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Midge Maisel

Miriam "Midge" Maisel (born Miriam Weissman)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rachel_brosnahan_marvelous_mrs_maisel.jpg

A charismatic Jewish housewife who, having been left by her husband, pursues a career as a stand-up comedian in 1950s New York City.

Alliterative Name: All her names start with M: Miriam "Midge" Maisel. Plus she's a Mrs.
Amicable Exes: She develops this relationship with Joel over the second season, to the point where he supports her career when she comes out to the family.
Big-Breast Pride: It even gets her arrested.
Brainy Brunette: She studied Russian literature in college, and is quick-witted, well-spoken, observant, and very thoughtful. She even manages to persuade a hiring manager at a department store to hire her as a make-up girl after being rejected for a previous position. But she grew up in an environment where she was to concentrate on her MRS Degree rather than putting her intelligence to work.
Broken Pedestal:
- She idolizes Sophie Lennon as a talented comic until she realizes that Lennon was only putting on a character for the audience because nobody would take a female comic seriously.
- In a flashforward to 1965, she witnesses her hero Lenny Bruce at rock-bottom. It clearly breaks her heart to see someone she cares for and admires so much become a washed-up, barely functional mess, and despite asking Susie to offer to help him, she isn't surprised when he doesn't accept, and seems to know that it's too late for him. It's heavily implied this is the last time she sees him before his death in 1966.
Deadpan Snarker: She has witty observances for almost everything she sees, from huge mezuzahs to her family's habits to things occurring in her life.
Did You Think I Can't Feel?:
- She tells Joel that he never disappointed her with any failure, whether financial or with his bombing at comedy, he disappointed her when he left her and the kids over bombing.
- She tells Susie that she is going to have to be more understanding about the stresses that Midge goes through.
Doing It for the Art: In Season 4, she takes this approach to her standups, prioritizing getting to speak her mind without censorship over taking more for-hire jobs, like opening for other acts, even though those jobs would pay well and help raise her profile. She also keeps working at the burlesque club even though the club itself is illegal and it's not the sort of work she can put on a resumé. However, this attitude gets deconstructed towards the end of the season. Her refusals of paid work becomes a thorn in Susie's side since she is trying to get into talent management and could use the commission money. Lenny Bruce also gives her a dressing-down for it, pointing out that while she seems to base her approach on his style of standup comedy, he knows the importance of doing work that actually pays and gets you noticed so you can make a living, even if not every routine you do will be creatively fulfilling.
The Fashionista: She has a range of clothing in different colors, all stylish for the late 1950s. She uses her fashion expertise to get a day job at B. Altman. In Season 4, after hurting her arm, she even starts matching her slings to her outfits.
Fatal Flaw: For Midge, it's lack of filter. As Midge grows more confident in her comedy career, she has a harder time stopping to think about how others will interpret the things she says and where the line between being funny and hurtful is. She ruins her friend Mary’s wedding when she goes into a raunchy spiel and ends up telling everyone she got married because she is pregnant. She embarrasses Imogene by making a joke about how pregnancy has enlarged her breasts. In season 3, she gets fired from the tour after Reggie and Shy take her set about the latter to mean that she’s telling everyone that he’s gay.
Feminine Women Can Cook: Very vocally takes pride in her cooking and genuinely enjoys it, although she also doesn't seem to begrudge Zelda the task when she's living with her parents.
Green-Eyed Monster: Reacts with surprise and some unhappiness to the revelation that Joel is moving on with Mei, as she still seems to feel a certain level of possessiveness toward him. Joel points out that this is a double standard, since Midge herself had a serious relationship with Benjamin in the time since they broke up for good.
Hidden Depths: The entire premise of the series: Midge Maisel – sweet, pretty, charming, upper class Jewish American Housewife – can be foul-mouthed, crude, ostentatious, witty, insightful, charismatic, and most importantly, very, very funny.
Insult Comic: Midge's main shtick is more observational humor, particularly about her life and family, however she's also a natural at The Roast. On serveral occasions she's veered into this, such as tearing down a group of male comedians who were hassling her all night at a gig.
In Vino Veritas: She wonders the first and second times she bombs if she's only funny if she's drunk or stoned. Fortunately after this, when she performs sober, she's a hit.
Interclass Friendship: The affluent former housewife Midge (now living with her affluent parents and working a makeup counter) and her working class talent manager Susie, as well as Midge and Lenny Bruce.
Jewish American Princess: A benevolent version. She is a pampered and fashionable Jewish young woman (with Susie even calling her a "Borscht-belt Barbie" at one point), but she is very friendly and was very supportive of her husband, and is also willing to work for a living if need be. She makes a reference to this trope in her stand-up.
Heckler: Go clean the kitchen!
Midge: Oh sir, I'm Jewish, I pay people to do that.
Jewish Smartass: Midge habitually makes witticisms about everyday Jewish life even when she is not on stage.
Lady Swears-a-Lot: She can be clean but she isn't averse to dropping a few verbal bombs appropriate to the situation or even in her comedy act.
Married to the Job: She begins to realize over the course of season 2 that she has to invest full time in her stand-up career, and by the end of the season, calls off a relationship with Benjamin so she can go on tour with Shy Baldwin.
Motor Mouth: Midge talks a lot. Susie even calls her out on it once, when Midge is trying to tell her that she spent the night with Joel, but wouldn't get to the point.
Susie: What is this, the lost Hamlet monologue? Just say it, for Christ's sake.
Nice Girl: Friendly and outgoing, helpful to even strangers and tolerant of the idiosyncrasies of her friends.
No Social Skills: Downplayed: she's generally friendly and affable but her biggest weakness (and often strength) as a comedian is she goes way too far at times. She insults the rabbi so badly at her wedding that she spends years trying to win him back. And during season 2, she ends up burning her bridges with Mary when she makes several tasteless jokes at Mary's wedding (which she helped plan) that include accidentally dropping that it's a Shotgun Wedding. It culminates in season 3 when she makes a few jokes about Shy Baldwin that come dangerously close to outing him as gay during a set, getting herself kicked off his tour.
Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Rachel Brosnahan practically gave up doing a consistent accent by Season 3.
Odd Friendship: Susie is short, brash, butch, socially awkward, and street smart compared to Midge, who is feminine, savvy, witty, outgoing, and educated.
Parents as People: From the point of view of the "bad parent", she is a delightful and sympathetic protagonist but she barely pays attention to their children to the point of neglect; this gets played up in Season 2. By Season 5, flash forwards to 1981 show that both Ethan and Esther are estranged from her, with Esther in particular feeling a lot of resentment towards Midge for her neglect.
Pink Is Feminine: Midge frequently wears pink clothing in addition to her regular feminine fashion. Rose and her phony psychic even talked about how much Midge wanted to learn how to drive because she saw a pair of pink driving gloves.
Plucky Girl: Even in her comedy breakdown, she doesn't easily fall in a puddle of tears. Throughout the whole season she is very motivated and perky, only bursting to tears under all sorts of stressful moments.

Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She has dark hair and pale skin, the latter of which is repeatedly mentioned by other characters as making her very attractive.
The Roast: While she's yet to be part of a formal roast, Midge has demonstrated to be very good at this. It most notably pops up in one gig in Season 2 where she rips into some male comics who have been giving her a hard time all night. Her ripping into Sophie Lennon's fake persona in Season 1, and poking at Shy Baldwin during the climactic Season 3 gig at the Apollo, would also not be out of place at the Friar's Club.
Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Midge pays $25 ($217.27 in 2018) for a painting of a lesser known artist rather than haggle like Benjamin informs her is savvier, she argues the hat is worth it.
Secret-Keeper: For Shy, once she learns he's gay. Unfortunately, a few of her jokes at the Apollo hit a little too close to the mark — most notably the line about him wearing "Judy Garland shoes", the inadvertent inference being he's a 'friend of Dorothy' — that and come dangerously close to outing him by accident.
Spoiled Sweet: Midge is a Jewish American Princess, with her parents being rich and her having married rich, and she's very good at getting her own way, but she's rarely mean-spirited (although somehow still sheltered). One scene from the show highlights this when she is jailed (a second time for her blue act) where she advises a woman (who stabbed her boyfriend to death and is griping about the stain on her blouse) how to remove blood stains with salt and water.
Stay in the Kitchen: Played with. She enjoys being a housewife, but after Joel leaves and she moves back with her parents, she realizes she needs a day job and gets one as a makeup salesgirl at B. Altman. She loves it and the people she works with, but her parents (most especially her mother) are horrified. The only ones who aren't horrified about her standup are Susie and Joel, who both observe that Midge needs to fully invest in her standup and can't have time for relationships in doing so.
Stepford Snarker: Sometimes tries to mask unhappiness with sharp or mean jokes, as when Joel is leaving her in the pilot and she starts ribbing on Penny.
Tomboy and Girly Girl: Girly Girl to Susie's Tomboy. She wears dresses and makeup and is very feminine.
Undying Loyalty: Is extremely admiring and protective of Lenny and almost constantly talks up how brave and radical he is, including to Benjamin and, much more angrily, to her father.
Midge: (to Abe) You don't even know who Lenny Bruce is! You blabber on and on about free speech – he's out there getting arrested in the name of free speech. He's talking about things that no one has the balls to talk about! You put down comedy and what I do? You don't even know what goes on out there! This guy is the real deal, but you just scoff and pretend that he's nothing. That is ignorant. You are ignorant!
Unlimited Wardrobe: She is very rich and stylish and obsesses about her appearance; this helps her get a job as a makeup saleswoman where she uses that savvy.
- Somewhat justified because her father-in-law, and later her husband, owns a clothing manufacturing company so she has access to brand new clothes for free or cheap.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Susie: due to Midge's snarkiness and Susie's irritability, the two frequently trade sarcastic barbs, but when the chips are down, the two of them are there for each other.

Joel Maisel

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/marvelous_mrs_maisel_joel.jpg

Played By: Michael Zegen

Midge's husband, an executive at Triborough Plastics in season 1 and a freelancing gatekeeper for his father's business in season 2

