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| Episode Number | 5.2 |
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| Written By | Daniel Palladino |
| Directed By | Daniel Palladino |
| Premiered | April 13, 2023 |
| Runtime | 53 minutes |
| Previous Episode | Go Forward |
| Next Episode | Typos and Torsos |
It's a Man, Man, Man, Man World
It's a Man, Man, Man, Man World is the second episode of the fifth and final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Table of Contents
Official Description
It’s Midge’s first day at her new job. Anybody know The Caisson Song?
Plot Synopsis
In 1985, Mike Wallace hosts a career retrospective episode of 60 Minutes about the life and career Midge Maisel, including a rare interview with her. He begins with a recap of her meteoric rise, from her 18 consecutive sold-out nights at the Copacabana, to her numerous sold-out tours in the U.S., Canada. Photos are shown of Midge with various celebrity friends throughout the decades, and a clip is shown of Midge performing one of many USO Shows with Bob Hope in Vietnam. Mike then recounts how she began angling towards more risqué material, culminating in an infamous 1971 show at Carnegie Hall ending in her arrest, from which audio is played and photos are shown. He then explains how she rebounded with a series of college campus tours, and pivots to the topic of her parenthood, including a brief interview with Esther. Mike also grills Midge about her long series of marriages and love affairs with different men, and pries into her rift with Susie, but Midge deflects. The special ends with Midge promoting her ongoing wardrobe auction, featuring many iconic outfits from her life.
Back in 1960, Midge has a frustrating Sunday-morning breakfast with her family, as Ethan refuses to eat while Abe and Rose stubbornly refuse to understand or accept Midge's recent news that Gordon Ford hired her as a writer. When Midge expresses her concern over who will take the kids while she is at work, Zelda enters the room and reassures her that she will take them, followed by Janusz, who also volunteers to take them and expresses how much he has loved spending time with them. Midge has no idea who Janusz is, but is too polite to say anything until he leaves the room. She soon learns that Abe and Rose don't know who he is either, aside from a vague sense that he was a handyman and had been around on and off for the past few weeks. They shrug it off, because he seems useful.
Joel awakes at his parents' house in Queens, still much the worse for wear from his beating at the hands of the Lin family goons the previous night. He does not remember getting there, and he calls Archie for an explanation. Archie recaps the events of the previous evening, and begs Joel's forgiveness for taking him back to his parents' place rather than his own. Joel prepares to give it, but downstairs, he hears his father and his mother shouting at each other, and reserves the forgiveness for later. Determined to quell the kerfuffle below, he immediately calls Midge and asks her to bring Ethan and Esther over.
Midge arrives at Moishe and Shirley's with the grandkids in tow, but this only serves to heighten their conflict as the two fight to steal the love and attention of the kids. Ultimately, Moishe and Shirley wind up in the living room with the kids as Midge pulls Joel aside for an explanation of his injuries. Joel breaks the news to her about Mei's abortion and departure. Midge remembers the conversation that she had with her at the hospital, and says that she had a feeling that something like this might happen. This causes Joel to lash out at Midge, telling her that she should have warned him what was about to happen to him.
At 4:56 AM the next morning, Midge wakes up in a panic because she realizes that her job at The Gordon Ford Show will be a sitting job, which she did not consider when choosing her meticulously assembled first-day outfit. She calls Susie, who is very angry to be woken early in the morning, and even angrier when she arrives at Midge's place and learns what this is about. She makes an ultimatum that nobody in the Weissman clan is ever to call her before 10:30 again, but she makes an exception for Zelda, who brings her a fresh cup of coffee. This reminds Midge of Janusz, and she gleefully imparts the gossip on Susie only to learn that she already knows. Susie explains that Zelda and Janusz have been dating for four months, and that she sees them sometimes when they come down to The Village. She is astonished that Midge has failed to notice Janusz in all the time he has been coming to her apartment. She then helps Midge select an outfit, and departs.
