“I know, shit happens. You should be a bigger man and let it go. Well, I’m a woman, so f**k that.”
So says the inimitable Midge Maisel in the new trailer for season four of Amazon’s unmissable series, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, which will debut on the streamer on February 18, with two new episodes dropping every Friday for four weeks.
The new season, which opens in 1960, sees Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) and her manager, Susie (Alex Borstein), trying to recover from losing her spot on singer Shy Baldwin’s (LeRoy McClain) tour after accidentally almost outing him. Looking to hone her act, Midge finds a gig with total creative freedom. But her commitment to her craft — and the places it takes her — creates a rift between her and the family and friends around her.
The Marvelous Mrs Maisel (which hails from Gilmore Girls creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino) first debuted on Amazon in 2017 and tells the story of a well-to-do New York housewife who finds a talent and passion for standup comedy when her husband leaves her for another woman. Set in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the series has been praised not only for its searing wit but for its portrayal of the frustrating stereotypes, discrimination and limitations felt by women at the time.
From the stunning period costumes to the fantastic comedy, delivered with effortless flair by Brosnahan, it’s really not hard to see why people love Mrs Maisel so much and why we’ve been eagerly awaiting the upcoming season.
In case you needed more of a reason to tune in, check out the laundry list of accolades the series has racked up since its debut. The show won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy in 2017 and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2018. Brosnahan won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2018 and two consecutive Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy in 2018 and 2019.
Meanwhile, Borstein (who you might recognise as the voice of Lois in Family Guy) won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series twice consecutively, in 2018 and 2019; while Tony Shalhoub (who plays Abe, Midge’s father) won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2019.
In an interview with StyleCaster, Brosnahan previously spoke of her hopes for the fourth season of the series and, in particular, Midge’s arc. “I hope that Midge continues to grow and change,” she said.
“Her progress has been realistically, but sometimes frustratingly slow. She’s lived in a bubble for a long time. She’s an extremely privileged woman, who is becoming very slowly aware of how privileged her worldview has been. Her getting introduced to all these other characters, I think she’s being humbled. She’s learning a lot about a less rose-coloured world.”
The actress also spoke about the comedian she looked to for inspiration when getting into character and expressed a desire for that particular person to make an appearance in the new season.
“Ali Wong is someone whose standup I’ve studied a lot in preparing for this role”, she said. “I felt like the quality of standup that Ali does feels very in line with Midge. She also talks about motherhood and family. I watched Baby Cobra a number of times. I would love, love to have Ali Wong on the show, as someone who’s a huge fan, but also for those worlds to collide.”
While it doesn’t sound like Wong will, in fact, have a cameo in the fourth season (which would have been, quite simply, amazing) there are still plenty of supremely talented performers to keep an eye out for, including Emmy-nominee Marin Hinkle, Michael Zegen, Kevin Pollak, Caroline Aaron, and Emmy-winner Luke Kirby.
Season four of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel debuts on Amazon Prime Video on February 18, with two new episodes dropping every Friday for four weeks. Check out the trailer below.
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