On April 14, the popular comedy series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” returns to Amazon Prime Video with the fifth and unfortunately final season. The show, starring Rachel Brosnahan (32) as aspiring stand-up comedian Midge Maisel, has received 20 Emmy Awards to date, including Best Comedy Series in 2018.
To kick off the final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, here are five exciting facts about the Amazon series that even longtime fans may not know.
Behind “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino (57), who had previously created the cult series “Gilmore Girls” (2000-2007, 2016). Sherman-Palladino’s new main character Midge Maisel in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” was modeled on her own father, Don Sherman (1932-2012), who was an active comedian in New York City in the 1950s.
Through Don Sherman’s life and work experiences, the series creator got to know “the highs and lows of a working comedian”, as revealed by her husband and co-showrunner Daniel Palladino (63) to “Women’s Health”. Wife Amy Sherman-Palladino added, “Don Sherman was a six-foot-tall, bald-headed Jew from the Bronx, and now he’s Rachel Brosnahan.”
In “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” the comedian and actress Alex Borstein (52) embodies the manager and in many ways best friend of the main character Midge Maisel with Susie Myerson. Borstein has twice received an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in the Amazon series.
However, prior to beginning production on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Borstein had just quit acting and relocated to Europe when series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino contacted her about a role on her new show.
“Part of me didn’t even want to read the script because I knew if I read it, I would want to do it,” Borstein, who has also appeared in seven Gilmore Girls episodes, told the US website “vulture”. “I read the script and of course I loved it. Then I texted Amy, ‘Damn, what do I do now?’ I couldn’t possibly say no to that because I didn’t know if anything like it would ever happen again,” said Borstein.
Midge Maisel has two young children named Ethan and Esther on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, though they are seen less and less as the series progresses as the main character’s stand-up career gathers momentum. The main character of the Amazon series was criticized online for this supposed abandonment of her children in favor of her job.
Leading actress Rachel Brosnahan finds this so-called “mom-shaming” to be “problematic”, as she herself explained to “Parade”. The actress pointed out that “ambitious men who are also fathers” would not face such criticism.
In “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” Luke Kirby (44) plays the already established stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce (1925-1966), who becomes a mentor, supporter and love interest for the main character Midge Maisel in the course of the series.
Lenny Bruce is not an invention of the series creators of the Amazon show. The real Bruce is still considered one of the most influential stand-up comedians of all time – and tragically passed away far too young at the age of just 40.
Kitty Bruce (67), the daughter of Lenny Bruce, has revealed herself as a big fan of the Amazon series. “It’s obvious that [actor] Luke [Kirby] took his role very seriously. He worked very hard to capture the nuance and comedic timing of Lenny Bruce,” she told the New York Post.
When viewers of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” first set eyes on the main character Midge Maisel, she was wearing the color pink. Costume designer Donna Zakowska (69) revealed to “Parade”: “The first costume I designed for the series was Midge’s pink coat from the pilot. It became her signature color because for me it refers to the pink glasses through which Midge sees the world”.
However, when Midge Maisel takes the stand-up stage on the Amazon show, she always wears a black or dark dress and bright red lipstick. According to makeup artist Patricia Regan, the latter would symbolize Midge Maisel as “a strong woman turned comedian”.
