S05.E03: Typos and Torsos

[Pallas]

Midge’s mouth gets her in trouble at work, and Abe obsesses over a mistake.

[bourbon]

So she appears to have learned nothing. She is honestly insufferable.

I am not a fan of the fast-forwards and the glimpses into Midge's failed marriages and strained relationships with her children. (Although it is amazing how they've gotten two actors that sound just like Midge and Joel). Hacks does this much better. I wish MMM had just stuck to the fun fantasy. 

[PurpleTentacle]

1 hour ago, bourbon said:

I am not a fan of the fast-forwards and the glimpses into Midge's failed marriages and strained relationships with her children. (Although it is amazing how they've gotten two actors that sound just like Midge and Joel). Hacks does this much better. I wish MMM had just stuck to the fun fantasy. 

Maybe it will turn out that she got hit by a bus and all this is just a fever dream. At this point, I'd prefer that.

Like I said last episode thread. I hate that 90% of writers of comedy shows nowadays think they have to deliver a dark ending, to prove that they are "real artists". You are comedy writers. Deliver a happy ending, or we'll replace you with AI!

Is that realy too much to ask? Looking at you HIMYM writers.

[Linda956]

Good Lord is Midge an obnoxious, insufferable know-it-all, self-entitledl bitch!  Everyone else is wrong and only she is right.  If anyone else (ie. the real world) had pulled that stunt where she caused the scene in the nightclub talking back to the star of the show about the comedy line she wrote, they would have been fired.  It would have been on a par with a new unknown writer getting into it with Sid Caesar at the peak of his career in the 50's. It amazes me that this woman ended up being such a big star given her grating personality  I feel sorry for her kids.  I'm still watching because while I can't still many of the characters, I do recognize what a great acting job they are doing and the clothes and sets are to die for!

[PurpleTentacle]

22 minutes ago, Linda956 said:

Good Lord is Midge an obnoxious, insufferable know-it-all, self-entitledl bitch!  Everyone else is wrong and only she is right.  If anyone else (ie. the real world) had pulled that stunt where she caused the scene in the nightclub talking back to the star of the show about the comedy line she wrote, they would have been fired. 

Eh, she's hot. Hot people can get away with almost anything. Especially if their boss is a horndog. So I buy it.

 

[iMonrey]

Quote

(Although it is amazing how they've gotten two actors that sound just like Midge and Joel).

I didn't see any resemblance between Joel and grown-up Ethan. In fact I wondered why the heck the guy was a redhead. He doesn't look like either parent. And the kid version does not have red hair.

Quote

Like I said last episode thread. I hate that 90% of writers of comedy shows nowadays think they have to deliver a dark ending, to prove that they are "real artists". You are comedy writers. Deliver a happy ending, or we'll replace you with AI!

100% agree. This has always been a fun, quirky, silly show. I don't want them to tarnish what a great series it's been by ending on such a downer. I'm hoping maybe these aren't real glimpses into the future, but rather something Midge is just imagining.

[Linda956]

Since this show is a comedy, I doubt it would happen since it would be too mean.  But I felt so sorry for Midge's daughter when she was interviewed for 60 Minutes and gave that robotic response of what a great mom Midge is when it was the exact opposite.  One gets the impression she can't stand her mother for the way she and her brother were dismissed growing up in favor of Midge's career and would love to see her write a "Mommie Dearest" book to set the record straight.

[shapeshifter]

I liked this episode. 
I get why others might not, but the Maisels and Weismans are enough like my family that I can relate. 

Although I did think the character of Abe is too over the top.
But that lets us blame someone else for why Ethan ran away to a kibbutz and married a crazy person who hates his mom. 

Still, my cousin did run away to a kibbutz and have a family, and my mom hated my dad's mom.
So this show/season is not going to resonate with everyone on every level as it does with me.

But the ice skating scene was perfect. IMO.
Didn't all y'all love that scene?

