The Oh So Wonderfully, Unavoidably Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

It is hard to slot ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ under any existing bucket! Hence I can describe it best with adjectives — rich, novel, comic, progressive, musical.

The delightful Rachel Brosnahan, who played a small role on ‘House of Cards’, stars as a housewife who decides to pursue standup in the America of the 1960s. Hailing from a rich, Jewish family in New York, having two children and an on & off marriage, watch as Miriam Maisel pursues her dream facing obstacles at each step, depicted through music and comedy. Oh and when she climbs on stage, she’s a hoot!

Each episode is like a nuanced broadway musical, but the kind you’ll appreciate, not the kind of trashy musical that comes out of Hollywood and gets lauded just because it obliged the world by being a musical. Instead, the musical format here is a device to say so much so fast and so deliciously! And what amazing Jazz music, including newer covers of Sinatra and Streisand as well!

Such a progressive, feminist show, it also comments on the rampant sexism that affects women in all walks of life, however it does so through the unique lens of a woman pursuing standup in 1960s America.

Created, written and directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino, herself a daughter of a comedian father and a dancer mother, the show’s other characters — Maisel’s Manager Susie and her parents and in-laws, are again such brilliant characters enacted by such brilliant actors and the composition of families is extremely reminiscent of families in our homes in India.

Word to the wise — this isn’t every wo/man’s cup of tea, it’ll need some taste and refinement to appreciate it. But if you think you possess that, I promise you’ll adore this show! And this is one of those rare shows that actually becomes bigger and better with each season!

You grow richer when you watch this one! Strongly, very strongly recommended.

P.S. It’s on Amazon Prime