Amicable Exes: He develops this relationship with Midge, they are clearly friends and lament things like his incompetent and corrupt parents.
Benevolent Boss: During his time running his parents' business, he's this to his preferred employees.
Character Development: He becomes noticeably more mature and considerate as the series progresses.
Good Parents: While it's a running joke that Ethan and Esther seem to be an afterthought to Midge and her parents, Joel seems heartbroken at the prospect of disappearing from his children's lives and spends much of his time fretting over providing for them. It's notable that he continues to be humiliated and threatened at family events not to support Midge but because Ethan requests him.
Green-Eyed Monster: Joel can be incredibly jealous where Midge is concerned. He lashes out furiously when he finds out Benjamin met their children as a result of Rose's machinations (even though Midge herself was angry at Rose because she wanted to discuss it with Joel first).
Heroic Sacrifice: Season 5 reveals that when Joel learned that the mob was getting a cut of all of Midge's earnings due to Suzie's debt to them, Joel secretly cut a deal with them where they would let Midge free in exchange for becoming partners in his nightclub business. This went on for years before the feds cracked down on the group and Joel was arrested and imprisoned as part of their criminal enterprise.
Honest Corporate Executive: Something of this in Season 2, where he tries to save his parents' business and teach them to do things legally and on the table, like getting a loan from the bank (and not a shark).
Humiliation Conga: Goes through a massive one at the tail end of Season 1. First he's called out by his dad for thinking that he may have a future with Penny Pan. After it seems like he's going to get back with Midge, he hears a reocrding of her set at a record store and realizes she's working to become a comic. He quits his job during a major meeting for a project he spearheaded, realizing how meaningless it all is. He witnesses Midge opening for Lenny Bruce, and getting the kind of laughs he dreamed of, and Susie gives him an epic The Reason You Suck speech, condemning him for walking out on Midge and that she is the type of talent that he could only hope to dream of being. It all ends with Joel taking out is frustrations on a heckler and beating him up outside the Gaslight, alone with the knowledge that he basically threw away the best thing to ever happen to him.
It's All About Me: Joel is so entitled and self-absorbed that he is flabbergasted when his very old-fashioned, smothering parents don't give their blessing to him and Penny; he is also stunned that none of his married friends want to go on double dates with him and Penny.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's selfish, immature, irresponsible and unfaithful but a decent guy at heart and he makes a sincere effort to improve as the show goes on.
Madness Mantra: Subdued: Joel spends several drunk scenes in season 2 rambling about how badly he messed up with Midge.
The Missus and the Ex: A male version with Benjamin, Midge hasn't really dated the guy and he and Joel share a conversation about forgiveness.
Mr. Fanservice: He gets an extended scene in nothing but his boxers when he and Midge are in Vegas that shows Noah wasn't kidding when he said Joel was ripped underneath.
My Greatest Failure: He comes to deeply regret cheating on Midge. To the point that when Archie is preparing to cheat on Inogene while they're visiting other clubs for research ahead of opening their own, they get into an outright fist fight when Joel tries to stop him from making the same mistake.
Never My Fault:
- He accuses Susie, to her face, of tearing his family apart. Susie points out to him that she didn't have an affair with his secretary and walk out on a wonderful wife who supported his career.
- Earlier he accused Midge of being unsupported after he bombs, despite her doing all she can to help his comedic ambitions and he really isn't so talented. In both cases, he turns himself around in season 2.
Parents as People: He's a good guy, but he is very childish and barely pays attention to his children.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gets an epic one from Susie at the end of season 1.
Secret-Keeper: At the beginning of Season 2, he and Susie serve this role for Midge on her comedic career.
Spoiled Brat: Susie calls him a brat in her "The Reason You Suck" Speech to him in the first season finale. He does blame Midge for everything that goes wrong, not recognizing how helpful and supportive she has been.
Took a Level in Badass: In season 2, Joel takes charge of turning his parents' business around, stands up to his father, starts to support Midge's comedy career, and punches a booker who stiffed Midge and nearly assaulted Susie.
Took a Level in Kindness: Joel's nobler qualities are much more on display in season 2 once he starts to put his head on straight.
Ungrateful Bastard: Midge has supported his comedic ambitions, raised his kids with no complaint, put up with his parents, and kept a tight beauty regimen. He soon accuses her of not supporting him enough.
What Does She See in Him?:
- Flashbacks show that Midge was attracted to him when he was still ambitious; she also thought he was funny, even though in the present he has to resort to stealing jokes from more-established comedians.
- This is shown from his part because he left Midge, a funny, cheerful, intelligent housewife devoted to her role and his comedy career, for the very mediocre Penny Pan.
What You Are in the Dark: In the first season finale, he fights a heckler who insulted Midge earlier, all without anyone they know (especially Midge) witnessing it; he also admits out loud that she is good at stand up.
Would Hit a Girl/Violently Protective Husband: He threatens Susie with bodily harm if Midge doesn't return from her tour safe and sound, he doesn't care about her gender or height. In that same episode, Midge calls on him to help her and Susie with a club manager who tries to stiff her out of paying.

Susie Myerson

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alex_borstein_marvelous_mrs_maisel.png

Played By: Alex Borstein

An employee at the Gaslight Bar who supervises the stand up and poetry routines. She becomes Midge's manager and friend.

Ambiguously Gay: She dresses and acts in a masculine manner, lives by herself, is largely estranged from her family, was very impressed by Midge's breasts and once told a man that he was "barking up the wrong tree".
- Season 5 does away with the ambiguous part, and she is revealed to have previously had a romance with Hedy Ford, the wife of Midge's current boss, Gordon Ford.
Ambiguously Jewish: She has a Jewish-sounding last name, and refers to a non-Jewish man as a gentile in season 2. However, in season 3, she refers to Jews as "them" not "us".
Brutal Honesty: Susie's trademark in managing Midge and building her act. She outright tells her that she's going to bomb, that not all nights are going to be great, and that's just part of being a comic.
Dark and Troubled Past: Susie not only has a dysfunctional family but also once had to fend herself from being molested by a cousin.
Deadpan Snarker: Remarks on the absurdity around her on a frequent basis. She uses this trait to help Midge sell a shade of eyeshadow called "Mermaid Ice" to a woman.
The Determinator: Susie in Season 2 has been targeted by hit men, only to befriend them and manages to get Midge into more and more gigs no matter what Sophie Lennon and sexism can do.
Dysfunctional Family: In contrast to Midge, whose argumentative and smothering family is still loving, Susie's father is a deadbeat, her siblings suck, and her mom is depressed over her choices.
- We meet them in the Season 2 Yom Kippur episode. Her brother is an unintelligent, boorish alcoholic, her brother-in-law has a wooden leg that doesn't fit and he orders his wife (Susie's sister) around, and Susie's sister is a frazzled Stepford Smiler and Extreme Doormat who doesn't keep beer in the house because their mother is capable of pouring it over her cereal.
Foil: To Imogene. Susie is standoffish and reluctant to truly befriend Midge and she is a lot more crass and masculine than the younger blonde woman. However, she is enough of a noncomformist to encourage and be confided to by Midge and she is the Secret-Keeper for Midge's comedy career.
The Gambling Addict: She develops a problem with this after going to Vegas with Midge. She ends up losing all of Midge's money and burns her own mother's house down for the insurance coverage so she won't have to tell Midge.
- It's shown to be even worse in the flash-forwards to the 1980s. Despite being very successful at this point, she is in debt to multiple casinos, and forces Midge to work three shows a night/seven days per week for years at all of these casinos to help settle her debts.
Hidden Depths:
- Season 2 shows that she can play the piano. And tune it as well.
- A one-off line in Season 3 reveals that she apparently has a law degree, much to Midge's surprise. It comes in handy because she can rapidly decipher the legal jargon of the contracts she deals with.
Interclass Friendship: The affluent former housewife Midge (now living with her affluent parents and working a makeup counter) and the working class talent manager Susie are this.
Janitor Impersonation Infiltration: She pulls off pretending to be a plumber for two months at Steiner so she can book gigs for Midge at the Borscht Belt resorts, using nothing more than a toilet plunger to get in. The staff see her as one of their own (even organizing a search and rescue team when she disappears for a night to handle a gig Midge is doing at the Concord), while Midge has a hard time explaining to her parents and to Benjamin that Susie is in fact her manager because the toilet plunger has left them with quite an impression.
Jerkass Has a Point: Susie may be blunt with Midge about her shortcomings regarding her act, but she's absolutely right a lot of the time. Susie's correct in that Midge is going to bomb, and that she needs to be flexible with her act and build a solid set of 10 minutes, and she is also correct in that a key part of bombing is getting up and doing on another show whether you want to or not. This even extends to her relationship with Sophie Lemon, as she's not afraid to call her out when she botches a major performance.
Lady Looks Like a Dude: Susie gets mistaken for a man all the time by strangers.
Lady Swears-a-Lot: She has quite the foul mouth, especially by 1950s standards (even by Midge's standards).
Loner-Turned-Friend: Susie grows close with Midge despite claiming she wants to keep things professional. It is suggested that Susie doesn't even interact with her family, much less have a lot of friends.
Loony Friends Improve Your Personality: Midge isn't loony, but she is less savvy about show business and very fastidious and cheerful compared to Susie. Susie has to learn to tolerate Midge's idiosyncrasies and becomes a very competent manager and loyal friend.
Loser Friend Puzzles Outsiders:
- Rose never meets her until Yom Kippur in season 2. As Rose's interactions with Susie up to this point are of a strange woman calling the phone and barely speaking, she is less than impressed.
Make a new friend. I'm tired of this one.
- Imogene's first impressions of her are of a strange woman taking a bath in the Weissman apartment and using all of Rose's pink soap, and takes offense at Midge never bringing her up before.
Odd Friendship: Susie is short, brash, butch, socially awkward, and street smart compared to Midge, who is feminine, savvy, witty, outgoing, and educated.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Is initially very awkward, over-formal and stuttering around Lenny, demonstrating both the extent of his fame and how passionate Susie is about stand-up. Once she gets used to having him around, however, she treats him like everyone else.
Secret-Keeper: She and Joel serve this role for Midge on her comedic career.
Skewed Priorities: In Season 2, she is upset when everyone leaves a building during Midge's DC gig because of the announcement of a kitchen fire. Midge has to tell her this is a bad idea, especially as she has a lot of flammable hair products in her hair.
Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Midge's Girly Girl. She is very coarse in her language, awkward in her social interactions, doesn't care about fashion at all and gets mistaken for a man at multiple times.
- She also serves as the Tomboy in her relationship to sister Tessie.
Trapped in Villainy: Downplayed, but present in Season 5. She comes to realize just how indebted to the mafia she has become, and starts having to compromise herself and Midge to keep them happy. Her gambling issue also comes back, and as her debts pile up she starts making even more morally-dubious decisions to keep herself solvent. It's made clear that she wants to leave, but cannot figure out how.
Vague Age: It's not explicit but it's implied that she is older than Midge (who is 26 in 1958).^note
Susie: (while talking about Sophie Lennon) She kept us all laughing during the Depression.
Midge: How old are you?
Susie: I'm not telling you.
Wrench Wench: Averted in one episode of Season 2 where Susie needed instructions from Joel on car maintenance.

The Maisel-Weissman Family

Abe Weissman

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tony_shalhoub_the_marvelous_mrs_maisel_thank_you_and_good_night.jpg

Played By: Tony Shalhoub

Midge's father, a mathematics professor at Columbia University and a scientist at Bell Labs.