But do we think Gordon Ford is

• Like a Bill Cosby/Harvey Weinstein?
  Will he fire Midge if she doesn't feel like she owes him sex? 
  Or:
• Did Midge's off-stage gasp at Gordon's flub stimulate him to fix the joke and he sees her as some smart, possibly-talented, good-luck mascot to hang onto?
  Plus:
• At this point in his life Gordon Ford probably appreciates someone who doesn't bow down to him.
  Or:
• At this point Gordon might think it's a better look for him to kiss Lady Writer of the tabloids in public instead of firing her. 
  And,  just as likely as anything: 
• Gordon Ford might divorce his current wife and marry Midge to become one of Midge’s future ex-husbands mentioned in the 1981 interview.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Question:   
What was significant about the wife Susie recognized in the photo on Gordon Ford’s desk when Susie was snooping?

Edited April 16, 2023 by shapeshifter
typos

[Sarah 103]

5 hours ago, Linda956 said:

 One gets the impression she can't stand her mother for the way she and her brother were dismissed growing up in favor of Midge's career and would love to see her write a "Mommie Dearest" book to set the record straight.

Except that Esther is very much a science person who doesn't seem like the type who would write a book (novel or memior). It seems like a type of creativity/skill set she doesn't have. Her close friend or roommate who has spent years and years hearing all of these stories, that's the one who will write the book, with permission from Esther. Or the book will be an "as told to" type story.  

[reallyjustjen]

I liked how tiny Esther’s marching back to her own bed after Midge took her out of it when she came home in the early hours, seemed to be an indirect reference to Esther telling her therapist about how Midge bothers her at 4am with no consideration for others.  Some things never change. 

[TimWil]

9 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I didn't see any resemblance between Joel and grown-up Ethan. In fact I wondered why the heck the guy was a redhead. He doesn't look like either parent. And the kid version does not have red hair.

 

I thought it was almost freakish how grown-up Ethan sounded EXACTLY like Joel. Identical voices. The grown up version of Esther just seemed to have similar speech patterns with Midge.

 

Edited April 16, 2023 by TimWil

[txhorns79]

2 hours ago, TimWil said:

I thought it was almost freakish how grown-up Ethan sounded EXACTLY like Joel. Identical voices. The grown up version of Esther just seemed to have similar speech patterns with Midge.

I was thinking 50-something Midge looked exactly like Rose when she got off the helicopter in Israel.  Everyone apparently turns into their parents. 

I do wish the writers would occasionally let these characters have a few moments where they acted like normal humans.  It feels like someone has decided that everyone's eccentricities have to be at 100 at all times or somehow the show won't survive.   

[SnapHappy]

I thought the Abe Weissman apology tour went on a bit too long, as did the heckling from Shirley & Moishe in the club.  I had to literally fast-forward to the end of Midge's bit to just STOP hearing Shirley & Moishe.   I did love Abe's monologue to Ethan about the torsos, to get him in his own bed. 

But I guess one of the hallmarks of a ASP show is that the characters just have to go ON and ON and ON, and OMG, just please stop....

Grown up Ethan's finance' was kind of a bitch.  Just a flat out "I don't like her" about her future MIL, to her son.  Really?  Go dig some more turnips, cupcake. 

I do hope we see some more Lenny, just because I love the gorgeousness of Luke Kirby on my screen.  He doesn't have to do anything, just stand there being handsome.  *LOL*

Edited April 16, 2023 by SnapHappy

[Cramps]

I normally don’t care for Joel’s parents, but I was howling at their interruptions during Midge’s attempted act. And thought their bit in bed at the end was very sweet. 

So far I like the future-based framing devices.  Unfortunately for them, Hacks got there first. Much of Midge’s career has mirrored Joan Rivers, so seeing her end up a success is not a surprise.

I felt like the airport scene in ep 1 will be the last time we see Lenny. Which would be a shame. Luke is magical.

[TimWil]

When Abe described the Park Slope plane crash to Ethan it sounded like it happened sonetime in the relatively distant past. But the plane crash actually occurred on December 16th, 1960. I think in Episode 3 it’s January 1961 in the Maisel timeline so it had just happened.