While riding the subway to her first day of work, Midge spots Sylvio in the opposite car. He is anxious to talk to her, to explain and apologize for what happened at his apartment, but Midge is determined to avoid him. A chase ensues, passing through several different trains and stations. During the chase, the two each stop in turn to briefly admire a particular woman's coat, Sylvio offends another woman by pushing past her on the stairs and insulting her and her friends for traveling side-by-side as they are, and is waylaid by a cop who spots him pursuing Midge. The situation with the cop is exacerbated by the offended woman from the stairs pitching in against him, but eventually he manages to catch up to Midge just as she is exiting the station, with the cop hot on his heels. He gets Midge to tell the cop to stand down, and he explains that the angry woman was his wife, but that they were already separated, and she was not supposed to show up to that apartment without giving prior notice. Midge extends an olive branch and asks about his dog, and he explains that his wife took the dog in the divorce and renamed him. Midge accepts his apology, and the two depart amicably. The cop, who has been watching the proceedings with growing amusement, makes a supportive comment towards Sylvio.
Arriving at her new job, Midge has some difficulty getting in due to the implausibility of her story. Dorie and Marge hold her up at the door, regarding her with extreme skepticism, but luckily Midge spots Mike Carr inside, standing at the talent board near Francie's desk, and calls out to him incessantly. Reluctantly, Mike acknowledges her and lets her in. Midge goes over to him and tries to introduce herself, but Mike is intent on taking his anger at Susie out on her. He briefly rants about his Christmas tree and tells Midge to flip Susie off for him, then leaves without telling Midge where to go. Luckily, she gets directions from Trudy, and makes her way in. As she enters, Ralph, Cecil, Adam and Mel are in the process in grilling Alvin over his disenchantment with Mel Brooks, and none of them notice her come in. Eventually, Midge makes herself known and explains who she is. As it turns out, Alvin had heard tell of her from George, but did not know the details, and none of the other writers had heard about a new hire at all. As Midge searches for a place to sit, the men resume ignoring her and begin discussing Gordon's recent decision to quit smoking, and the office smoking ban that comes with it. Just as Midge finds a chair for herself and finished laboriously dragging it into place, Alvin calls for “twenty in one” and all the writers get up and leave. Midge asks Alvin for an explanation, but he is answering a phone call. She goes out and asks Dorie, but she doesn't know. As Midge turns away, flabbergasted, Dorie fields a call from someone distressed about the new no-smoking policy.
At Susie Myerson and Associates, Dinah catches an incoming call from Midge and passes it off to Susie, warning her that Midge seems off. Midge tells Susie about “twenty in one”, which she has learned means writing twenty jokes in one hour. Dinah not-so-helpfully does the math on how many jokes per minute Midge will have to write. She expresses her panic and blames Susie for making her take a job she knew she was not suited for, but Susie eventually manages to help her get her creative juices flowing. Midge passes on Mike's message (flipping Susie off), and hangs up to get down to work. In the background, Dorie answers a phone call.
As Rose and Corinne stroll out towards Rose’s Tearoom, Corinne talks about her second husband (the one that she truly loved) and recalls how he died. Her story is interrupted, however, when the two discover that the Tearoom has been burned down. Mid-conversation with a policeman, Rose realizes that The Matchmaker Mafia is responsible, and declares that they have gone too far this time, to Corinne's confusion.
At The Gordon Ford Show offices, the hour is up and the writers gather to pitch their jokes to Alvin. Mel's first joke goes into the maybe pile. Adam's first joke is about Santa, and is rejected because Gordon doesn't like Santa jokes. Ralph skips past his Santa jokes and presents a joke which is good but needs to be approved by George first, since it will involve cutting to a shot of him. Cecil's first joke is simply “I miss Nixon,” which is not well received by Alvin. He then turns to Midge, but she is unable to finish telling her joke because Adam goes to the bathroom and the others sing the Caisson song to cover the noise of the flush. When he comes back, she tries to tell it again, but is interrupted a second time in the same spot as Mel goes and the others sing the song once again.
Later, Alvin delivers the completed list of jokes to Trudy, and declares lunch break. As the other writers leave, Midge tries to talk to Alvin about how none of her jokes made it into the show, but he ignores her and enters the bathroom. She begins to sing the Caisson song, but he emerges and frustratedly tells her that it is his office.
