It's a Saturday night in Los Angeles, and Amy Sherman-Palladino is about to accept the Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television at the Producers Guild Awards. But before she takes the stage in front of Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, and Lauren Graham, she gets reflective. "Everything has a different place in your life, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is the show where all the elements came together," she says of the Emmy-winning series she created.
Fans loved Gilmore Girls, and Sherman-Palladino loved it too, but money was always an issue. "We didn't have the budget to give it what [it deserved]," she tells Glamour. "But we had this unbelievable cast, and that was the fun. And then on Bunheads we had zero money and were on for a hot second, but we got to work with Sutton Foster, and she's one of my best friends for life."
Mrs. Maisel, though, is that secret sauce for Sherman-Palladino. Thanks to Amazon Prime, she got the cast and the budget. "We wanted to see if all the things we had been bitching about for years were true—that if they just gave us the money, [it would happen]. And it did." She says it's one of her proudest moments not just as a creator but also as a producer, director, and writer. "Now we want to stretch more, try new things and even fail, because it's a really safe place to do it, and everybody is so good that someone will be there to catch you. It's really fabulous."
So fabulous, in fact, that Sherman-Palladino has even started to brainstorm ideas for season four of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (as a reminder, season two came out in December 2018). The woman is on a roll—and so is the show: Both seasons have been praised by critics and favorites at award shows. All we want from her? More of the marvelous Mrs. Maisel, obviously. Here's everything we know about season three so far. Spoilers ahead.
The first teaser is here. Midge is hitting the road, and she's taking Sterling K. Brown along with her. The This Is Us star makes a short but memorable appearance in season three's first look. Watch it for yourself, below:
The first full trailer reveals even more. In the full-length trailer, we see Midge trying to navigate her life and relationships at home with her new tour. And she wears a lot of great hats along the way. See it all in video, below:
Season three began filming in mid March. The writers room has been plotting Midge's future since mid January, and the cast began filming on March 20.
Mrs. Maisel might return in time for Hanukkah this year. Just like last year, when season two premiered on December 5, the producers are looking to premiere in time for Hanukkah and Christmas (which overlap in 2019), providing the ultimate holiday binge. "Yeah, that’s the goal. If we’re still standing, yes," executive producer Dan Palladino says.
There won't be much of a time jump from the end of season two to the start of season three. Sherman-Palladino doesn't know how many episodes season three will consist of yet ("we're figuring that out now; we have a general outline"), but she says they've already planned where they'll pick up in the premiere. Perhaps at Joel's office after his hookup sesh with Midge? TBD. All Sherman-Palladino will say is there's "not much" of a time jump, which is good news for fans that are dying to know what happened immediately after the kiss.
Midge and Shy Baldwin are going on tour. Season two ended with Midge accepting singer Shy Baldwin's offer to go on tour, so just where are they headed in season three? "It's inevitable that we're going to go on the road," Palladino tells Glamour. "Her life is going to end up being everywhere. It's a show about a woman out in the world, and now that she's a comic, comics go on the road."
Speaking of, Miami will feature in the series. The first look at season three was revealed in August, and the picture shows Midge and Susie relaxing on some pastel chairs under a pink-and-white-striped umbrella at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami. Given that Susie's there, it certainly seems Florida will be a stop on the tour.
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This Is Us actor Sterling K. Brown will join the cast for season three. In a video posted to his Instagram on Monday, April 15, Sterling K. Brown announced "some pretty marvelous news...Mrs. Maisel, I'm coming for you!" In the video he says he's New York–bound to do the Amazon Prime Emmy-winning series because "the Palladinos were kind enough to write a little something for your boy and I said yes. So stay tuned [because] I'm getting together with Midge and it's going to be awesome!" No word yet on how many episodes he'll be appearing in or whom he'll be playing.
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The Palladinos aren't sharing much about what exactly Brown's role will be. "I will tell you we would never bring Sterling on unless we had a specific role," Daniel Palladino tells Glamour. "Like we would just say, ‘We have nothing this year, how about next year?’ because it’s not fair to the actor. You have to give them something great and organic.”
“It fit, and it was a role that fit into a storyline that we were doing, but when it became Sterling, it can became a much more important role," Sherman-Palladino continued. "And that’s literally...like it suddenly became an incredibly pivotal role.”
