The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel received five Emmys at the 70th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, the most of any one series that evening, including “Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series,” “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series,” “Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series,” “Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series,” and “Outstanding Comedy Series.” This marked the first top award win for Amazon, and the first time a streaming service won for best comedy series, as well as the first Emmy win for Amy Sherman-Palladino.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, was released on Amazon on November 29, 2017. The show follows Miriam “Midge” Maisel, a young Jewish woman living on the Upper West Side of New York during the 1950s, as her marriage falls apart and she explores the world of stand-up comedy. Sherman-Palladino has said in interviews that she modeled her character after prominent, female Jewish comedians such as Joan Rivers. Sherman-Palladino has cited her upbringing as an influence on her creation of the show, saying “…My dad was a stand-up comic. So I grew up with a bunch of Jews sitting around trying to make each other laugh. And I knew Lenny Bruce’s mother when I was a kid, because she was sort of the godmother to all the comics. And I worked at the Comedy Store. So the show was not so much a conscious homage to any particular comic as it was something that was in my zeitgeist.”

Amy Sherman-Palladino was born on January 17, 1966 and raised in the San Fernando Valley by her father, a comic, and her mother, a dancer. She was trained as a ballet dancer and began her television writing career on the show Roseanne, writing an Emmy-nominated storyline. Prior to Maisel, she was best known for writing and creating Gilmore Girls, alongside her husband Daniel Palladino. With quick-paced and pop culture ridden dialogue, Sherman-Palladino’s shows all contain comedic themes that draw from Jewish influences such as Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, and Lenny Bruce, who she cites as “[forming] her whole comedy outlook.”

This entry was created for This Week in History as part of a course on the history of American Jewish women taught by Karla Goldman at the University of Michigan, Winter 2019.

Sources: “Emmys 2018: ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ Win Big Awards” The New York Times, September 17, 2018; “Gilmore Girls Creator Amy Sherman-Palladino Explains her Marvelous New TV Series”Vanity Fair, March 16, 2017; “70th Emmy Awards: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Wins For Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series” YouTube, September 17, 2018; “Nothing Like a Jew Eating a Pickle and You Put Some Christmas Carols Over It”, New York Magazine, November 27, 2017.