Actually Pretty Funny: After disapproving of Midge's standup and not finding what he saw particularly funny, he gives a warm, loving smile after watching her live television performance.
Alter Kocker: Jewish? Check. Older? Check. Cranky? Check. Thick Yiddish American accent? Check check check.
Berserk Button: He loves The Twilight Zone (1959) and will not tolerate any insults towards it.
Blatant Lies: After Miriam confesses to the family that she's pursuing a comedy career, Abe's attempts to act like he didn't already know are not very convincing, though nobody actually realizes he's lying.
Brainless Beauty: Discussed Trope. Abe says that the great thinkers are unpleasant to look at, and thus is skeptical of Kennedy and his daughter's brains because they're both good-looking.
Break the Haughty: Abe makes a big deal bringing Noah to Bell Labs, talking of how he's a pretty big influence and his son needs help landing a job there. Abe is brought into a secure room, where he discovers A) Noah is a genius far greater than his father, B) he's working on a top-secret government project and C) not only is Noah's security clearance higher but Abe realizes the janitors in the lab have a higher security clearance than he does. Abe can only stagger out, rocked to realize that his supposedly "forgettable" son is considered far more important than he is.
- He hits it again when Rose explains to him that a professor's salary doesn't pay for their lifestyle: Rose's trust fund pays for their style. And their clothes. And their vacations. He's left ranting about how they became a materialistic family despite him not even knowing the cost of milk.
Commonality Connection: Surprisingly enough, with Lenny Bruce in season 3. Initially dismissive of Lenny because he is resistant to the (incorrect) idea that Lenny and Midge are dating, Abe goes to see Lenny's act and realizes that Lenny has the same radical leanings he does, leading him to stand up for Lenny to the police and get arrested alongside him. Later, when Rose comes to bail him out, he convinces her to bail Lenny out as well.
Control Freak: Season 2 has him show shades of this with his children, who are over 18 and have their own lives.
Crazy Jealous Guy: When he finds out his old friend Asher dated Rose over 30 years ago (when Abe had broken up with her to focus on his PhD), he tries to rat him out to the FBI.
Crazy-Prepared: In "We're Going to the Catskills!" he has made and arranged detailed miniatures of the luggage, car, and moving trailer to make sure they aren't over-packing...before they pack the van.
Deadpan Snarker: Almost as much as his daughter.
(about seeing Midge work the makeup counter) Had to see for myself.
Didn't Think This Through: In the season 2 finale, angered at the treatment he's gotten, Abe decides to quit the university. He's happy boasting about it to Rose who points out a key issue.
Rose: Abe, the university owns our apartment.
Abe: Yes...Yes...they do....
Doing It for the Art: He stays with The Village Voice even though the pay is pretty terrible because he loves the work he does for the magazine and the other people working for it.
Fan Boy: Abe is a big fan of The Twilight Zone (1959) and can recite the plot of "Time Enough at Last" from memory.
Fantasy-Forbidding Father: Downplayed, as he doesn't approve of Midge's new profession, but he ultimately lets her continue with it, even if he himself doesn't care much for her work.
Foil: To Moishe. Both can be loud and crass, but where they're different is in their relationshps with their children. Abe is a control freak and doesn't do anything to support Midge's career, compared to Moishe who actively pushes Joel to go off on his own and even provides him money to purchase a club.
Former Teen Rebel: Is revealed in season 2 to have been very radical in his youth, and begins to wonder how he became so passionless and stodgy.
Grand Romantic Gesture: Though he doesn't play it up, Abe getting Rose a class at his university and setting them up for dance classes has this effect, with Rose instantly getting out of her previous funk.
Hair-Trigger Temper: Abe has a pretty short temper and once in a bad mood he's quite likely to take it out on whoever's near.
Happily Married: To Rose. They argue a lot and stress over things but they are still in love and even have sex together regularly.
Hidden Depths:
- Who would've guessed such a stiff professor was also a radical liberal.
- A strong piano player, even when in the midst of a horrible rage.
- Despite not always being in touch with the younger generation's entertainment, he has a keen enough eye to become a critic. His standing up for Lenny Bruce also shows that he's able to morally defend work that he doesn't actually like.
Jerkass Realization: Downplayed due to Deliberate Values Dissonance. Upon discovering that his prized Weissman intellect was inherited not by his grandson Ethan but by his granddaughter Esther, Abe rethinks his views about gender roles and how it made him be unfair to Midge her whole life. He then begins to admire her strength and independence, and to finally support her career choice.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Abe is not an easy man to get along with. He's extremely stern, controlling, haughty, bullying and borderline tyrannical to his students and family and zealously holds on to grudges when someone offends his oversized ego. But he does have a softer side, particularly with Rose, and is capable of considerable kindness as well as showing that, for all his initial disapproval, he does love Midge and comes to respect her forging her own path.
Jewish and Nerdy: He is a nebbish professor who takes his discipline very seriously.
Karma Houdini Warranty: By the end of season 2, his Bell Labs and Columbia University career are threatened after some past activism and his unpleasant attitude towards students (that led to some of them transferring out of his class), with Simon telling him "We are all sick of you". After seeing Midge perform in the telethon, he has an epiphany and considers going back into activism.
Large Ham: Though typically reserved, Abe still has his dramatic moments, especially when he's been angered.
Men Are Strong, Women Are Pretty: He believes that great thinkers, especially women, weren't much to look at; he openly scoffs at Midge's interest in politics.
Obnoxious In-Laws: Granted, we only see this dynamic once Midge and Joel have separated, so Abe's dislike of his son-in-law is rather justified. Like the other family members, his relationship with Joel eventually improves after the dust of this affair has settled, though this trope still stays in play due to Abe's benign eccentricities.
Papa Wolf: After he and Midge are labeled "security risks" and have litigation of some sort threatened, he threatens to give a punch in the nose to his boss at Bell Labs despite being wimpy.
Parental Hypocrisy: In season 2 episode 9, Abe praises charity telethons where performers raise money and give their time, only to dismiss it as a sham when Midge announces she will perform for one.
Parents as People: The show takes time to show him as overbearing and clueless about his family and that he can be a Control Freak, but still takes time show him in a sympathetic light.
Pet the Dog: In the midst of an argument with Midge, Abe cusses out a Catskills worker who buts in for a card trick. Once done talking with his daughter, he declares that he has to apologize to this man, as "he's an innocent in all this".
Poor Communication Kills: Abe claimed that he tried to warn Midge about Joel early in her courtship, but all he asked was "Is this the choice?"
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Abe doles one out to Midge during the Season 1 finale after she tells him that she's thinking of getting back together with Joel (and his wife had moved him and his study out to the living room as a punishment for keeping her out of the loop regarding Midge's separation).
You have laid waste to everyone and everything around you. It’s been like a typhoon. The Red Cross should start handing out blankets. You have ruined everybody’s life and now that there’s no more havoc to wreak, you wanna get back together and be happy? Noooo. You don’t get to be happy until I can get to my piano!
Sadist Teacher: He is scary enough to end up driving most of his class to transfer to other classes or schools, some from emotional breakdowns or from just being tired of him putting them down.
Secret-Keeper: For Midge, but she has to resist his control over what she wants to do and has to agree to his demands that Midge keep this from her mother.
Single-Target Sexuality: He only has eyes for Rose, casually mentioning how he has no interest in getting a mistress like his French friends.
Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Abe can barely stand Moishe, who doesn't care all that much for him in return.
Small Name, Big Ego: Abe likes to act like he's a huge big-shot at Columbia. He gets a major reality check in season 2 when his boss at Bell Labs point blank tells him he's on "the low rung of the totem pole" to the point that some janitors have higher security than him. That they just naturally assumed Abe knew that makes it even worse.
- As seen in Season 3, when he gets even a small amount of acclaim or a small hint of accomplishment, he can fall into this, publishing an op-ed about his friend in the paper even after his friend tells him not to and then handing out copies of the New York Times to guests at his grandson's bris.
Trademark Favorite Food: Loves the Catskills tomato juice, to the point where it's seen as suspicious the one time he doesn't get it.
Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Not a bad looking guy, but still pretty average looking and is married to Rose, who has aged very well.

Rose Weissman

Rose Weissman (born Rose Lehman)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/marvelous_mrs_maisel_rose.jpg

Played By: Marin Hinkle

Midge's mother, a picture-perfect housewife who wants Midge to get back together with Joel.

