I’m way more with Omar here. Some of the humor on the show is her stand-up, but there’s plenty of dialogue humor and situation humor. Her neglect of her kids isn’t something she’s even aware of, so she’s not joking about it, but I’m laughing about it.
In Mad Men, at some point little Sally comes into the kitchen with a dry cleaning bag over her head. The mother looks at her and gasps in shock: “If the clothes from that dry cleaning bag are on the floor of my closet, you’re going to be one sorry young lady.”
I’m a bad person. I laughed. And while Mrs. Maisel isn’t that terrible, she’s that kind of terrible.
Her naivete, her wealth, her comfort in upper-crust society also make up a large part of her humor. She’s a very flawed character, and the show mines her flaws for laughs. Not necessarily jokes, but definitely laughs.
Or else it wasn’t supposed to be funny, and I’m going to hell.
The first part is a basically anticipated rejoinder I didn’t mention because well it’s obvious and the post was already long. “I’m talking about what I think is the funniest comedy now few people have heard, not the stuff everyone has”. It’s not a wholly silly argument, but you can make that argument in response to any criticism of the general level of art at a given time (comedy, music, painting, whatever), ‘not the really good stuff you don’t know about’.
Still, in a world where intensely non-funny sharing of audience and ‘comedian’ political views, roaring at what are just political statements is a big part of mass market comedy (eg. that somebody like Samantha Bee would be on TV at all, if only cable) does IMO make it a little ironic for 2019 people to talk about non funny comedy in other periods.
But I don’t entirely reject your point. I’ve also thought at times when Mrs. M comes through and absolutely kills the audience, ‘this isn’t really killing me’. But sometimes her routines are funny, to me. And they are not the funniest part of the show. I’d watch this show just for Tony Shaloub, though he’s also only part of why I enjoy it so much.
From the reviews I heard back when season one first came out, what you said is pretty much what the writers intended. Her act was never meant to be one that modern audiences would find funny, it was meant to be one that audiences in 1958 would have found shocking and edgy. The review I heard on NPR before I ever saw the show explicitly stated that viewers might not find her act funny, so I was prepared for that going in. But that’s not really the point of the show anyway, it’s about how Midge and the people around her change as the show progressed; her standup career is just a catalyst for that.
And he moved back in with his Mom? And they had a housekeeper/nanny? I knew a LOT of families like this growing up. Maybe it’s cultural. When the nanny was in the house my parents did not consider us at all. On Saturdays, they often had to be reminded that we needed lunch. Then we would go outside and not be seen or thought of again until dinnertime, for which we had best not be late.
Remember when she and her parents all left the apartment and were nearly on the elevator when the remembered the kids? That was meant as a joke. And remember when t hey left the baby in the car for like an hour while they moved into the vacation cottage? That was also playing for a laugh. My heart skipped a beat each time, but it was meant for a joke, and my evil friends laughed heartily.
I’ve always thought that stand-up hit its zenith with Steve Martin and George Carlin. Both different but brilliant and side-holding gasping-for-air funny.
The blonde bassist is supposed to be a stand-in for Carol Kaye, of the Wrecking Crew (a group of session musicians who saved a lot of treacly pop hits and turned them into Rock n Roll classics.
[spoiler]Yeah, once Abe quits both jobs, and Rose denounces her trust, I just wanted to slap the both of them.
I actually used the term “self-centered” yesterday, and my wife agreed it was the most appropriate term.
Anyone notice the bassist occasionally plays left handed and occasionally right? Maybe they are subtly signaling that she is a switch-hitter.
I feared the Apollo set would not go well, but I still thought the final scene a bit of a shock.
And I kept waiting for Suzy to tell the diva off.
Thought the creepy subletter detracted rather than added.
I thought many episodes were a tad unbalanced - but maybe they always were. Given the limited number of eps, I was surprised at how often they would show extended musical productions. And I thought some of the “slapstick” routines - Suzy and Midge running from radio spot to radio spot - detracted from my caring about them as real people.
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Final thoughts - I really enjoyed these 8 eps, but I’m really going to have to learn how reframe my mental approach to a series like this. I feel like I was waiting for the new season for a long time. And then, my wife and I binged it in less than a week. And now we have to wait who knows how long for the next season.
Maybe in large part because we watched them over such a short period of time, I feel as tho not enough happened to make up a “season.” Looking back at it, yes, a lot did happen, but I guess I’m just so eager to see what happens next…
In older times, when you had to wait a week in between episodes, and when they used to have longer seasonal runs, I think there was more of a sense of time/events actually passing. Whereas my wife said I should view it just as one long movie.
Also - a problem of being a lawyer and watching entertainment - if she hadn’t signed the contract, why would Moische (sp?) have let her use it as collateral?
I will probably end up re-watching this season at some point in the next year. I always watch Stranger Things before the new season drops. Same with The Good Place. Maisel might join those ranks. With only 8 episodes, even if it was weekly, it would still be over quick with a very long wait until the new season.
What does? Your spoiler is still a spoiler in my reply in Chrome & the Straight Dope Skin, is it exposed on your device? If so please report my post to delete the spoiler, there is no reason for it to be there.
I’m a little late to the party, but I’ve just finished season 3 and really enjoyed it. Long enough I think that I’m not using spoiler boxes. A lot of great characters, new and returning.
Especially liked Shy Baldwin and Mei Lin. That’s got to be a tricky piece of casting, in both cases. The actor who plays Baldwin gives a very subtle performance in places and is totally convincing performing the music. As for Mei Lin, she’s just charming as hell in two languages. Looking forward to seeing more of her next season.
My heart leaped with joy at seeing Susie take a problem to her friends the hit men. Those guys crack me up, and one of them had perhaps the funniest line of the season after roughing up some people on Broadway: “You’d be surprised how much theater work we do.” I had to stop the video there.
The musical choices on the show are great. I loved the use of “Hot Rod Lincoln” in the drag racing scene. And the visuals are amazing. The interiors are very convincing - I love Moishe’s yellow kitchen.
The story line about Sophie Lennon going to Broadway was hysterical, and I’m wondering if her meltdown on stage is based on any real occurrences. Anybody know?
if only a person from the 1950s was aware that in the 1950s rumors of homosexuality could be bad for someone she had just a few weeks earlier seen beaten up because of his homosexuality .
