The wonderful Mrs. Maisel

As already anticipated on these pages, many of the most interesting things to see now pass on subscription streaming channels managed by authentic economic powers (Amazon, Apple) which now act as authentic content producers like NetFlix, which has always been dedicated only for entertainment.
To the point that a USA series for teenagers like This is us, broadcast on a Sky pay channel, has been filmed and transposed these days in an Italian version Noi, for the most institutional channel and for all of Italian TV such as RaiUno che cerca thus also attracting the subscriber audience of a rival channel.
Pretending nothing would mean placing oneself in an anti-historical position without never forgetting the beauty of the experience in the room and indeed affirming it again with force.

Amy Sherman Palladino is an American screenwriter and television producer who, together with her husband Daniel, created the series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel for Amazon, which has recently reached its third season. Miriam Midge Maisel, is a woman who lives in New York in 1958 but struggles to respect the conventions of the time.
The dream of a happy life, accompanied by two children and a posh Upper West Side apartment, is shattered when her husband abruptly leaves her.
In response, she Midge will face adversity by discovering an unexpected talent, that of comedy.
Having become a star of the stand-up comedy, she too will have to challenge public opinion here to become the guest of the king of American talk shows Johnny Carson.

This is the brief opening of the series which for its comic and narrative rhythm is very reminiscent of the amazing comedies by Howard Hawks with Katherine Hepburn (especially Susanna from 1938), jewels of comedy full of jokes and hilarious situations that overwhelmed the viewer with unsurpassed dynamism.
But Palladino has the ability to resume and update an unsurpassed style for a serial comedy in which the splendid Rachel Brosnahan (Maisel) triumphs, but also the happy interactions that writing creates between the many characters that are never secondary, even if secondary. Accurate costumes, music and settings - everything is in place for a sparkling comedy not to be missed.

Davide Bracco
NP april 2022