'50s Hair: She wears most of her clothes and hair in a manner that recalls the late 1940s and early 1950s with the curls and flip.
Big Eater: Definitely not now, as she tries to stay Hollywood Thin, but Abe noted once she split an entire chocolate cake with him.
Brainless Beauty: She isn't brainless but she focuses more on appearances than intellectual pursuits. She scolds Midge for civilly engaging her father in political talk, and didn't want her to go to Paris when she was younger out of fear that she would enjoy all that French bread and gain weight.
Character Development: Come season 3, Midge’s newfound independence has rubbed off on her. While Abe treats her like an equal, she’s always let her brothers walk all over her in their family business. At the meeting where she’s asking them to front her some money, she wants to sit on the board because she’s just as much of a family member as they are. When they won’t do it (even though there’s a kid on the board), she storms off and takes the photograph of their grandmother with her, starting that it’s no place for a woman.
Cold Ham: Quite regal and has a flair for the dramatic, but she's usually quite reserved.
Control Freak: She is very fixated on being perfect to the world. She lies to people about why Midge moved back in (Joel is on a long business trip in Poland and the apartment is undergoing a huge renovation) and she loses her temper in Synagogue when Midge tells her to hold off from questioning her about her fur coat (received from Sophie Lennon) until after service is over.
Crazy-Prepared: She once trained Midge out of snoring and other "unseemly noises" to be more attractive to her future husband, when the girl was young.
Deadpan Snarker: She has her moments. While she is happy for her husband, she remarks how often he talks about wanting to work for Bell Labs for 30 years.
Deliberate Values Dissonance: Even though only about twenty-four years (going off Marin Hinkle and Rachel Brosnahan's ages) separate her and Midge in age, they grew up in completely different worlds for women. Rose is a very intelligent woman but wasn't allowed a full education and grew up pre-World War II when it became socially acceptable for (middle- and upper-class) women to start working outside the house full-time. She loves Abe, Midge, and Noah but there just weren't any other options for her other than to be a House Wife. Midge got to go to college and is used to women her age going into the workforce. Rose just doesn't understand why Midge would want to be a divorced comedian who's not going to be with her kids 24/7.
Did You Think I Can't Feel?:
- In the first and second episodes of Season 2, Rose tells Abe that she's tired of being for granted and being regarded as too fragile to handle the truth. So she goes away to Paris to rediscover the independent and Bohemian artist she once was.
- At the end of Season 3, after Midge (justifiably) gets angry at her for her lack of understanding of her situation, Rose points out that while she can't understand Midge's comedy career, she knows what it's like to have your husband upend your whole life and have to start over — it's exactly what Abe did to Rose since quitting his teaching job.
Ditzy Genius: She is very cultured, educated, and intelligent; she speaks fluent French and even listens to music in the French language, but she is easily duped by a phony psychic (for over 20 years) and doesn't recognize when the psychic offers up her cousin's services to put a hit on Joel.
Doting Parent: Rose is a soft touch compared to her strict husband (who is harder on everyone from his grandson, his kids, and especially his students). When Midge moves in she makes her famous French hot cocoa for her.
Drama Queen: Rose reacts quite dramatically to Midge's separation (and later divorce) from Joel, as well as Midge's activities outside the home. Her reaction would make both Scarlett O'Hara and Kitty Forman say "Bitch, please".
Dude, Where's My Respect?:
- Midge and Abe take her for granted to the point they haven't noticed she was planning to run off to Paris for some time, only to notice her absence after several weeks after Abe found he will be dateless to an event at work. She actually tells Abe and Midge that she felt taken for granted.
- In season 3, Midge's new lifestyle has led her to take great offense at her family refusing to let her be on the board in their oil business, even though there's a kid who has a seat on it.
The Fashionista: A middle-aged sort. She wears sheaths and Chanel suits on her lean figure and she was described in stage directions as "entering a room as if in an MGM musical". She passed this trait on to Midge.
The Flapper: According to Abe, she was this when they first met. She just got out of Paris, she wore berets, she smoked cigarettes, she was fun-loving, and she shared a whole chocolate cake with him.
Gratuitous French: Rose spent a part of her youth in Paris. It still shows here and there.
Happily Married: To Abe. They argue a lot and stress over things, but they are still in love and even have sex together regularly. In the first finale, Abe tells Midge that both of them changed from the carefree couple they once were to middle-aged and uptight....but he still loves her.
- In Season 2, this is played with in that she and Abe hit a rough patch in their relationship when she runs off to Paris after being taken for granted.
Hidden Depths: She is fluent in French and has a great interest in moving to France; Abe confirms she used to live in Paris and was a very extroverted and adventurous young woman.
- The apartments she takes in Paris is actually more "rustic" (cockroach-infested) than her apartment in NYC, and she does her own shopping and shares a bathroom with rough-looking men (whom she apparently considers charming). Compare and contrast that with her daughter on tour with Susie in motels with no doormen and with nasty mattresses.
Hypocrite: In the season 3 finale, Midge confronts her after Benjamin confronts her, and calls her out about her interference in her life and her refusal to accept her career choices. Rose fires back with a "you don't have a lock on pain" about while she doesn't understand Midge's choices, her life is also at the whim of a man and was similarly destroyed by it and she will do whatever she has to rebuild it. Rose's remarks fall flat, though, as Midge's old life was destroyed entirely by Joel's actions, to the point that she couldn't support herself and had to move back in with her parents. Rose on the other hand was not an innocent person in her own ruination. She encouraged Abe's endeavors and put honor before reason by isolating her family and cutting herself off from her trust fund, despite it making them nearly homeless. Likewise, Rose is more than capable of supporting herself (she held down a job and apartment in Paris for months), but refuses to do so because 1950s society shuns a working woman, so she expects Abe to do it for her. While she is at the whims of the men in her life, Rose is partially responsible for her circumstances while Midge tries to make the best of her situation and works for financial independence.
It's All My Fault: In one of her sessions with Drina, she blames herself for Joel and Midge's marriage failing on not sending Midge to Paris after high school. She reasons that that's why things worked out so well between her and Abe, because her own mother sent her to Paris.
Jewish American Princess: She is very concerned about her image and material things. But she does have a sexual nature and is a loving wife, having enjoyed regular sex with her husband (by pushing the beds together) and she was once as iconoclastic as her daughter in her youth.
- Season 2 plays with this as she is totally capable of living in lower economic conditions, and quite cheerfully at that.
Jewish Mother: She is concerned for Midge but is rather smothering and tries to force onto Midge her own ways. The finale shows that while she won't lay off Midge, she is more willing to accept she cannot stop her from doing what she is doing and just offers her some advice about what accessories to wear with her black dress.
Lethal Chef: A jokey and good-humoured line by Abe reveals that Rose is a terrible cook.
The Matchmaker: Rose is told by a friend she has a knack for this, even getting one person to randomly dance with someone led to a marriage with three children, and then getting a friend's Crazy Cat Lady (6 cats, a dog, a pot bellied pig...) daughter set up on a date with a vet and got engaged afterwords.
Men Are Strong, Women Are Pretty: She is very concerned with her appearance, her daughter's appearance, and her baby granddaughter's appearance. She is also horrified when she learns that Midge got a job.
- Even with her independent and Bohemian lifestyle in Paris, she tells Midge that she wants the kids to be sent to her so that Ethan can fish and Esther can one day get a nose job. Her grandson gets productive recreation while her granddaughter gets plastic surgery.
- She took it a bit further when Midge was a teenager; Midge used to be a cheerleader until Rose got it into her head that cheerleading would have a bad effect on Midge's breasts.
My Beloved Smother: She thinks she can still use the Dionne Quintuplets to scold and guilt-trip Midge.
Never My Fault: She lays a lot of the blame for their current state in season 3 on Midge's influence. Especially after she refused to take any more of her family's trust fund after the misogynistic way they respond to her insistence on sitting on the board.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Proper and obsessive about appearances Rose starts cursing (loudly!) in synagogue when Midge doesn't answer her questions about the fur Midge got from Sophie Lennon (which Midge later explains in the Catskills as being from a fictitious trapper). As of Season 3, it turns out this is a habit of hers when she is pushed beyond her comfort zone regarding propriety.
Parental Hypocrisy: When Midge tries to bring up the arthritis telethon, Rose and Abe praise charity telethons where performers raise money and give their time, only to dismiss it as a sham when Midge announces she will be performing on the telethon.
Parents as People: Season 2 takes more time to show her as a sympathetic woman who is trying to find her own individuality, while still being beholden to old-fashioned ideas for women, to the detriment of her daughter making her mark in the world.
The Perfectionist: She strives for perfection in her appearance, the welfare of her family, and with how it looks to people. She invests a lot of energy, to the point that she flat out lies to a neighbor about why Midge and the kids are living at the apartment (telling the neighbor that Joel is on a business trip in Poland while the apartment got botched up during a renovation).
Proper Lady: She is very proper and works hard to maintain that image. She does have emotional outbursts.
The Reveal: Played for laughs in season 3 as it turns out all these years she talked about being from Providence, she meant Providence, Oklahoma. In other words, this prim and proper woman grew up in the rough and tumble Dust Bowl region, albeit in huge wealth.
Silk Hiding Steel: She is graceful and cultured and very doting with her children and grandchildren. She is rather controlling and intimidating to Susie on the phone.
Silver Vixen: She is a grandmother (50s to 60s at the most) and is about attractive and trim as her daughter. Justified in that she is obsessed with maintaining her appearance.
She's like the Jewish Dorian Gray!
Stay in the Kitchen: She is appalled that Midge is pursuing a career in comedy, worried that it will affect her relationship with Benjamin (whom she hopes Midge will marry).
- Endures an extreme version of this in season 3 from her family and their servants where she is treated like a hothouse flower to be coddled and condescended to, and told flat out she cannot be a board member despite being a senior member of the family because she is a woman (despite a child being on the board and her grandmother founding the business).
Stepford Smiler: She works hard to maintain a very perfect image of her family and of herself. She even lies about why Midge has moved back in to their apartment to a neighbor. It's implied that she has suppressed the free-spirited young woman she used to be.
Took a Level in Badass: Moves to Paris in season two. Comes back much more of a Deadpan Snarker with a more outgoing personality, takes on some traits of Only Sane Man, and loosens up around her family and friends.
Midge: I missed you, Mama.
Rose: I missed me too.
True Blue Femininity: She wears a lot of colors in the blue spectrum, which ties her to her role as a conventional wife and grandmother.
Well Done, Daughter Gal: She doesn't understand why Midge isn't trying to get back together with Joel or find another man and is dismayed when Midge gets a paying job. Even when Midge buys her a new lipstick color (before its public release!) she is unenthusiastic. In the Season 3 finale, Midge calls her out on it by saying that Rose never bothered to understand Midge's new way of life and how Midge was making the best of it (which itself was partially also in response to having been confronted by Benjamin, who thought she'd sent Rose to his workplace to match him up with other suitable bachelorettes out of some twisted sense of guilt for leaving him).

Noah and Astrid Weissman

Played By: Will Brill and Justine Lupe

Midge's brother and sister-in-law.

Big Brother Instinct: Joked with in conversation with Midge; he asks her to please date a guy with weak upper body strength. Still, in season 2, Noah is the most openly hostile member of the Weissmans to Joel.
Broken Pedestal: Noah used to like Joel, but that was before Joel left his sister for another woman.
Converting for Love: Astrid converted from Catholicism to Judaism to marry Noah and be approved by his family. She turns out to be more devoted to the religion than her in-laws and husband.
Friend to All Children: Astrid is excited at the prospect at visiting her niece and nephew; Noah is less enthusiastic about having children.
Geek Physiques: He is very thin and wimpy. He recounted a playful punch between him and Joel that resulted in his fingers getting hurt.
Hidden Depths: Noah actually works for the CIA.
Jewish and Nerdy: Midge remarks to Astrid she was pleasantly surprised Noah was even dating, what with all the time he spent in the laboratory.
Law of Inverse Fertility: Astrid is struggling with not being able to get pregnant and worries Noah would leave her as a result of having been married for several years and not being able to conceive. She desperately asks Midge for help, despite the fact Midge was only married for 5 years and had two young kids in those years with no difficulty. Season 2 has her announce that she is finally pregnant on Yom Kippur.
Lethal Chef: Astrid's attempts at Jewish cuisine are often not greeted with enthusiasm (to say the least). Zelda knows to toss out any food Astrid cooks without being told.
Motor Mouth: Has a habit of doing this when she's nervous and this is more obvious during her son's bris.
Nervous Wreck: Astrid is a deeply anxious person, to say the least: she constantly worries about nearly everything in her life, requires reassurance on many occasions, and has a generally nervous disposition.
Nice Girl: Astrid is a very sweet girl who tries to please her husband's family and loves to bond with her niece and nephew.
Nice Guy: Noah is very affable, loyal and supportive to his younger sister.
No Social Skills: Astrid is a bit ... odd. She has a tendency to overshare, go on verbal tangents, and otherwise behave in a bit of an eccentric manner.
Culturally Religious: Astrid was raised Catholic and sometimes mixes up rituals from her old religion with those of her new one.
Secret-Keeper: Astrid for Noah's job at the highest levels of government. She fails thanks to Rose's interrogation.
Shiksa Goddess: Astrid is this, only that she converted to Judaism to fit in with her husband's family. The Season 2 Yom Kippur episode shows her to be loudly praying (albeit mixing up Catholic rituals with Yom Kippur atonement rituals) along with the congregation while her husband, sister in law, ex brother in law, parents in laws, and her SIL's former in-laws argue.
Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: Astrid decides to name her's and Noah's first born child "Chaim Christian"
Yiddish as a Second Language: Astrid conspiciously uses Yiddish terms like "bracha" or "shayna punim".

Moishe Maisel

Played By: Kevin Pollak

Joel's father and Midge's father in law who is a Shameless Self-Promoter and a thorn in her father's side.

All Jews Are Cheapskates: He crows incessantly about money.
Big Fancy House: By season 3, he and Shirley own their own house in Forest Hills.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: A small-business variant in the Garment District, he conducted some under-the-table deals and apparently carries a bag of money used for bribing people.
Drama King: Like his wife, even giving to talking about how he cannot afford to stop work just like Abe can, after the latter chides him for yelling loudly into two phones at the same time while in a public room at Steiner.
Egocentrically Religious: Moishe makes a big deal of how seriously he takes the High Holidays and makes accusations about Abe not being as religious as he.
Evil Counterpart: He seems to exist as one to Abe. Abe is cranky and a college-educated intellectual, but he is very moral and the Steiner Mountain Resort employees deeply respect him and seek his recommendations for career and college. Moishe is outwardly cheerful, but a corrupt businessman and Bad Boss with a crass sense of humor and manner about him, the employees at Steiner cannot stand him and he boasts about being more religious than Abe.
Financial Abuse: Season 2 has him tell Joel that he robbed him of Bar Mitzvah money and inheritances meant for him during his childhood and he fires Joel and gives him a check worth $60,000.
Friendship Denial: Despite all the fun he has tormenting Abe, he actually does like his in-laws and notes that he and Shirley have repeatedly tried and failed to see them.
The Gadfly: He takes a lot of amusement from annoying Abe and insulting him.
Hidden Depths: It could be easy to write him off as ignorant and uncaring of others' dislike of him, but very early on he somewhat sadly notes he's always thought Abe didn't care for him.
Jerkass: Moishe is incredibly obnoxious. He's not liked at all by the employees at Steiner, and is be incredibly rude and condescending to others.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: About the one person he tends to treat kindly is Midge, and he openly admits he hates what Joel did to her. In season 3 he's even willing to sell her apartment back to her at a much more reasonable price than he likely would have given anyone else. He also has a softer side with Joel and gives him an extremely large check to help him branch out on his own.
Large Ham: Even more than Abe. In nearly any scene he's in, his presence occupies the whole room.
Obnoxious In-Laws: A subdued sort to Midge. He really preferred Midge for Joel but doesn't change the fact he took back the apartment she and Joel lived in, forcing her to move back in with her parents and condescendingly suggesting she take up meaningless hobbies. Season 2 emphasizes the overall obnoxiousness of his personality and how it affects everyone from his son, ex daughter-in-law, his ex DIL's father, and even the employees at Steiner.
Parental Marriage Veto: Firmly vetoes Penny as a marriage prospect for Joel on the grounds that she is dimwitted, dull, and not Jewish.
Shameless Self-Promoter:
- He talks incessantly about the 13 Jews he helped save from Germany "at great personal cost". Abe mentions that they all work for him in the sweatshop and despise him so much that one of them would rather have taken his chances in Europe.
- A flashback to Joel's Bar Mitzvah reveals that he takes it to the point about lying about their family, having hired a milkman to pose as a "war hero" pilot cousin.
Stay in the Kitchen: He suggests to Midge at the start of the show that now that her marriage is over, she can absorb herself into little hobbies. Never mind that Midge might want to do something substantial for herself.
Vitriolic Best Buds: A one way example. Abe rarely ever hides his dislike for him. Moishe in return intentionally bothers his in-law, but he does so with a cheerful affability and despite their feuding, seems to have a bit of a soft spot for him.