Outside 30 Rock, Midge contemplates her shitty first day as she eats a sandwich. Her woes are compounded when her pickle falls on the ground. Needing a win, she decides to pick up the pickle and eat it anyways.
At the Village Voice, Terrence reminds Abe about his imminent get-to-know-you lunch with Penelope, and lets him know what to expect. He expresses regret that he cannot come along, due to his current cold. When Terrence's sneezes begin to interfere with his explanations, Gabe takes over and guides Abe the rest of the way out the door.
At The Gordon Ford Show offices, Ralph plays the piano as Mel does a crossword puzzle and Midge reads the newspaper. Midge spots Mike going over to Francie and giving her instructions on handling the car service, and she greets him in an attempt to break the ice. Mike spots George arriving late, hitting on Dorie, and rants to Midge about how much he hates the man. When George comes over, however, Mike is very civil to him. Midge introduces herself, and as he begins to leave, she throws him a compliment about his boat-shoes which doubles as a secret callback to Mike's earlier rant, which ingratiates her ever-so-slightly with Mike. Suddenly, an angry Gordon can be heard from the floor above. Ralph, Cecil, Adam, Mel, Trudy, Dorie, Marge, Midge and Mike watch from below as Gordon emerges at the balcony and angrily throws the script down in pieces. George and Alvin appear next to him. Gordon walks away, and George does too after shouting a brief word of encouragement. Alvin goes downstairs and meets the writers in the writers' room to tell them that they have to start from scratch, with jokes that are shorter and less topical. Once again, Midge laboriously lugs her chair into place, and once again Alvin calls for twenty in one right as she finally sits.
Abe dines with Penelope at Orsay Restaurant, and the two have clearly been hitting it off. As the waiter brings a free île flottante, Penelope asks for the check and explains that she regretfully must leave, but that the next time they meet, she'll be sure to schedule extra time to linger. She then places her hand on his leg in a sexual manner, which unnerves him and causes him to go on awkwardly about his wallet. As he does, the waiter returns and inquires about the quality of the dessert, and he snaps at him, thinking that he's inquiring about the quality of the sexual gesture.
Outside The Gordon Ford Show set, Mel, Adam, Cecil, Trudy, Ralph and Midge stand waiting to see if the current monologue is a go or a no go. They've been waiting a long time, and there is some debate about whether or not this is a good sign. Trudy repeatedly offers to go get her typewriter, but the others tell her no. Eventually, they see Teddy the cue card guy leaving, and they all groan. Ralph explains to Midge that this is because Teddy leaving first means that the monologue is not yet locked. Their fears are confirmed when Alvin emerges with Mike and George and says that Gordon threw the whole thing out. Trudy bolts, exclaiming that she knew she ought to have grabbed her typewriter, to which Marge agrees as she walks past. The others protest that it is only one hour until show time, but George tells them that it's too bad and they'll just have to deal with it, as he smugly goes off to meet Angie Dickinson. The writers all gather in the writers' room, along with Trudy and Teddy, for a lightning round of anything they've got. Ralph, Cecil and Adam get jokes in straight off the bat, while Mel tells a Ben Hur joke that does not make it. Midge reveals that she worked on some new stuff during rehearsal, which draws the superstitious ire of the writers, who believe that it's bad luck to write during rehearsal. Alvin quells them, however, and lets Midge read. Neither of her jokes make it, which hurts her ego and leads her to confront Alvin. This turns into an argument with Mel when he interjects and mocks her attitude and she responds by attacking his Ben Hur joke, pointing out that Jack Paar did it two weeks ago. Alvin shuts the argument down, saying that there's no time, and throws it to Cecil.
Arriving back at the Village Voice, Abe pulls Gabe aside and performs the contact that Penelope did with him on Gabe, inquiring whether he's right in thinking that it's sexual. Gabe confirms that it very much is, and Abe explains the situation, expressing his immense discomfort at what happened and his worry that Rose will figure it out somehow. Gabe is surprised, because Penelope has never made a pass at him. He promises never to put Abe in such a situation again, then he asks Terrence whether she's ever made a pass at him, and is surprised to learn that Terrence is gay and has been living with Maury in accounting. This provokes a lightbulb moment as Gabe realizes why Maury has the same cold as Terrence.