Edited April 16, 2023 by TimWil

[QQQQ]

21 hours ago, Linda956 said:

Since this show is a comedy, I doubt it would happen since it would be too mean.  But I felt so sorry for Midge's daughter when she was interviewed for 60 Minutes and gave that robotic response of what a great mom Midge is when it was the exact opposite.  One gets the impression she can't stand her mother for the way she and her brother were dismissed growing up in favor of Midge's career and would love to see her write a "Mommie Dearest" book to set the record straight.

The daughter reminded me of Catherine from Veep being asked about her mother Serena 😅

[iMonrey]

Quote

What was significant about the wife Susie recognized in the photo on Gordon Ford’s desk when Susie was snooping?

Good question, I didn't get the significance of that either.

[kwnyc]

One guesses that Esther isn't going to have kids! And loved when Midge asks if it should take longer to become a rabbi than a lwayer and Ethan answers: Yes.

Abe is, and always has been, a self-centered asshole, redeemed only by Tony Shalhoub's performance. Crazy as they are, Moishe and Shirley seem to be better parents than the Weissmans.

I'm now very interested in Joel's path. He's not mentioned at all in the flash-forwards, and we know he's actually more of a hands-on dad than most at the time, and seems to know more about the kids' day-to-day lives than Midge. 

[Cramps]

28 minutes ago, kwnyc said:

.I'm now very interested in Joel's path. He's not mentioned at all in the flash-forwards, and we know he's actually more of a hands-on dad than most at the time, and seems to know more about the kids' day-to-day lives than Midge. 

Uh oh…no Joel in the future yet —good catch. Add that to her donating all her clothes to a self created charity…hmm…

 

Edited April 16, 2023 by Cramps

[shapeshifter]

35 minutes ago, kwnyc said:

I'm now very interested in Joel's path. He's not mentioned at all in the flash-forwards

8 minutes ago, Cramps said:

Uh oh…no Joel in the future yet —good catch.

I hadn't noticed Joel was thus far absent from the future interview either.
Now that I do:
In 5.1 "Go Forward," we see Joel seriously injured.
In novels, movies, TV shows, plays, etc., a disabling or disfiguring injury to a main character is often a foreshadowing of the character's impending, untimely death.
Not always, but now I'm wondering. Joel does often makes poor life choices.

 

[Sarah 103]

6 hours ago, SnapHappy said:

I do hope we see some more Lenny, just because I love the gorgeousness of Luke Kirby on my screen.  He doesn't have to do anything, just stand there being handsome.  *LOL*

I can't believe that's all we will see of Lenny this season. He's too important a character for that to be it. What Luke Kirby can do with a look is amazing. There are moments when the way he looks at Midge says more than any line of dialogue ever could. 

[Quilt Fairy]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

In 5.1 "Go Forward," we see Joel seriously injured.
In novels, movies, TV shows, plays, etc., a disabling or disfiguring injury to a main character is often a foreshadowing of the character's impending, untimely death.

Yet by this episode Joel's face looks fine and he's showing no lasting effects of the beating.  Just like Midge is still wearing spike-heeled shoes and never once shows a limp. 

[shapeshifter]

In this episode we see Midge as the most progressive parent of the lot, including Joel, his parents, and her parents.
In spite of Midge's arrival at the kibbutz in a helicopter, I guess they're rehabilitating her a bit as a parent?

Midge may be a reason her kids need therapy, heh, but she's also the only one getting them therapy.
And although we see Joel helping Midge marking the hallway for the sleep training recommended by the therapist, Joel is also vociferously opposed to therapy (as were my parents in the early 1960s, and up until their deaths in the 2010s).
And Abe manages to undo all the progress of the sleep training therapy. 
Plus, we hear drunk Shirley at the club extolling the advantages of corporal punishment:

• [SHIRLEY TO JOEL WHEN HE TRIES TO TAKE HER DRINK] I'm gonna put you over my knee and spank you.
• [SHIRLEY TO "WHAT'S HIS NAME" AND "WHAT'S HER NAME"] When he was a boy, he was so afraid of my hairbrush that he would hide in my closet.