Shirley Maisel

Played By: Caroline Aaron

Joel's mother and Midge's mother in law who is very anxious and a source of entertainment for Midge's parents.

Apron Matron: When she isn't at her's and her husband's factory, she is working over the stove making chicken schmaltz, different kinds of sandwiches and soups, etc.
Big Eater: The Season 2 Yom Kippur episode shows her to be preoccupied with the food offerings at the Weissman family home rather than the confession Midge will make.
Cloud Cuckoolander: She has run the books of Moishe's business for a long time. Said books are written in a code only she can understand, that involves a numbering system with no 6s, doodles, and ancient Aramaic. She's also stashed money all around New York and drawn literal treasure maps for her stash locations.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: An accomplice to her husband, she often carries the bag of money for bribing people.
Drama Queen: She dramatically calls Joel about not being able to serve cheese at a party, claiming it to be an emergency, even telling Joel (after he understandably begs off the phone) that she could die any day. She is also as loud and argumentative as her husband.
Evil Counterpart: Seems to be one to Rose. Rose is very competent, intelligent, educated, cultured, composed, fashionable, and well-mannered while Shirley is loud, crass, corrupt, and wrote the business books in several befuddling methods. Also while Rose and Abe are respected at Steiner, Shirley and Moishe are sources of annoyance to the employees there (to the point of the loudspeaker attendant warning people when they arrive). On the flip side, Shirley is more loving towards her grandkids than Rose.
Granny Classic: Between her and Rose, she is the one who is closer to this trope, despite her loud and crass manner she does dote on her grandkids and has an open door policy for any friends Ethan brings home with a variety of food for them to eat at their choosing.
I Want Grandkids: Of a sort. She has the grandchildren, but doesn't have the opportunity to see them enough and panics if she cannot see them during the High Holidays.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She is obnoxious, corrupt, and incompetent, but she genuinely loves her grandchildren, cares about her ex-daughter-in-law and her family, and is encouraging of her son moving on and to stop punishing himself.
Jewish Mother: She is very anxious and talks about grandchildren, even embarrasses Joel about how he got seasick on the Staten Island Ferry when he was a kid to his girlfriend. Played with in Season 2 when she makes Ethan lose at cards (almost gambling) with her, claiming she is teaching him about life.
Misplaced Kindergarten Teacher: More like Misplaced Mommy of Grade Schoolers. After Joel moves back in with his parents, she wakes him up by calling herself "Mommy Rooster" and starts talking to him like he is still riding his bike out and still young enough to be told what to do. She even starts singing a childish swing song to him.
Obnoxious Entitled Housewife: Like her husband, Shirley is an obnoxious, affluent, crass, overbearing to the point of controlling person who is The Dreaded every summer at Steiner Mountain Resort, where she and Moishe run the staff (and other campers) ragged. When she and Moishe move to Forest Hills, her neighbors even take notice of her as an annoyance.
Obnoxious In-Laws: Very loud, argumentative, shrill, and ridiculous. Midge, Rose, and most visibly Abe all tend to find her and Moishe rather annoying.
Parental Hypocrisy: Hilariously in a flashback where both she and Moishe declare Joel's Bar Mitzvah to be a "hell of a day!" and when Joel affirms word for word, she scolds him "Watch your mouth."
Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: A Nouveau Riche variant where she does very shady and idiotic things with the accounts and she even wears a fur coat during summer vacation in the Catskills just to look affluent.

Ethan and Esther Maisel

Played By: Matteo and Nunzio Pascale (Ethan) Cadence Magura (Esther)

Midge and Joel's children.

Butt-Monkey: Esther tends to get it worse. She is neglected by her parents and it's Played for Laughs, and her maternal grandparents barely pay attention to her. The most her maternal grandmother pays attention to her it's regarding whether she's pretty enough.
Free-Range Children: Ethan becomes this in Season 3 when his maternal grandparents lose their apartment and move to his paternal grandparents in suburban Queens where he plays out in the neighborhood with other children and even brought over a friend for lunch.
Future Badass: In the 1980s Esther is, assuming her calculations are accurate, an unparalleled genius. And Ethan, while not shown to share Esther's intellect, is still proactive, studying in Israel to become a rabbi and working on a farm.
Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Between strict, old-fashioned grandparents who expect four year olds to fast on Yom Kippur, neglectful parents, and only their grandparents' maid taking care of them and Aunt Astrid giving them regard...it's Played for Laughs. Then it's deconstructed in season 5, since by the time they've reached adulthood both of them have a troubled relationship with their mother; Ethan keeps his distance and doesn't even let Midge know that he's engaged to be married until she visits him out of the blue, while Esther is openly hostile and resentful, and is in therapy to deal with her massive self-esteem issues.
In the Blood: Flashforwards in season 5 show that Ethan and Esther have taken after their maternal grandfather, Ethan inheriting Abe's spiritual identity and Esther inheriting his intellect.
Little Mister Snarker: Ethan gets this in the Season 2 Yom Kippur episode, remarking to his mother on the older adults talking about how deprived they were as children during Yom Kippur.
Yom Kippur is scary.
Men Are Strong, Women Are Pretty: Esther gets the brunt of it from her maternal grandmother, who is planning to get her a nose job and teach her leg lifts when the girl just started to learn to walk.
Out of Focus: They’re mostly in the background of the show. This is due to the limits of working with very young child actors as well as the story being about Midge’s misadventures in comedy, not parenting, meaning the latter just gets less airtime.
Parental Favoritism: Their parents and all four of their grandparents focus more on Ethan while Esther is completely ignored and/or left unattended.
Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: After Joel left, Than wakes up early in the morning and stares at Midge creeping her out; he does the same to his grandmother Rose.
- He shrieks when Abe shuts the TV off during Howdy Doody.

Friends and Other Characters

Imogene Cleary

Played By: Bailey De Young

Midge's best friend and fellow housewife.

'50s Hair: Has shoulder length, curled and waved, lacquered over hair.
Almighty Mom: To the point she brought a copy of Dr. Spock's famous baby book to a date with her husband before they married and that she could detect her young daughter's cries from another little girl and figure out what her daughter was shrieking about.
Alpha Bitch: Parodied in the second episode of season 2, she complains that after Midge has bailed out of exercise class, she had no one to feel superior to the other people with. Alone she's just a snob.
Babies Ever After: She believes in this, telling Midge that her problems would be solved by having a third child.
Best Friend: She is very close to Midge and is very loyal, to the point where she refuses to associate with Joel after he left Midge, going so far as to also forbid her husband from doing so.
Best Friends-in-Law: She wants to become Midge's eldest son's mother-in-law in the future, Midge tells her she needs to get a hobby.
Clingy Jealous Girl: She reveals shades of this in her rant about "shorthand girls" and Archie recounts a time where she took his jam stained shirt to his secretary's apartment to compare all her lipsticks to the stain. Justified in that she is very affected by her best friend's separation and thinks that Archie will cheat on her just because he's still friends with the now-single Joel. She also gets like this after finding out that Midge has been spending a lot of time with Susie and accuses Midge of replacing her with a new "best friend".
Cloudcuckoolander: She is very daffy, taking the requirements for the ideal wife and mother up to eleven (even for The '50s) and setting her's and Midge's toddlers up for matchmaking, and is very obsessive about Archie's fidelity after the impact of Midge's separation.
Country Mouse: The second episode of season 2 reveals that she came from Iowa and that her parents are dairy farmers.
Death Glare: First seen in Season 1 when Archie agrees they accompany Joel and Penny Pan. Gives this to Archie and Joel in Season 3 which scares them both, Archie tells Joel she has a habit of giving this when she's angry.
Ditzy Genius: She's almost close to the stereotypical bubbly but ditzy blonde housewife who isn't savvy about the ways of the world, but one episode had her talking about "shorthand girls" who went to school to become secretaries and try to lure executives away from their wives while executive wives usually went to college and married right away, revealing a sort of social savvy.
Even Beggars Won't Choose It: Archie says Imogene would cancel surgery to watch a Broadway musical, even with Penny Pan, the woman who stole her best friend's husband. Imogene's reaction to this is stern, to say the least.
Fangirl: She acts more like this than than Lucy and Ethel when Midge treats her to lunch at the Stage Deli, looking for famous faces.
Foil: To Susie. Imogene is perky, a very close and loyal friend to Midge, and traditionally feminine. But she is too conventional to really encourage Midge to move on from Joel and she isn't in on Midge's comedic activities and she isn't as savvy as Susie.
- Season 2 exposes her as The Ingenue who came from a dairy farm family but she doesn't shame Midge about her comedic career. She gets shocked when Midge makes a dirty joke in public about Imogene's pregnancy enlarged breasts with a fellow comic.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She's blonde and very sweet-natured.
Irony: In Season One she rants about "shorthand girls" who go to secretarial school to learn shorthand and have carte blanche to husbands who work in the office and how she did "the right thing" and went to university to find a man to get married and even interrogated him and his secretary (to the point of searching the woman's private lipstick drawer); Season Three sees her and Archie's marriage fracturing and she is considering leaving him for secretarial school after she thinks he cheated on her. For further irony points, once she starts working as a secretary, their marriage actually improves because now she has something to occupy her outside of their children and ensuring Archie stays faithful.
Obnoxious Entitled Housewife: She already admits to Alpha Bitch behaviors, she turns into Passive-Aggressive Kombat when angry with Archie. She even stalked Archie's secretary to her apartment after he came home with a raspberry sauce stain and demanded to see all her lipsticks, is suspicious and judgemental of "shorthand girls", and as detailed under Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense she doesn't understand why the underpaid Susie would take other clients aside form Midge.
Odd Friendship: Imogene is perky, naive, from a Midwestern farm family, and has more time on her hands than Midge (to the point of wanting to set their toddler kids up), who even as a housewife, kept herself busy.
Out of Focus: She becomes less important to the story as Midge moves away from the housewife life and Susie acts more like Midge's confidant.
MRS Degree: Implied she did go to school and got married very quickly after finding Archie.
My Beloved Smother: Has shades of this, shown in the final first season episode where she tries to set her daughter up with Midge's son (both are four) and she can differentiate another child's cries from her daughter's and actually once read Dr. Spock's book cover to cover and even brought it to her first date with Archie; not played straight in that she is a sympathetic friend to the protagonist.
Nice Girl: Kind, supportive, loyal, cheerful to mostly everyone.
Passive-Aggressive Kombat: A habit of hers when she's angry (especially with Archie), Season 3 has her going down to Joel's bar and putting thumb tacks on her and Archie's wedding portrait and pictures of their three children, even purposely mislabelling the kids' photos as a "test".
Pink Is Feminine: It's a very recurring color with her and she is a very girly-girl, she and Midge even wear the color to their exercise classes.
Plucky Girl: She is very cheerful, persistent, and savvy. As a subversion, she puts it to use for her friend's social life to be free from Joel-related conflict.
Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: Played with, in Season 3 she and Midge talk her finances and how much Susie is getting paid when Midge is fuming about Susie taking Sophie Lennon as an extra client. Imogene does the math and figures that Susie is barely making a living off her cut from Midge (and even has to sublet her apartment) but turns around and tells Midge that she should be "enough" for Susie.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: By Season Three, the Clingy Jealous Girl behaviour that she began exhibiting in an effort to ensure that she and Archie don't wind up like Midge and Joel puts a big strain on their marriage.
Shipper on Deck: She suggests to Midge that they try to get Midge's son and her daughter married to one another one day...they are both four years old. At the rented Merry-Go-Round, she even gets them to sit on horses next to one another and gets them to hold hands.
Midge: Oh Imogene, we need to get you into a bowling team.
Silk Hiding Steel: More like fluffy angora hiding steel, in the second episode of Season 2, she mistakes Susie for a burglar who thought it'd be fun to take a bubble bath in the Weissman household and immediately goes to interrogating Susie.
Stepford Smiler: She is relentlessly perky and enthusiastic; but her marriage with Archie reveals that she does having anxiety regarding his fidelity.
We Used to Be Friends: With Joel. She's hated him ever since his and Midge's marriage broke up, although both couple used to hang out together.
Weight Woe: Played with humorously in "It's the Sixties, Man!" when Imogene worries to Midge that she looks like her father's prize heifer despite being "tiny and perfect" as Midge pokes her flat and slim tummy; it doesn't help that she endured the passive aggressive responses of "Glad you're back Imogene" from their exercise instructor and gossip that she supposedly lost her looks.
Woman Child: She has shades of immaturity. In season 2, for example, she freaks out because Midge didn't keep her up to date on the latest thing or on Joel quitting his job, in the manner of a gossipy teenage girl.