At the Gordon Ford Show offices, the team waits anxiously for Gordon to do something. Midge, Alvin, Mel, Cecil, Ralph, Dorie and Marge mill about the lobby as Adam is in the audience saying hi to his parents and Mike sits atop the balcony. Eventually, Gordon emerges from his office with George and Trudy runs by exclaiming that he's on the move. The writers quickly make their way to the studio and rendezvous with Adam, who is rushing to join them. They wait for Gordon at the bottom of the stairs, but he walks right past them and says hi to the audience, who are in the process of being briefed and warmed up by the stage manager, Maury. Gordon then turns around and tells the writers which jokes he's going to do. Teddy hastily writes them onto the cue cards, and the writers lean back in relief as the show begins. Midge and Mel apologize to each other. The broadcast begins, and the Band Leader introduces Gordon for his monologue. The writers watch from off-camera. Ralph tells Midge off when she sidles too far into Gordon's eyeline. She tries to sneak closer by getting close to the floor, but Ralph grabs her by the skirt and drags her away.
At Midge's apartment, Rose calls Noah at his job, and after some small talk about Chaim, she asks him if he can authorize a raid on the Matchmaker Mafia. Noah is alarmed both by Rose's subject, and the fact that she is jeopardizing his job by discussing it on a phone call to a CIA office. Abe arrives, and briefly greets Noah before hanging up the phone. Both he and Rose avoid telling each other the uncomfortable details of their day, but after a moment Abe invites her out to dinner.
Abe and Rose dine at Orsay, and Rose opens up about the tearoom fire. Abe performs the same sexualized gesture that Penelope tried to pull on him, and Rose has a similar reaction to the one he did.
Midge calls Susie from Toots Shor's and vents about her day. Afterwards, as she returns to the bar, Mel is telling a story about a supermarket incident to Alvin, Cecil, Ralph and Adam. When Midge arrives, Cecil gets up and gives her his seat. A moment later, Adam spots Gordon entering the bar, much to the chagrin and surprise of the writers. He comes over and greets them, and Mel pins the blame for the automat joke on Adam. Gordon then busts Alvin's balls for not liking Mel Brooks. He then goes over to Midge and is very friendly with her, tipping off the other writers that she's the reason why he's come back to Toots Shor's. Gordon wanders off and buys a round for the guys, and they begin planning what bar to switch to now that this one is no longer safe from Gordon. As Gordon makes up with Toots at the bar, Midge tries to insist to the writers that it isn't her fault, but they ignore her.
Joel gets home to his apartment, and finds the refrigerator fully stocked with food from Midge stored in tupperware and Pyrex containers, with a note to make sure he eats something.
At The Wolford Gentleman's Club, Midge delivers the rejected joke from the Gordon Ford writers' room that got her into an argument with Mel and Alvin. It gets a big laugh, and she feels vindicated.
Cast
Starring
Guest Starring
- Will Brill as Noah
Co-Starring
(in order of appearance)
- Colin Keane as Ethan
- Danny Doherty as Cop
- David Carl as Teddy
Dance/Music/Stunts
Uncredited
- Unknown as Chanel Woman
- Unknown as Francie
Locations
(in order of appearance)
- Carnegie Hall (photographs & audio only)
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Soundtrack
Trivia
- The clip of Midge performing at a USO show in Vietnam with Bob Hope is taken from a special performed on January 19, 1966. In the original clip, Carroll Baker is Hope's co-performer. In the show, Rachel Brosnahan's face and body were digitally overlaid on top of Baker, and she dubbed over her words. The original, unaltered performance can be seen here.
- The episode title is a play on the title of the movie “It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.” In her 60 Minutes interview, Midge mentioned that she'd had a part in that movie. The movie featured cameos by dozens of the top comedians of the day. (Source: IMDb)
Quotes & Dialogue
ABE: Is this sexual?
– S5E2
MIDGE: I knew that was funny.
– S5E2