[debraran]

2 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Yet by this episode Joel's face looks fine and he's showing no lasting effects of the beating.  Just like Midge is still wearing spike-heeled shoes and never once shows a limp. 

I was thinking that too, why have the whole toe thing...it wasn't that funny, that whole part seemed like a dream.

I agree, re Lenny, I know he took a bad path but their chemistry is just there, he is so charismatic, as someone said, he doesn't have to talk to Midge. I hope her boss doesn't keep hitting on her, happened to me my first full time job in 70's. I kept refusing (also stayed in same position)

He's not season regular this season and its about 4 years until his "real" death year. This interview sheds light on his appearance but doesn't leave me with a good feeling of too much more sadly. ; (   It is all about Midge.  I would love to have him show up at a big event in the audience but I'm not the writers.

https://ew.com/tv/the-marvelous-mrs-maisel-luke-kirby-lenny-bruce-airport-goodbye/

Part of linked interview:

What does change their relationship is their argument at Carnegie Hall, the elephant in the room when they cross paths at the airport (a scene which they shot at the former TWA terminal at JFK airport in what is now the TWA Hotel). Midge is the one to bring it up, promising to Lenny that she isn't going to blow it, which he says he will hold her to.

"He puts what she says in an 'Okay, now show me,' kind of place," adds Kirby. "He doesn't take the hook of sentiment, but he definitely will take somebody at their word and watch to see how that word grows."

The scene is played as a farewell, and Sherman-Palladino sees it as such in sending Midge into the final leg of her journey to breaking out as a star. "We were in 1961. He was about to hit his downward spiral," Sherman-Palladino reflects. "We talked a lot about what more did we need from the character? That moment on stage of Carnegie Hall, everything between her and Lenny has been leading to that moment, not the moment where they sleep together."

Once that happened," she continues, "especially since it was the tail end of our journey, Midge needed to then get herself in gear and get herself to where she needed to go. But we wanted to check in with Lenny. We didn't want to leave with the sadness of Lenny. We wanted to leave with the moments that Midge would take with her and lean back on. When things are bleak and things aren't going the way she wants, that's the stuff that she wants to remember from her time with Lenny. But we also wanted to see that this business can eat you alive. The loneliness and travel, it's a treacherous business to be in and it can do terrible things, even to the strongest and the most gifted. That was another thing we wanted to show. You make your decision to lead that lonelier life, and you have to be strong enough to endure it."

For his part, Kirby wasn't sure if this airport scene was his goodbye to Midge. But he certainly felt it was weightier than many other scenes they'd shared. "I didn't know where the season was going to go," he says. "But I definitely played it differently than any other time that we've said goodbye to each other. Something about that red hall gave me an instinct that this was a little different from our prior encounters."

Whether Lenny might return, fans will have to wait and see.

 

[SnarkShark]

I already hated the direction they've been taking with 80s Midge being a real ahole.  But now her kids are too?  Oy.  As over the top as it is for Midge to literally be a helecopter parent, for her son to wind up that humorless is a real pile of crap.  And with a fiance that passes a verdict on Midge after literally 2 minutes of contact (and all her son can do is shrug, seem to agree, and say "she's my Mom"?  Ick.  

[janie jones]

On 4/14/2023 at 1:06 PM, Linda956 said:

 If anyone else (ie. the real world) had pulled that stunt where she caused the scene in the nightclub talking back to the star of the show about the comedy line she wrote, they would have been fired.

Not if your boss only hired you so he could try to have sex with you.

13 hours ago, SnapHappy said:

Grown up Ethan's finance' was kind of a bitch.  Just a flat out "I don't like her" about her future MIL, to her son.  Really?  Go dig some more turnips, cupcake.

This is probably more thought than the writers put into it, but if Ethan had indicated along the way that the fiancee and Midge wouldn't get along, then I could see her feeling comfortable admitting to him that she doesn't like Midge. For example, I've never had my mother-in-law's cooking, but my husband has told me numerous times she's not a good cook, so I'd feel okay openly stating to him that her cooking was bad if I ever did eat something of hers I didn't like. I'm not sure that their 1-minute interaction was enough for the fiancee to decide she didn't like Midge, though.

[EtheltoTillie]

Yay for Palladino stable member Kelly Bishop!  “I got priors.”

Abe was insufferable as usual, with the spelling, the narcissistic obsessing over his error, thE terrifying speech to Ethan. 

Did anyone think the Elmer Fudd joke was funny?  In past seasons the comedy bits have felt fake and unfunny, and they still are. 

Edited April 17, 2023 by EtheltoTillie

[Crs97]

3 hours ago, SnarkShark said:

And with a fiance that passes a verdict on Midge after literally 2 minutes of contact (and all her son can do is shrug, seem to agree, and say "she's my Mom"?  Ick.

I’m sure the fiancée has heard a lot about her from Ethan, and her shipping him a new suit and then showing up in the helicopter to tell him to shave, bathe, and be on time for her event probably solidified all his comments.

[buttersister]

Also, you meet your son's fiancé, maybe you invite her to the event to accompany him. But not if you're Midge! #TeamFiancé.

[kwnyc]

1 hour ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Did anyone think the Elmer Fudd joke was funny?

The Eisenhower joke was better.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Did anyone think the Elmer Fudd joke was funny?

23 minutes ago, kwnyc said:

The Eisenhower joke was better.

I rarely find jokes told by standups to be funny. "Rarely" doesn't mean never, so it's not like I can't LOL at a joke. But every joke I can recall Midge telling in the show was not very funny, and that's right in line with Carson back then or Fallon now. 
That said, I do wish the writers had decided to make her jokes really funny. But I guess it would have been distracting from the larger story of the the Maisel show.

 

[DrSpaceman73]

1 hour ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Yay for Palladino stable member Kelly Bishop!  “I got priors.”

Abe was insufferable as usual, with the spelling, the narcissistic obsessing over his error, thE terrifying speech to Ethan. 

Did anyone think the Elmer Fudd joke was funny?  In past seasons the comedy it’s have felt fake and unfunny, and they still are. 

None of the jokes she's pitched have been that funny. 

Not that the guys jokes are either but still.....no the Elmer Fudd thing wasn't funny.  Neither was the white house diaper joke. 

Her comedy has always been mediocre.   She's a fresh voice and different as a female but the actual jokes have never been that great. Which is why this huge success as a 1970s style lucille ball or mtm is just hard to watch in the future parts. 

Dan egan!!  You womanizing bastard like always.  

The shot of him lying on the ice though right in front of prometheus in almost the same pose was great. 

[EtheltoTillie]

I don’t usually laugh at standups on TV, but I will at least smile. The jokes on this show aren’t funny, because they’re not real standup jokes. It also makes a huge difference to see comics live. I saw the real Joan Rivers live, BTW, and we howled with laughter. Same with Gilbert Gottfried. I’ve seen other live standup and it usually makes me laugh out loud. The real Johnny Carson was also known for being able to ad lib those flubs, like the guy on the show.

Edited April 17, 2023 by EtheltoTillie

[Crs97]

Her best pitched joke for me was the Titanic one, and it was a lazy one.  I wasn’t sitting there thinking she was the victim of sexism.

I never laugh at her standup.

[LoveLeigh]

On 4/15/2023 at 5:06 PM, shapeshifter said:

Question:   
What was significant about the wife Susie recognized in the photo on Gordon Ford’s desk when Susie was snooping?

Great question. I was going to ask the exact same thing. Anybody have an answer?

[LoveLeigh]

Could Midge be dead and this is all a fake flash forward into what might have been? It just seems so idiotic. Is the last episode her funeral in the late 1960s and then a flash forward to what could have happened if she lived? 

Edited April 17, 2023 by LoveLeigh

[DrSpaceman73]

37 minutes ago, LoveLeigh said:

Could Midge be dead and this is all a fake flash forward into what might have been? It just seems so idiotic. Is the last episode her funeral in the late 1960s and then a flash forward to what could have happened if she lived? 

