THE Mrs Maisel’s comic series is simply marvellous for Amazon
SPOILER alert — I am going to talk about the only TV show that, well, everyone is talking about —The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. Amazon Prime recently released the second series of what i s being described as the American Downton Abbey and on top of various Emmy Awards, it is getting critical acclaim around the globe.
The series stars Rachel Brosnahan as the titular Miriam ‘Midge’ Maisel, a housewife in 1958 New York City who discovers she has a knack for stand-up comedy. The filming is gorgeous with long colourful shots that give way to one of the cleverest scripts to emerge from Hollywood since The Sopranos. Following the premiere of the pilot episode to critical acclaim, the series was picked up by Amazon for a two-season order on April 10, 2017.
It won two Golden Globe Awards (Best Television Series — Musical or Comedy — and Best Actress — Musical or Comedy — for Brosnahan) and five Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Brosnahan. In fact, so successful is the franchise that some six months before Midge, Susie, and Co returned for your bingeing needs, Amazon announced that season three was officially a thing.
news was confirmed following Amy Sherman -Palladino’s acceptance speech at this year’s Peabody Awards. The series was created by Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls) and is now widely tipped to be a big winner when awards season comes rolling around in 2019.
This may be the first real threat Amazon Prime has created to truly rival Netflix and with the five-star reviews, it seems only a matter of t i me before t he subscriptions start flooding in.
I flew to London to catch up with cast, including Rachel Brosnahan and co-stars Tony Shalhoub and Marin Hinkle who are blown away by the emergence of subscription services.
‘Streaming services are making more content and there are more of them than there were before and at least 8,000 in America,’ Tony says. ‘Then you see Apple and Facebook throw their hats in the ring with YouTube, as an actor it is pretty awesome. They always say that 1% of actors work so maybe now it is 2%.’
While there is little doubt the landscape has changed, for older female actors like the incredibly talented Marin Hinkle, the pot of work hasn’t exploded exponen- tially. She says: ‘I am a woman in my 50s and I have a lot of actress friends who are roughly the same age — I don’t think we are sharing that it has changed too much.
‘That is something this show, and the questions it asks about equality and workplace equality, tackles. Hopefully, in five years’ time we can sit down together and say it is growing all over for all types of subjects and actors.
‘There is more room now for inclusion but we have a long way to go to put our money where our mouth is, as an industry.’
Not giving anything away for those not au fait with the series, when the curtain drops on Season One, Midge is on sensitive ground with a number of her cohorts.
Season One follows her plunge into the comedy world as her personal life falls apart but viewers might be struck by a drastic shift in tone when Season Two opens.
‘In the late 1950s, comedy was moving from Vaudeville and into stand-up,’ Rachel says. ‘That’s where it began and in reality it’s not a place for a woman.
‘Midge’s comedy is more stream of consciousness — she is having a conversation with the audience, which again sets her apart from the norm.’
Rachel says she was attracted to the fact that her character was transforming. ‘She’s someone who, when you meet her, is in the process of achieving every dream she’s ever dreamed. She has wrapped up her life in a neat little bow and isn’t planning on growing or evolving any more.
Then something catastrophic happens. And she begins to change and grow and find this new super-power.’ Season Two of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel is on Amazon Prime.