Zachary Levi's Benjamin might return to the show. Midge didn't seem to leave much room in her life for Benjamin when she accepted Shy's offer—and sought comfort in Joel's arms. However, Benjamin is not out of the picture…yet. "We love him desperately," Sherman-Palladino says, but "he's Shazam-ing it as of March." (Shazam is Levi's DC film, which hit theaters that month.) However, Dan Palladino was a bit more forthcoming, telling us that Levi's return to Maisel is a definite "maybe."
Could Benjamin be gay? It wasn't very common to be out in the '50s, so is there a chance that Midge's new love could be hiding a secret? "It's not crazy [to think that]," Sherman-Palladino says, "because he's a man who has waited quite a while [to get married], but the way we're playing Benjamin is we didn't want Midge's first love interest after Joel to just be a handsome guy that she goes out with. We wanted it to be someone discerning and someone a little bit 'off.' And it's unusual that a man of that age [at that time] wouldn't have at least had a broken engagement or something like that. We were really focusing on him being an interesting guy who was looking for somebody weird, and he hadn't met somebody weird until he met Midge. She's interesting, has a different point of view, and he is suddenly like, 'I don't have to have a pretty girl who's going to stand in the corner and stare at me eat.'"
Joel Maisel will forever be Midge's most important relationship. Sherman-Palladino says no one will ever love Midge like Joel loves her: "Till her dying day, she will get drunk and say, 'No one will ever love me like Joel loved me!' The tragedy of these two people is Joel's immaturity and Midge being too busy playing dress-up to really see what was going on in her marriage, and that possibly cost them the loves of their lives." Still, Sherman-Palladino adds it's important not to begrudge what happened to the couple: "She became a whole other person and found an ambition in herself and a whole other way of living that she never would have found the other way."
But Michael Zegen (Joel) doesn't think they can get back together, at least right now. Remember when Joel said in the season-two premiere that he couldn't be with Midge because he doesn't want to be a punch line, and she's too good to quit for him? Well, by the latter half of the season, Midge's stand-up routine rarely relied on Joel and instead focused more on inequality, feminism, and her kids. So why can't she and Joel give it a go again? Zegen says it's because her former life with Joel would still make it into her routine eventually. "You have to talk about your personal life, but hey, maybe in season three we’ll find out he’s cool with it. I don’t know. I assume now he’s going to be watching the kids while she’s off on tour. They’ll always be in each other’s lives because they have kids together, but I personally think he needs to get out of the way. It’s time to let her do her thing. She’s definitely more successful at it."
Let's talk about that kiss at the very end of season two. "I was so surprised," Zegen says. "Rachel [Brosnahan] kept trying to tell me what happens at the end, but I was like, ‘No, I don’t want to know! I like being surprised!’ When I eventually got the script, I was reading it looking for whatever it is she was [freaking out about], and with three pages left to go I was wondering what she was talking about. But then I got to the last page and was like, 'Whaaaaaat?!' I loved it."
Oh, and the kiss lasted longer than what aired. "They let us go at it before they yelled cut," Zegen says. "It went on a little bit longer than [I thought]! But you kind of have to do that because you don't know how much [footage] they're going to use." Zegen says he was in his head a lot during that scene but when it was time to do it, Sherman-Palladino—who was directing the episode—said, "Okay, now go!" "And it's so perfect," he says. Well, unless you're Team Benjamin, and then not so much. "Most people I've heard from are angry that it wasn't Benjamin!" Zegen admits.
About that Lauren Graham casting rumor… Fans who want another installment of Gilmore Girls nearly lost their minds when Sherman-Palladino admitted last year that she wants Lauren Graham to come on Mrs. Maisel. So what's the status on that? "What I can say is she is requesting a specific [character], and I haven’t been able to fit it in yet," Sherman-Palladino says.
And what about a possible Rami Malek cameo? If you remember, the Oscar-winning actor's first role was on Gilmore Girls as Andy, a fellow member of Lane's Bible group. When we spoke with him last fall, he called The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel "a phenomenal show" and said he would love to work with Sherman-Palladino again. So what's the word, Amy? "That's adorable! He was so funny on Gilmore Girls!" