Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is a comedy about 1950s housewife who becomes stand-up comic. It has racked up awards, six Emmys for writing, dialogue and performances. Heartwarming, inspiring, with stunning costumes and sets. It’s a joy to watch, even if you mix up your words sometimes!

Meet the characters from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Sophie Lennon

Oh Sophie — the glitter-bomb of the show, diva and daredevil with a laugh that could sell out two nights and a secret that makes you like her more (or root for her downfall, depending on your mood). She’s all about the persona: scandal, wigs, those outrageous outfits — and yet somehow genuinely kind sometimes? Like, she’ll throw shade on stage and then send flowers to the kitchen staff. I love that she’s manipulative in a theatrical way, not cruel, and she has this weird habit of collecting matchbooks from every club she destroys.

Shirley

Shirley is that slightly dizzy, very earnest presence who pops into scenes and somehow makes everything feel homier — or messier — depending on the episode. She talks like she’s knitting gossip and when she gets excited she forgets the point but not the feelings, you know? She’s both nosy and oddly supportive (contradiction!), and I’m pretty sure she hoards pickle jars in her apartment for reasons she’ll never fully explain.

Joel

Joel is the ex-husband who’s way more complicated than “the guy who left” — insecure, well-meaning, and bless him, trying to find himself between a law office and some very awkward parenting moments. He’s the kind of guy who insists on doing things by the book but then impulsively buys a boat or dyes his hair or something equally dramatic. He genuinely loves Midge in his own messy, suburban way, and he has this one habit of answering serious questions with dad-joke energy, which is somehow both infuriating and endearing.

Rose

Rose is Midge’s mother in full vintage-glam mode: sharp-tongued, stylish, with opinions like weapons and a soft spot buried under layers of lipstick. She’s the classic Jewish matriarch who will roast you and then bring you soup two minutes later — very predictable in the best way, except when she surprises you (she’s got secrets, of course). She collects recipe cards like relics and can be impossibly stubborn about her bridge night, which she treats like high diplomacy.

Moishe

Moishe feels like the show’s little cantankerous sage — old, slightly bewildered, and full of stories that might not line up but are always entertaining. He shows up with anecdotes, weirdly specific curses, and the kind of advice that’s mostly cryptic but oddly on point. Sometimes he’s gruff, sometimes tender; he can yell at you across a room and then hand you a cookie with the same hand. I swear he smells faintly of incense and stale bagels, in the best way.

Lenny

Lenny is electric and dangerous, the brilliantly messy comic who says everything we’re thinking but in a sharper, darker tone — funny, angry, and strangely philosophical. He’s a showman who flirts with disaster (and sometimes dives headfirst into it), and his jokes are tiny little revolutions that make you uncomfortable and exhilarated at once. He chain-smokes when thinking, drinks like it’s part of the act, and then apologizes with a poem; like, what a contradiction, right?

Midge

Midge is chaotic brilliance — sparkling, unstoppable, and furious in the best possible way when she grabs a mic and refuses to be small. She’s witty, fashionable, maternal, impulsive, and somehow manages to be both a domestic hurricane and a stage tornado; it’s exhausting and exhilarating watching her juggle it all. She’ll charm a room and then accidentally burn a casserole, and you forgive her immediately because her punchlines are that good. Also, she keeps lipstick in places you’d never expect — pockets, book pages, the sock drawer? don’t ask.

Benjamin

Benjamin is the quietly sweet friend who might be underrated but is so solid and observant you notice him more the longer the scene lasts. He’s earnest, maybe a little shy, the type to notice the tiny details others miss and then act on them in small, kind ways (brings you tea, remembers your dog’s name). Occasionally he surprises you with a weird talent or a sudden, terrible joke that makes everyone laugh because it’s so unexpected. And yes, he probably has a secret stash of vintage postcards he hoards like treasure.

Susie

Susie is a force — rock-solid, ruthless, hilarious, and somehow fiercely protective like a guard dog that forgot it was supposed to be polite. She manages Midge with a mix of bluntness and loyalty that is actually a love language: she will throw you under a bus and then build you a limo to get you out. She’s practical, sardonic, and suspicious of everything except a good hustle, and she has this weirdly tender thing where she remembers every cruel thing said to her (and files it). Also she drinks black coffee like it’s a personality trait.

Abe

Abe is the intellectual dad who loves numbers, Kafka, and his armchair more than small talk, but he’s secretly a softie who will do embarrassing dad things when you least expect it. He’s precise, dry, a walking academic joke, yet he occasionally breaks into unguarded emotion that ruins your composure (in the best way). He loves to one-up everyone with facts but then bites his lip when something that matters happens, because his feelings are buried under layers of logic. And yes, he probably keeps a secret stash of clippings about Einstein or something — you can picture it.