Can ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ earn an Emmy writing nomination one last time — and for the first time since Season 1?
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” has a curious Emmy history in writing. After winning Best Comedy Writing in 2018 for its pilot, penned by creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, the Amazon Prime Video series has not been nominated in the category since, which is kind of crazy for such a verbally dense show about an aspiring comedienne, not to mention a former Best Comedy Series winner. The nomination for its pilot remains the show’s only one for writing. It has one last chance to return to the category for its fifth and final season, but will it?
Best Comedy Writing will have six slots this year, one fewer than last year, so that’s already not great news for the “Maisel” crew. The show submitted two scripts: “Four Minutes,” the series finale written by Sherman-Palladino, and “The Testi-Roastial,” written by Daniel Palladino. They’re arguably the best episodes of the season and would be deserved nominees. The finale stuck the landing with a satisfying conclusion to Midge’s (Rachel Brosnahan) journey, highlighted by her standout four-minute (and change) stand-up set on “The Gordon Ford Show” and a Pointing Leo moment after Gordon (Reid Scott) calls her the marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Set at a Friars Club roast of Susie (Alex Borstein) in 1990, “The Testi-Roastial” is a playful recap of the talent manager’s career, as recounted by the guests and the friends she’s made and burned along the way, and revealed what led to Midge and Susie’s falling-out.
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Seeing that “Maisel” has been snubbed its past three seasons while shows like “Barry,” “Russian Doll,” “What We Do in the Shadows,” “Schitt’s Creek” and “Ted Lasso” have garnered multiple writing bids a year, it’s difficult to picture both episodes making the cut. From a strategic standpoint, you can argue it would’ve been wise to submit just one episode so all the “Maisel” support could flow there. But if one were to get in of the two, “Four Minutes” would probably have the edge. Series finales (and pilots) tend to do well at the Emmys. And the “Maisel” team can look to mimic the trajectory of “The Good Wife.” The legal drama earned a writing bid for its pilot in 2010 (unlike “Maisel,” it did not win) and wasn’t nominated again — not even for its killer fifth season in 2014 — until 2016 for its series finale, so surprise comeback farewell noms are not out of the question.
On the flip side, the writing branch could just be over “Maisel.” Sometimes things are dropped and never return. The category is also crowded. Reigning champ “Abbott Elementary” submitted three episodes, while there are two each from “Barry” and “What We Do in the Shadows,” and the latter counts its biggest fans in the writing branch. “The Bear” and “Ted Lasso” each submitted one — the pilot for the former and the (series?) finale for the latter — as did 2022 nominee “Only Murders in the Building.” “Poker Face” entered three scripts and Peacock has more recent history in this category than “Maisel” does, as its former series “Girls5eva” was nominated for its pilot in 2021. And there are other new shows like “Shrinking” and former nominees like “The Great,” both of which submitted one episode.
So, yeah, it’ll be tough for “Maisel” to crack the category again, but not impossible. And if it does, maybe Midge will have the last laugh.
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