16 episodes rather than eight)
Outstanding acting, writing, and direction; a real quality production...
Four stars; Jim Bob says check it out...
), and got through three episodes. There's a lot that's truly great about it, some that's not and some that I'm reserving judgment on until I see a bit more of where the character development/story arc goes. The acting is terrific and it is shot beautifully, with stunningly detailed artistic direction; it's worth watching for the set decoration alone. It looks like the creators love New York in the same way that Woody Allen does.