I hope not. 

[shapeshifter]

36 minutes ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

1 hour ago, LoveLeigh said:

Could Midge be dead and this is all a fake flash forward into what might have been?

I hope not. 

While I don't think the interview in this episode is a "fake flash forward into what might have been," I can imagine it being her last interview. 
I'm in the habit of running 1970s game shows in the background while I work on projects or clean house. I have looked up most of the celebrity contestants to see what became of them. A few lived long lives (like Betty White) but many were smokers who died of various cancers or heart disease earlier than they might have otherwise. 
My high school friend who strongly resembled Rachel Brosnahan (and also Alexandra Socha/Esther) died of cancer at 48, so this idea that Midge does not live on to be Betty White years old is a little disturbing to me personally. But I can't picture a very old Midge either. Then again, Joan Rivers lived to be 81 and never looked that old.

Since the hair and makeup for the series has been a real highlight, I can imagine them wanting to take on a glamourous, post-menopausal Midge in a later interview. 
Would it be too much to have this older Midge and Esther doing a fashion talk show for an Emmy red carpet preview like Joan Rivers and her daughter did?
A 2008 interview with Rivers includes a one-liner that sounds like Midge: "I’ve had so much plastic surgery, when I die they will donate my body to Tupperware" (nytimes.com/2009/01/04/magazine/04wwln-Q4-t.html). 
But if they do have a flash forward to a much older Midge, I'd like her to be a little more Betty White au naturel than Joan Rivers plastique.

And no obituaries, please.
Except maybe for Abe, because I think they could make it humorous.

[Suzn]

I wanted to ask if everyone/anyone finds Midge funny and I'm glad to see that it's been discussed.  I've never found her to be the least bit funny.  Even if I was in audience of people drinking and laughing, I don't think I would be laughing.  I am probably not the one to judge whether she would have been a big success, but I really don't see it.

[shapeshifter]

13 hours ago, Suzn said:

I wanted to ask if everyone/anyone finds Midge funny and I'm glad to see that it's been discussed.  I've never found her to be the least bit funny.  Even if I was in audience of people drinking and laughing, I don't think I would be laughing.  I am probably not the one to judge whether she would have been a big success, but I really don't see it.

I rarely laugh at jokes in any context, but I am amused at least half the time.
In addition to being present in the room to get the group effect of any contagious amusement, any comic's jokes are funnier at the moment they are told, with few exceptions, due to current events and norms, and sometimes geographic differences.

But I wonder if the Paladinos think Midge's jokes are funny to us, the Prime viewing audience?

[FaginZorro]

There is nothing in the content that we have seen of Midge's routines to indicate that she is a cutting-edge comedic killer. During the five-year production of TMMM, the Palladinos have had obscene money to slang around. The synchronized swimming when Midge was in Miami is one example. The fake snow in S1, E1 is another example.

But did it occur to them to put one or two experienced female comics (Elayne Boosler, Judy Tenuta, Kathy Griffin, et al. -- Borscht Belt types and even a Moms Mabley chitlin circuit type) who possess an intelligent sensibility and who have actually worked these kinds of gigs on the payroll to write/create Midge's on stage routines? And perhaps even have them consult, coach and direct Rachel in the on-stage routine scenes? Surely there are up-and-coming young comics (male and female) who would be eager to provide this specialized service to zetz up the comedy routine scenes for a reasonable fee. But nah, that would be too much power and cred to give up.  Maybe they're right; hey, I don't have 22 Emmys.

[kwnyc]

Well, not Judy Tenuta.

[EtheltoTillie]

The quality of the comedy routines has been discussed every year.  I believe that the Palladinos think they're funny and they don't think they need extra help.  This is just a gut feeling, of course. 

Edited April 18, 2023 by EtheltoTillie

[fishcakes]

I'm confused about what happened with the matchmakers. Apparently they did set the tea room on fire and someone turned them in to the police, but who was that and how did they have enough proof to have them arrested? And the person who called each of the matchmakers said she was calling from Susie Myerson and Associates, but it wasn't Susie, so was it Dinah?

