Rachel Brosnahan: Emmy bookend for final season of ‘The Marvelous Mrs Maisel’?

The fifth and final season of Amazon Prime Video’s “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel” is upon us. The hit comedy series follows Rachel Brosnahan as Miriam “Midge” Maisel in 1950s/60s New York who, after her husband leaves her, embarks on a career in stand-up comedy. Along the way, she meets an array of supporting players including Alex Borstein‘s Susie Myerson, who runs The Gaslight Café, where Midge first starts her stand-up career. She also contends with her ex-husband (Michael Zegen), who has dreams of his own, and her parents, played by Marin Hinkle and Tony Shalhoub.

Brosnahan has earned rave reviews for her bravura performance in the final episodes of the series. Such critical acclaim, combined with affection for the show, could boost her chances with the TV academy. Among those critics singing her praises:

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Peter Travers (“Good Morning America”): “In the closing episode, entitled ‘Four Minutes’ in reference to the brief, make-or-break time Midge gets to strut her stuff on national television, Brosnahan seizes the role of her career with a breathtaking wit and assurance that thrillingly encapsulate how Midge lets the highs and traumatic lows of her life bleed into her comedy.”

Thelma Adams  (The Wrap): “Brosnahan grabbed the microphone in 2017 and hasn’t let go since. We’ve shared Mrs. Maisel’s precipitous highs and mortifying lows. As the actress bids goodbye to the character she originated, moving on to Broadway opposite Oscar Isaac in ‘The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window,’ we can say we knew her when.”

Nicole Gallucci (Decider): “Brosnahan and Borstein remain one of television’s greatest dynamic duos who take their chemistry and performances to new depths in ‘Maisel’‘s final batch of episodes.”

Brosnahan reaped Emmy bids for each of the first four seasons of “Mrs Maisel,” in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022. She won Best Comedy Actress on her first try in 2018 and lost the three other races to Phoebe Waller-Bridge (2019, “Fleabag), Catherine O’Hara (2020, “Schitt’s Creek”), and Jean Smart (2022, “Hacks”) respectively.

Both O’Hara and Waller-Bridge won for the final seasons of their shows. And Brosnahan could well do the same. She’d be the 9th leading lady on a comedy series to collect an Emmy for her swan song in the role. Also on this roster: Sarah Jessica-Parker for “Sex and the City” in 2004; Helen Hunt for “Mad About You” in 1999; Hope Lange for “The Ghost & Mrs. Muir” in 1970; Lucille Ball for “The Lucy Show” in 1968; Mary Tyler Moore for “The Dick Van Dyke Show” in 1966; and Jane Wyatt for “Father Knows Best” in 1960. (Wyatt won a catch-all award that encompassed all genres and both lead and supporting performances).

Currently, we rank Brosnahan in fourth place in our odds charts out of a predicted six. Below her are Natasha Lyonne (“Poker Face”) and Selena Gomez (“Only Murders in the Building”). Ahead of her are Christina Applegate (“Dead to Me”), Jenna Ortega (“Wednesday”), and, in first place, Quinta Brunson (“Abbott Elementary”).

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