Gilmore Girls Alum Kelly Bishop Is Joining The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Cast
Kelly Bishop will join Milo Ventimiglia as the second Gilmore Girls alum to get in on series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino’s award-winning show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Amazon Prime shared the news on Tuesday and accompanied it with a video of Bishop in period-piece attire and music, sporting the look of disdain that we know Bishop can pull off so well.
Kelly Bishop came into our hearts as the matriarch of the Gilmore family, Emily Gilmore, mother of Lorelai and grandmother to Rory. Throughout her series, Emily’s character was always a stand-out due to Bishop’s comedic timing, her ability to seem sympathetic even when she was in the wrong, and the genuine emotional storytelling she was allowed to do. Her arc was one of the few redeeming things about the painfully mediocre revival series A Year in the Life, and she also had a role in Sherman-Palladino’s under-appreciated series Bunheads.
According to EW, Bishop previously pitched herself as a guest star: “I should show her something from Private Parts because I don’t think Amy sees me as a New York Jew,” she said. “I should send her that tape.”
Well, considering there aren’t that many Jewish actors on the show, I hope it didn’t take that much convincing.
As a critical fan of Mrs. Maisel, I am interested in seeing how this upcoming season tackles the new layers of Midge’s story. When we last saw her, due to telling some jokes implying that the headliner she was touring with, a Black man, was gay (he was, but in the closet for obvious time period reasons), she was dropped from the tour, at the airport. It was cold, but also—as someone who thinks Midge needs a reality check, hard—appropriate.
The show, much like Gilmore Girls, does its best to straddle the line between wish-fulfilling decadence and thoughtful commentary about the time period and the roles of women. It stumbles at times because, like Gilmore, it is hard to see a character with so much privilege not have that challenged in lasting ways. It also doesn’t help that Midge is almost universally beloved and able to bounce back on her feet with minimal trauma. If not for the performance of Rachel Brosnahan, I feel the character would be even more irritating.
Still, despite all of that, it is still awesome to see a prestigious television show like Maisel that is female-focused be so rewarded and acknowledged by the television industry. Amy Sherman-Palladino’s work has been huge in pop culture, and her work deserves to be recognized for the lasting impact of Gilmore Girls alone. I can say that if anyone is allowed to have fun reunions and nepotism casting choices, it is her.
Plus, everyone should be putting Kelly Bishop in things.
(via EW, image: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
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