On 4/15/2023 at 2:06 PM, shapeshifter said:

But do we think Gordon Ford is

• Like a Bill Cosby/Harvey Weinstein?
  Will he fire Midge if she doesn't feel like she owes him sex? 
  Or:
• Did Midge's off-stage gasp at Gordon's flub stimulate him to fix the joke and he sees her as some smart, possibly-talented, good-luck mascot to hang onto?

Somewhere in between the two, I think. He's a sexual harasser, but not in a way that would/should send him to prison. It's more the kind of unfortunately very common harassment that women were expected to and did tolerate and laugh off for decades. As for why he didn't fire her, it's probably because he does think she's talented but he also wants to sleep with her. If one of the men writers had fought with him in public like she did, he would have fired them on the spot.

[DrSpaceman73]

The whole flubbing the joke amd elmer fudd.....I mean they just missed the obvious joke there., he sounded like Elmer Fudd, impersonating Elmer Fudd, something, like they just miss an easy one after he messed it up.  

[buckboard]

On 4/18/2023 at 7:28 AM, shapeshifter said:

But I wonder if the Paladinos think Midge's jokes are funny to us, the Prime viewing audience?

They probably do.  They think Abe and Joel's parents are amusing, while I find them to be nasty people, so the Paladinos sense of what pleases the viewing audience is not what this member of the audience finds funny or amusing. 

[Suzn]

1 hour ago, buckboard said:

They probably do.  They think Abe and Joel's parents are amusing, while I find them to be nasty people, so the Paladinos sense of what pleases the viewing audience is not what this member of the audience finds funny or amusing. 

Yeah, I'm afraid they are that delusional. I really don't find much funny in the show.  I watch because I find that time and place interesting and enjoy seeing some fabulous clothes.  Midge is an interesting character and I want to see happens to her, but again, not funny.

[maggiegil]

On 4/15/2023 at 5:23 PM, iMonrey said:

I didn't see any resemblance between Joel and grown-up Ethan. In fact I wondered why the heck the guy was a redhead. He doesn't look like either parent. And the kid version does not have red hair.

 

I thought the actor had a real resemblance to the actor who plays Noah (Midges brother)

[Insert Username]

Nice touch, having Esther climb out of her mother's bed as soon as she could

[AuntieMame]

On 4/16/2023 at 8:11 AM, Cramps said:

I normally don’t care for Joel’s parents, but I was howling at their interruptions during Midge’s attempted act. And thought their bit in bed at the end was very sweet. 

So far I like the future-based framing devices.  Unfortunately for them, Hacks got there first. Much of Midge’s career has mirrored Joan Rivers, so seeing her end up a success is not a surprise.

I felt like the airport scene in ep 1 will be the last time we see Lenny. Which would be a shame. Luke is magical.

Lenny is magical and I’m definitely on board the “wow, he’s so handsome and charismatic” train that other posters are riding. Imagine what flirting with him must be like, even as banter and acting. Swoon. 
 
I really hope that isn’t the final scene with Lenny, that we didn’t say goodbye to him in an airport hallway and send him off into tragedy. At the very least I hope we get a glimpse of Midge’s regret and grief for a fallen friend. 

On 4/18/2023 at 8:28 AM, shapeshifter said:

I rarely laugh at jokes in any context, but I am amused at least half the time.
In addition to being present in the room to get the group effect of any contagious amusement, any comic's jokes are funnier at the moment they are told, with few exceptions, due to current events and norms, and sometimes geographic differences.

But I wonder if the Paladinos think Midge's jokes are funny to us, the Prime viewing audience?

I’m the same way. It’s rare that I guffaw, but I often find things funny. This show though? No, that isn’t why I watch it. I find the writing for Joel’s parents a mean spirited portrayal and Rose and Abe not much better. I don’t like comedy that relies on cruelty. 
 
At this point I’m watching just as much for Susie as for Midge. I’ve been rewatching a bit while waiting for other episodes to drop and I’m liking Susie more and more. I hope we get to see more of her journey to success.