Archie Cleary

Played By: Joel Johnstone

Imogene's husband and Joel's best friend.

Awful Wedded Life: In Season 3 he hangs out at Joel's bar to avoid being at home, which is more strained due partly to Imogene's Clingy Jealous Girl behavior.
George Jetson Job Security: According to Joel, Archie is good at his job. Unfortunately one of his bosses happens to be an uncle of Joel's and after Joel quit the ad agency, he has to convince Moishe to talk the uncle into keeping Archie.
Henpecked Husband: Imogene rarely allows him to hang with Joel much after he left Midge and by Season 3 their marriage shows signs of strain as he hangs out at Joel's bar to avoid being home.
It Will Never Catch On: His opinion of Rock 'n' Roll is that all the young people into it will get over it, and it will just be a passing fad.
Mistaken for Cheating: When he got a jam stain on his shirt, Imogene took the shirt to his secretary's apartment and demanded to have the woman compare her lipstick shades to the stain color.
Shipper on Deck: For Joel and Midge. This is partly because he realises that his own wife's Clingy Jealous Girl behavior is caused by her fear that he, like Joel, will leave her for his secretary.

Zelda

Played By: Matilda Szydagis

The Weissman family's live-in maid who is privy to the family quirks and dramas.

Kindly Housekeeper: She is a very tolerant and patient woman that doesn't mind the day-to-day dramas of the Weissman household; she also takes care of Ethan and Esther, and it's implied that she might have taken care of Midge and her brother as well.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Normally she is adaptable and unflappable when it comes to the shenanigans of the family. In "Look She Made a Hat," though, she loses it when the Weissman-Maisel family drama (and Midge's insistence on disclosing the truth about her standup comedy) delays a dinner that she and the maids have been preparing for hours.
Pink Is Feminine: She wears a pink dress with a frilly white cap and matching apron as part of her uniform.
Secret-Keeper: In Season 2, she picks up a bit of this.
- Rose demanded Zelda not spell out that she plans on staying in Paris long-term until Abe explicitly asked, but Midge catches her packing away Rose's late grandmother's china to send to her new place. Granted, Abe and Midge would have known if they paid more attention to Rose.
- In the second episode of season 2, she is fully aware of Susie staying over at Midge's apartment while Susie is hiding from Harry Drake's muscle, even preparing meals for her.
She Cleans Up Nicely: In Season 3, when hanging out with Shirley (who doesn't want people to think she has a maid and asks Zelda to wear street clothes), she wears a sheath-like dress and shows off '50s Hair that looks nice on her, Rose is horrified.

Penny Pann

Penny Pan

Played By: Holly Curran

Joel's secretary and mistress, whom he leaves Midge for in the pilot.

Betty and Veronica Switch: Falls victim to this over the course of season 1. Initially the Veronica for Joel due to being a new and tempting alternative to Midge, she becomes the Betty when Joel leaves Midge to be with her and begins to realize that she is boring and unintelligent compared to his wife.
The Ditz: She has trouble with an electric pencil sharpener and has worn her blouse inside out more than once.
Hypocrite: After Midge sleeps with Joel, Penny confronts her and calls her a "tramp" for stealing Joel, despite the fact that Joel was initially cheating on Midge with her.
Midge: (to audience) She has a point. After all, she has a teddy bear he won for her at Coney Island. All I have is a wedding ring and two kids who call him "Daddy".
Ridiculously Average Gal: She is pretty, but also very ditzy and gullible and less exciting and intelligent than Midge. Joel describes her as "nice", but Moishe points out that "nice" is a very underwhelming draw.
Running Gag: Midge remarks in the pilot that Penny's ankles are the same size as her calves; in a later episode, Rose mentions the same thing.
Sexy Secretary: Averted. She has an affair with Joel and begins acting like his wife, but she has a mediocre personality compared to the sassy and sexy Midge, and quickly becomes the Betty to Midge's Veronica.
Shiksa Goddess: She is Methodist. Midge, noticing that Penny's apartment is very similar to the one she had with Joel, starts making cracks about Penny being the Methodist, dime-store version of her.
What Does She See in Him?: Midge repeatedly wonders why Joel dumped her for a bland, unintelligent woman like Penny, when she thought he wanted challenge and excitement in a partner.

The B. Altman Co-Workers

Played By: Lilli Stein (Vivian), Wakeema Hollis (Harriet), Megan Mc Ginnis (Lula), Colby Minife (Ginger), Erin Darke (Mary)

Midge's co-workers at the B. Altman department store where she becomes a make-up salegirl. Their names are Harriet, Mary, and Vivian. The second season introduces us to Ginger from the operating room.

Book Dumb: Vivian doesn't know what A Christmas Carol is. Mary scolds her for not knowing about Doctor Zhivago.
Cool Kid-and-Loser Friendship: The very sophisticated aspiring model Harriet, savvy and engaging Mary, and the snarky, worldy Midge are very good friends with the naive and slightly Book Dumb Vivian.
- Popular and savvy Midge with the nervous and excitable Ginger.
Deadpan Snarker: Harriet, even in her first appearance, where Midge asks if she's a runway model and she deadpans "not with this skin".
Did You Think I Can't Feel?: The third episode of season 2 has the normally composed and perky Mary in tears after Midge gives a tasteless toast revealing that she has a shotgun marriage.
Fangirl: Vivian watches a lot of movies and mentions movie stars with a gasp during conversation, comparing everyone she knows and meets to movie stars.
'50s Hair: A lot of it (pageboys, artichokes, blunt bangs, French twists); justified since their job requires them to be stylish and fashionably coiffed.
Girl Posse: A very friendly and supportive version of the trope.
Hidden Depths: Harriet is an aspiring model who has been in Ebony magazine eight times.
Inter Class Friendship: Not much known but Vivian's parents are about as wealthy as Midge's, yet all four girls get along with one another.
Motor Mouth: Ginger talks a lot to Midge even while working.
Shotgun Wedding: Mary gets this in Season 2.
Token Minority: Harriet, the black member of the Girl Posse, who is the designated cosmetics girl for African-American clients. The white girls treat her as one of their own.
We Used to Be Friends: After Midge delivers a profane toast at Mary's wedding that includes several insensitive jokes towards Mary's pregnancy, Mary gives her the silent treatment.

Mrs. Moskowitz

Played By: Cynthia Darlow

Joel's middle-aged secretary who follows him from his ad agency to his parents' business.

Beware the Silly Ones: When she helps on the admission desk at opening night for Joel's nightclub, two guys try to get in for free. She shows them the baseball bat she's got behind the desk, forcing them to pay up.
Ditzy Secretary: She issued a very Innocently Insensitive plea to Joel that one of his co-workers shouldn't wear a suit that makes him look "tubby" in front of him.
Gallows Humor: She understands it, even telling a shocked and clueless Archie about how Joel's toast could be both cheerful and morbid.
You're clearly not Jewish, dear.
Genius Ditz: The second episode of season 2 reveals that she can identify Aramaic, which helps her to figure out Shirley's crazy accounting documents.
Girl Friday: She is very competent and functions as a wingman to Joel when keeping track of his dates with models, urging him not to mix up the dates he set up; she is also very concerned about him.
Spanner in the Works: She seems a bit forgetful, revealing to Midge that Joel is living in a part of town not to dissimilar to where they lived.

Drina Romanoff

Played By: Mary Testa

A phony psychic that Rose has relied on and befriended for years.

Phony Psychic: It's clear to the audience that most of her methods are questionable, pretty much taking advantage of Rose's anxieties about perfection and of her family.
Put on a Bus: And it's not to Budapest like Rose thought, but to the Bronx.

Cosma

'Played By: Katrina Lenk

A psychic who replaces Drina and seems more on the ball about Rose's life.

Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: The second season finale hints that she could have psychic powers regarding Midge's future ... or she'd seen Midge on TV.
Only Sane Woman: She seems to see that Rose needs to relax and let Midge live her life more.
Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Everything that would make more context for her is this for her.

Dr. Benjamin Ettenberg

Played By: Zachary Levi

An accomplished doctor who is still single, to the bewilderment of New York's Jewish community. He finds his match in Midge.

The Cynic: He notes to Joel that people around him are pretty awful and there is no such thing as forgiveness. He is even cynical about love. Joel tells him he will be proven wrong.
Deadpan Snarker: Snarks about people at the resort watching him and Midge on a boat while a contest goes on and about their meddling mothers.
Midge: Are you cold? You look cold.
Benjamin: I'm a man. I'm a Jew. I suffer.
Even the Guys Want Him: A downplayed example, but Lenny, upon meeting Benjamin, seems impressed with him, and even mouths "he's gorgeous" at Midge behind Benjamin's back.
Gentle Giant: He's tall and built but generally laid back. He even comments that his size means he avoids getting angry so as to avoid frightening people.
Hospital Hottie: He is very attractive and a doctor.
Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: The 6'3" and muscular Huge Guy to Midge's 5'3" and skinny Tiny Girl.
Knight in Sour Armour: Thinks people normally are terrible but proves to be very supportive of Midge, and even quite feminist for the Fifties.
Love Interest: For Midge in Season 2; after she gives a set of lines spoofing the news of the summer of 1959, he starts smiling.
The Missus and the Ex: A male version with Joel, he barely goes out with Midge and in the 4th episode he is talking with Joel on the philosophies of forgiveness.
Nice Jewish Boy: He is Jewish and a catch as far as Rose is concerned, and while deeply cynical and very sarcastic, he's also very supportive and progressive on his views on women (even for the 50s).
Rage Breaking Point: His final farewell to Midge in season 3–he’s driven to absolute fury at her perceived interference with his life even after their breakup (since he’s unaware her mother is working behind her back). He even emphasizes to Midge that as a big, tall man, he has to constantly stay calm to not frighten others—and that Midge has pushed the very limits of his control, leaving him yelling at her in the middle of a diner for everyone to see. Only when Midge swears she’s had no idea what her mother had done is he able to regain control and have a quieter but still deeply upset conversation with her.
Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: He is a bit broody and informs Midge that you are supposed to haggle with artists on their work before purchasing them, while Midge points out that the hat in the painting made the $25 ($217.27 in 2018) worth it.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Gender-inverted. He wants a girl that is "weird," and Midge fits the bill.
Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He's quite tall, brunette and handsome.
Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Handsome, witty, and stands a full head taller than Midge.

