The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is the Amazon Prime Video series that just bagged pretty much every Emmy nomination going.

While Watchmen clocked up the most nods with a whopping 26 nominations, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel followed closely behind with 20. These include best comedy and best lead actress in a comedy series for Rachel Brosnahan (who won for her performance in 2018).

Season three of the much-hyped series aired earlier this year, and fans are waiting for more new on the fourth season. But, just in case you’re yet to fall for the charms and punchlines of Brosnahan’s dazzling character, here’s the plot in a nutshell:

Miriam Maisel (“call me Midge!”) is a 50s Jewish American housewife who lives a seemingly perfect life in New York’s Upper East Side. But one evening, her husband Joel – who she has two children with – says he is leaving her to start a new life with his delightfully named secretary Penny Pann.

Midge reacts by uncharacteristically swigging a whole bottle of wine, jumping on the subway in her nightgown and heading to the Gaslight Club downtown, where she ends up performing one hell of a stand-up routine that changes her life forever…

Still need convincing after that humdinger of a synopsis? Here are seven reasons why you should binge The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Rachel Brosnahan is one very funny gal

Midge is a beautiful, young mother of two and brisket-cooking-housewife-turned-stand-up-comedian. But the most impressive thing about Midge is that rare ability to pack a punchline with perfect comedy timing: she never misses a funny beat. Quite frankly, nobody but Brosnahan could play her. That’s why she’s already won various awards for the role, and is up for outstanding lead actress at this year’s Emmys.

Gilmore Girls fans will recognise this familiar name

Snappy dialogue spoken at 1000 words per minute? Check. Obscure pop culture references? Uh-huh. It’s no surprise that the creator of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is also the woman behind the beloved Gilmore Girls series. 

Known for this trademark production style, Amy Sherman-Palladino was the first woman in history to win in the comedy writing and directing categories for Mrs. Maisel at the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2017. 

Rose and Abe are the real stars of the show

Please be upstanding for the funniest comedy duo to grace our screens: Rose and Abe Weissman. At first, Midge’s interfering parents are scary, old-fashioned and a little bit neurotic. When Midge tells them Joel has left her, Rose immediately starts wailing while Abe slams his study door and manically plays the piano. 

It. Is. Hilarious.

Although we soon start to see the couple soften with each other, especially on an eye-opening summer trip to Paris, they remain a stern unit who you would not want to mess with – and yet always bring out the comedy gold in each other.

The costumes are so beautiful they could make you cry

We’ve waxed lyrical about the costumes on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel before. The attention to detail is just dizzying. You will want to dress up in every single one of Midge’s brightly coloured, perfectly tailored day outfits, and her uniform black stand-up dresses. No wonder the costume department is wracking up the Emmys awards. 

Susie’s outstanding support

The brilliant Alex Borstein won outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for her role as Midge’s long-suffering and self-deprecating manager Susie Myerson. She is the person who first realises Midge’s potential and helps her to make it as a stand-up comic, while building an unlikely friendship (which she actually refuses to call a friendship). And, even though she’s never on the stage, her personal tales of woe will make you laugh just as much as Midge does. 

The script is even funnier than the stand-up routines

The stage is somewhere for Midge to take her personal experiences and package up into neat jokes for her audience. It’s empowering to watch and is, of course, funny. But the most hilarious moments happen off stage, when she’s actually navigating these soon-to-be punchlines in real life. Also, the magic of the script is in how all the wonderful supporting characters rapidly bounce off each other with zinger after zinger.

It laughs in the face of the “women aren’t funny” trope

It’s as simple as that. 

You can catch up with The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel seasons one, two and three on Amazon Prime.

Images: Amazon