Declan Howell

Played By: Rufus Sewell

A relatively renowned obscure artist.

The Alcoholic: He gets drunk a LOT.
Chivalrous Pervert: Openly hits on Midge despite the fact that she's dating Benjamin and is clearly not interested, but also treats her with respect, opens up to her a bit, and doesn't act too pushy beyond making a couple of jokes about wanting to seduce her.
Deadpan Snarker: Being a character on this show makes him this by default. His being British only amplifies it.
Hidden Depths: He comes across as a barely functional drunk but is a genuinely very talented artist and quite insightful, summing up Midge's central dilemma quite well. He also notes that he had always hoped to have a family and seems regretful that he had to give up that dream for his work, a fact which surprises Midge.
Informed Ability: Played with. His masterpiece painting, one described as being indescribably beautiful, is never shown, only Midge's impressed reaction to it. Justified since, art being subjective, such a painting would inevitably invoke this reaction in some viewers, no matter how well done. However we do see his other paintings which establish him as talented.
Married to the Job: To the point that his apartment is also entirely his main studio. He even laments that he always wanted a wife and family but his commitment to his work means sacrificing that dream.
Shrouded in Myth: Declan allegedly made a painting that was of such indescribable beauty that it made Jackson Pollock almost swear off painting forever, which many don't believe is real. Turns out it is real, and he keeps it in a secret room in his studio.
Small Role, Big Impact: Midge's visit to him at his studio is influential to her realization in the season 2 finale that she needs to prioritize her career above her family and personal relationship commitments.
Starving Artist: He lives in poverty because he refuses to sell his paintings despite the acclaim they receive.

Mei Ling

Played By: Stephanie Hsu

A Chinese-American med student whom Joel meets and begins dating in season 3.

As Long as It Sounds Foreign: Mei and her family are portrayed as Mandarin speakers. At the time the show is set the majority of Chinese speakers in the United States would have been Cantonese speakers.
Blasé Boast: Upon first meeting Midge, exchanges some initial pleasantries and then bluntly mentions that she's going to be a doctor.
Brainy Brunette: Is dark-haired and is studying for medical school.
Cunning Linguist: Mei is fluent in both English and Chinese and can switch between the two on a dime, and helps Joel out on occasion by being his go-between and interpreter in Chinatown (where most business is naturally conducted in Chinese).
Deadpan Snarker: She has a very dry wit that Archie notes is similar to Midge's, leading Joel to admit that he Has a Type.
Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Shows shades of this, specifically in the context of helping Joel with his club. She is so often the one actually getting things done, communicating with laborers and greasing palms to get Joel favors that he, feeling insecure, finally snaps and asks her to stop.
The Missus and the Ex: Has this relationship to Midge, although it's not yet clear whether their very similar and equally strong personalities will lead them to become friends or rivals.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Mei frequently uses her family connections in Chinatown to make business easier for Joel, such as fasttracking the approval of the liquor license that Joel had been trying to get for months.
True Blue Femininity: Wears a lot of royal blue tones.

Tessie Myerson

Tessie

Played By: Emily Bergl

Susie's sister who watches their mother and serves as Susie's Confidant.

'50s Hair: Has a early 1950s (a bit of a 1940s holdover) poodle cut.
The Confidant: Susie is shown to be very close to her and Tessie is supportive of her In the Season 3 finale they decide to burn their mother's house after their mother dies and to keep Tessie's husband and their Jerkass brothers from getting control of the property.
Cool Big Sis: Susie's confidant, never judgemental about Susie's appearance and lifestyle like so many, even gives Susie their alcoholic and invalid mother's car for her to use to take Midge on a tour.
Has a Type: As evidenced by her Jerkass husband and her confiding to Susie she is checking out a one-legged man, it seems she is inclined towards physically disabled men.
Love Martyr: Susie told Midge that Tessie "is married to an asshole" and when we see Susie's family in Season 2, it's evident her sister acts like a sweet, docile Housewife to him while he acts like a caustic ass Season 3 had Tessie tell Susie she is considering leaving him and Susie telling her she deserves better.
Tomboy and Girly Girl: Girly Girl to Susie's Tomboy, she is married and acts like a 1950s Housewife and dresses in a feminine manner.

Frank and Nicky

Frank and Nick

Played By: Erik Palladino (Frank) and John Scurti (Nick)

Two mob enforcers who befriend Susie after Harry Drake sends them to kill her.

Affably Evil: They act affable for a long enough time that we forget they are still dangerous mobsters. A big chunk of Season 5's plot revolve around this.
Hired Guns: They're hit men.
The Dividual: Never seen apart.
Neighborhood-Friendly Gangsters: They seem like this at first, befriending Susie instead of killing her, then helping her get gigs and an office (don't ask why it was available), and it's implied that they "took care of" Rose's territorial dispute with the matchmakers, but then in season 5 they start calling in those favors.
Not-So-Harmless Villain: After being briefly a threat to Susie, they are eventually conquered to her side and start to act like Neighborhood-Friendly Gangsters, serving mostly to occasionally threaten, torture or frame anyone who's bothering Susie or the ones closest to her. In season 5, Susie (and the audience) is very sharply reminded that they are still gangsters, and she owes them big time. The "favors" they start to ask her eventually lead to Joel getting involved with their business to take Midge out of their hands, later getting him imprisoned.
Wife-Basher Basher: After Dinah comes in with a black eye thanks to her (now ex) boyfriend, Susie "asks a favor" from Frank and Nicky, who then go to the guy's apartment with a baseball bat.
Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Their hesitation when they realize that Susie is a woman gives her the opening to talk them out of killing her. And they only framed the matchmakers for arson (though one of them had a heart attack) instead of physically intimidating or eliminating them.

Entertainment Industry

Lenny Bruce

Leonard Alfred Schneider / Lenny Bruce

Played By: Luke Kirby

The famous comedian and a close peer of Midge.

Because You Were Nice to Me: Bails Midge out at the beginning of the third episode in exchange for her having done the same for him two episodes prior, which leads to the two of them becoming friends.
The Champion: To Midge, as discussed by Susie. He takes a shine to her very early on and is willing to use his industry clout to do favors for her that he wouldn't do for anyone else, such as rescuing her from Sophie Lennon's blackball at the end of season 1 or bringing her on live TV with him in mid-season 3.
Commonality Connection: With Midge. The initial reason he takes an interest in her is because she keeps getting arrested while doing standup.
Cool People Rebel Against Authority: Deconstructed. Lenny is a rebellious character who is framed very positively, but his acts of transgression have consequences that cause him a lot of suffering, and his disaffected "cool" demeanor is at least partially a product of bitterness and depression.
Deadpan Snarker: One of the preeminent ones.
Desperately Craves Affection: As of 3x05 Lenny is divorced, lives by himself in a hotel, and seems extremely lonely. He takes Midge out on a date that goes well and that he clearly enjoys, but his Thousand-Yard Stare after she leaves at the end of the night suggests that he's teetering on the brink and is in desperate need of some human connection.
Fascinating Eyebrow: Does this a lot, as did the real Lenny.
Foregone Conclusion: Assuming the creators stick to his real-life timeline, Lenny will die of a morphine overdose in August of 1966.
Historical Domain Character: Obviously.
Humble Hero: While he can graciously accept a compliment, Lenny doesn't seem to think much of his fame, and often either pokes fun at it or makes self-deprecating jokes. How much of this is genuine modesty and how much is masked insecurity is not entirely clear, since he isn't exactly an open book.
Interclass Friendship: With Uptown Girl Midge.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: As is seemingly standard for the entertainment industry, Lenny is a bit stand-offish toward most people and generally doesn't make a project of being charitable or nice, but he cares about Midge and is willing to go out of his way to help her when necessary. He lampshades this fact himself in the season 1 finale when he has Midge open for him at the Gaslight.
Lenny: I am doing what is unheard of in this business. It's called "a very nice thing."
Knight in Sour Armor: Clearly very worn down by his continual struggle with law enforcement and very angry at his circumstances, but continues breaking obscenity laws and getting jailed for it as a matter of principle. This is very much in line with the real Lenny Bruce, who famously said, "Take away the right to say 'fuck' and you take away the right to say 'fuck the government.'"
Moral Guardians: As with his historical counterpart, Lenny is frequently shown on the wrong side of the law when his routine pushes the morality police too far, creating pervasive consequences on both his financial situation and his mental health.
Motor Mouth: While Lenny is aloof enough around most people that he can edge toward being a Terse Talker, when speaking to Midge he will sometimes open up more and start rapid-firing jokes, to which she usually responds in kind.
Sad Clown: Lenny uses his comedic chops and sarcasm to hide a drug problem and severe depression and fully admits that he both hates and loves comedy in equal measure.
Ship Tease: With Midge, which is kept fairly subtle in seasons 1 and 2, but becomes more explicit in season 3. In "It's Comedy or Cabbage," he attempts a Relationship Upgrade; Midge gently turns him down, and they instead land on a mutual "maybe someday."
- No longer a tease after they sleep together in the season 4 finale.
Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Downplayed. He is handsome, charismatic, highly competent, very snarky, and a bit of a loner, but he is not arrogant or misanthropic and tends to make more jokes at his own expense than at other people's. He even has a habit of standing in a slightly hunched posture that makes his height less obvious.
Unresolved Sexual Tension: Very noticeably with Midge, which according to Word of God was not planned and arose naturally out of Kirby's chemistry with Brosnahan. This was embraced and incorporated more obviously into the show's writing starting in season 3.
- They act on it in the finale of season 4.

Honey Bruce

Played By: Caitlin Mehner

Lenny's wife. Only appears once, as he is divorced by mid-season 2.

The Ditz: She went to pick Lenny up from the wrong precinct because "he likes that one better".
Hero of Another Story: Her life story could make a movie. She came from a Dysfunctional Family, was a Juvenile Delinquent, studied glamorous movie stars and ran away to Florida to be a topless dancer. She was raped and was jailed for being with some car thieves. After release she was known as "Hot Honey Harlow" and she took part in "Bride of Frankenstein" stand-up bits with Lenny.
We Hardly Knew Ye: Never appears again after her single scene in season 1, with the only subsequent reference to her existence being Lenny's mention of alimony payments in season 3.

Sophie Lennon

Played By: Jane Lynch

A famous comedian whose bestselling shtick turns out to be false.

Apron Matron: Her comedic persona is this. A dowdy and modest housedress, an obese and heavy bosomed body (fatsuit), hair in a handkerchief, and an apron.
Ascended Extra: After only appearing in one episode of season 1, and the last two episodes of season 2, she becomes a series regular in season 3, concurrent with Susie going to work for her.
Bad "Bad Acting": Her interview of arthritis sufferers during the telethon, leaves much to be desired.
Catchphrase: "Put that on your plate!" Season 2 has Midge and Susie comment how repetitive she is.
Break the Haughty: Her arc in season 4 revolves around her going through this after her disastrous attempt at Broadway gets her blacklisted by pretty much everyone and she no longer has money coming in to support her lavish lifestyle, forcing her to humble herself to Susie in order to get her career back on track.
Evil Is Bigger: As played by the 6'0" Jane Lynch, Sophie towers over every character she's interacted with so far, especially since she's nearly always wearing high heels. This is especially noticeable in her scenes with Susie (played by the 5'0" Alex Borstein).
Evil Is Petty: She tries to keep Midge from performing on the telethon after Midge told that set about how phony she was.
The Fashionista: Her real-life persona is slim and coiffed in the most-of-the-moment couture. She gives Midge a fur coat she only worn twice.
Foil: To Midge. Both are comics. Both go down a new career path due to dissatisfication with their personal lives, and struggle to adapt to these new careers (standup comic for Midge, Broadway for Sophie). Both have failures in their new lines of work, but for entirely different reasons. Midge stands up for what she believes in and is willing to fail to do what's right, and when she is met with adversity, she plods on through regardless, and she is quicker at improvising in a convincing way (as shown by her Concord performance). Sophie has just one misstep in knocking over a prop table, and is so terrified of failing that she turns back to her old ways and tries to save face, reverting to her safe zone of "Sophie from Queens" and failing anyways.
Fiery Redhead: Her comedic persona has a straggly red wig in contrast to her real-life Ice Queen blonde locks.
Hidden Depths: Sophie is a classically-trained actress, who only ended up doing standup with her Apron Matron persona because Harry Drake ignored her desire to perform in legit theater.
Hollywood Thin: She actually is very slim and doesn't eat much. She acts condescendingly amused when Midge (who is herself no Big Eater) takes a few macarons that the footman gave her; she herself sucks on a lemon.
I Was Quite a Looker: Her Housewife character comments that she went from "rubenesque" to "Ruben Sandwich".
Iron Lady: Subverted. Midge is shocked to learn that the amiable and blue-collar Sophie Lennon is actually slender, elegant, erudite and thoroughly merciless. However, Susie discovers in Season 3 that she's also a giant bundle of nerves and insecurities the moment she steps out of her comfort zone.
Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Starts to appear more sympathetic in season 3 when Susie manages to sell her as lead actress in a major theatrical production and Sophie, despite being very nervous about it, takes the project seriously and begins to show genuine promise as a dramatic actress. Then she promptly reveals her true colors once again by self-sabotaging out of fear and blaming Susie.
Laser-Guided Karma: After getting Midge blacklisted from various comedy clubs, she later finds herself persona non grata to pretty much everyone in the industry in season 4 after her disastrous performance on Broadway and has to work to regain her footing. Midge even points out this out when they meet again.
Lean and Mean: She's tall, slender and deeply unpleasant.
Lower-Class Lout: Invoked with her "Sophie from Queens" character. She's actually a refined aristocrat, but pretends to be a fat, boorish Apron Matron for her career.
Men Are Strong, Women Are Pretty: Her justification for covering up with a frumpy costume and fatsuit. She tells Midge that male comedians can get away with being themselves while women have to put on a persona that isn't their own.
Sophie: Men don’t want to laugh at you. They want to fuck you. You can’t go up there and be a woman. You’ve got to be a thing.
Never My Fault: When she sabotages her own production of Miss Julie, she tries to avoid taking responsibility by throwing all the blame at Susie and accusing Susie of dragging her down for the sake of propping up Midge. Susie hits back hard.
Secretly Wealthy: To hide it, her publicist pays off the reporters. It's a known secret, though, to anyone who's in the business.
Secret Test of Character: In the season 2 finale, Susie threatens to rain fire and brimstone down on Sophie if she keeps on sabotaging Midge. The threat backfires...as instead it causes her to gain Sophie's respect, seeing a manager who is so passionate about advocating for her client, something Harry Drake would never do (in fact Harry never even listens to what she wants). The meeting ends with Sophie offering Susie a job as her manager.
Stylistic Suck: Her comedy act is basically crass, lowest common denominator humor built around a single premise and with jokes she has barely updated in decades and a catchphrase she bellows at every opportunity in place of an actual punchline. Pretty much everyone within the industry sees her as a hack.
Trade Your Passion for Glory: It's revealed in season 2 that Sophie is a classically-trained actress with a passion for legit theater. Unfortunately, her manager ignored her desires and pushed her into her Apron Matron comedy shtick, and while she's certainly made a fortune and become a household name with it, she's not happy with what she's doing, and thus jumps at the chance to hire Susie when she gets a taste of how Susie advocates for Midge.

Harry Drake

Played By: David Paymer

Sophie Lennon's agent.

Disproportionate Retribution: When Midge outs Sophie Lennon as being a complete fraud during her act, he doesn't just try to blackball both Midge and Susie, but he also sends out a pair of goons to kill Susie. However...
Easily Forgiven: When Susie next meets Harry at a diner after the aformentioned hit job, the two act relatively friendly with one another, to which Susie just brushes the previous attempt on her life as just "Show businesses."
Jerkass: He's very unpleasant to deal with.
Jerkass Has a Point: He refused to let Sophie do Strindberg plays like Miss Julie. After Sophie throws it all down the toilet on the opening night of her performance, Susie realizes it was because Harry knew Sophie didn't have what it took to go out on Broadway.
Pet the Dog: He has a kind moment with Susie in season 4, giving her sincere praise for getting Sophie on Broadway and respecting what she achieved even if it all went horribly wrong, giving legitimately good advice on how to deal with her issues with Midge and dealing with angry investors and even offering to use his clout to get them to back off. He even gives her the most practical career advice she's ever gotten, (get more clients), advice which she takes and actually gets her business finally off the ground.
Serial Spouse: It's implied that he has been married several times, the current one being his Sexy Secretary (who is also a ditz). It is also implied that he may have cheated on several of his wives.
Trophy Wife: It's implied that several of his wives function as this role, with Sophie joking that he should sleep with the beautiful and stylish Midge.
Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: It's implied that he has been married to a long line of hotties and he's a very pudgy and bespectacled man with unremarkable looks.

Jackie Dellapietra

Jacopo "Jackie" Dellapietra

Played By: Brian Tarantina

The Emcee at the Gaslight where Susie collects tickets and auditions acts.

Deadpan Snarker: He behaves this way a lot, especially when people object to his laziness and demand more from him.
Hidden Depths:
- He's a former carpenter by trade and also has some sage words of advice for Susie before she goes to visit Sophie Lennon.
- Jackie also proves to be an excellent housekeeper, as shown when Susie sublets her apartment to him in season 3.
- A box of his personal possessions that is opened after his death establishes that he served in World War II and won a Bronze Star.

Shy Baldwin

Played By: LeRoy McClain

A singer that performs at the MDA Arthritis telethon.

Cannot Spit It Out: His feelings for Reggie are heartbreakingly obvious, but he doesn't appear to have admitted this to anyone. He does, of course, have justified reasons for this (it's the 1960s, he's a celebrity who's closeted to the public, and Reggie is both his manager and best friend).
Chekhov's Gunman: Midge recognizes him when she sees him rehearsing prior to the telethon.
Only Known by Their Nickname: He tells Midge that not even Reggie knows his real name. It's Dwayne.
The Prima Donna: A somewhat softer example. While a generally nice and friendly person, Shy can get very touchy and irritable during rehearsals and on bad days has been known to fire members of the band or his backup singers, only to hire them back later. It's also implied that some of his infamous habit of disappearing for hours or days at a time while on tour is a result of having been on the receiving end of violence from men he's had liaisons with.
Straight Gay: Maybe not the most macho guy in the world, but can play straight convincingly enough for the public, at least until he's accidentally outed by Midge.

Reggie Harris

Played By: Sterling K. Brown

Shy Baldwin's childhood best friend and actual manager.

Hidden Depths: He's a singer himself.
Hidden Heart of Gold: While he can be quite an intimidating hardass up front, he's nonetheless a lot more considerate and empathetic than he lets on. He offers both Susie and Midge poignant advice, shows a great deal of concern when he starts to realize Susie may have lost much more on a bet than she could afford, and even after he has to fire Midge over nearly outing Shy at the Apollo he remains diplomatic and gives Susie a few understanding parting words that he's been where Susie is now.
The Man Behind the Man: He's the real manager of Shy's ventures. Lou Rabinowitz, the guy who Susie thinks is Shy's manager, is actually subordinate to Reggie, and is only there as a face for when Shy needs to negotiate with white people.
Secret-Keeper: Reggie is fully aware that Shy is gay, and is very careful about keeping up appearances in order to protect him.
The Stoic: Obviously worries constantly about Shy, but does not make a habit of showing vulnerability or any strong emotions besides anger. Most of what we know of his soft side comes from Shy talking about him behind his back, and a few moments where he offers Susie and Midge advice.

Carole Keen

Played By: Liza Weil

A bassist and single mother working on Shy Baldwin's tour in Season 3.

'50s Hair: Has her blonde hair up in a curled up and pinned coiffure.
Expy: Of Wrecking Crew bassist Carol Kaye. Kaye was indignant about the character being based on her, and complained that they'd made her career into a "joke". No-one knows why, as the character isn't a joke.
Locked Out of the Loop: Like the rest of the band, she's unaware that Shy is gay.
Precision F-Strike: Gives this in her first conversation with Midge when discussing being housewives.

Alfie Zielinski

Played By: Gideon Glick

A magician represented by Susie who may or may not have actual magical abilities.

Gordon Ford

Gordon

Played By: Reid Scott

Host of the late night talk show The Gordon Ford Show. Getting to appear on his show is Midge's overarching goal in season 5.

The Beard: Implied. The details of his relationship with Hedy are never fully disclosed, but many lines hint that it's more transactional than anything, and it's never revealed what Hedy's real sexual orientation is, only that she had an affair with Susie while in college. He, at least, claims that they have an "agreement" regarding extramarital affairs, which may well be true.
Final Boss: His show is the last step Midge needs to get her big break, and ultimately Gordon is the one who blocks Midge from getting on his show.
Graceful Loser: He does his best to keep Midge out of the spotlight, but eventually concedes, in live TV no less, that she's absolutely brilliant, thus kickstarting her rise to stardom. He still fires her under his breath while he does it, though.
Handsome Lech: He's very handsome and charming, but he still harasses Midge (an employee) after she unequivocally rejects him multiple times, even forcing a kiss unto her, which is specially bad by today's standards.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: Gordon and his show are based on Johnny Carson.

Characters / The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Main Characters

Miriam "Midge" Maisel (born Miriam Weissman)

Joel Maisel

Susie Myerson

The Maisel-Weissman Family

Abe Weissman

Rose Weissman (born Rose Lehman)

Noah and Astrid Weissman

Moishe Maisel

Shirley Maisel

Ethan and Esther Maisel

Friends and Other Characters

Imogene Cleary

Archie Cleary

Zelda

Penny Pan

The B. Altman Co-Workers

Mrs. Moskowitz

Drina Romanoff

Cosma

Dr. Benjamin Ettenberg

Declan Howell

Mei Ling

Tessie

Frank and Nick

Entertainment Industry

Leonard Alfred Schneider / Lenny Bruce

Honey Bruce

Sophie Lennon

Harry Drake

Jacopo "Jackie" Dellapietra

Shy Baldwin

Reggie Harris

Carole Keen

Alfie Zielinski

Gordon

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Characters / The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Edit Locked

Main Characters

Miriam "Midge" Maisel (born Miriam Weissman)

Joel Maisel

Susie Myerson

The Maisel-Weissman Family

Abe Weissman

Rose Weissman (born Rose Lehman)

Noah and Astrid Weissman

Moishe Maisel

Shirley Maisel

Ethan and Esther Maisel

Friends and Other Characters

Imogene Cleary

Archie Cleary

Zelda

Penny Pan

The B. Altman Co-Workers

Mrs. Moskowitz

Drina Romanoff

Cosma

Dr. Benjamin Ettenberg

Declan Howell

Mei Ling

Tessie

Frank and Nick

Entertainment Industry

Leonard Alfred Schneider / Lenny Bruce

Honey Bruce

Sophie Lennon

Harry Drake

Jacopo "Jackie" Dellapietra

Shy Baldwin

Reggie Harris

Carole Keen

Alfie Zielinski

Gordon

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Index

Next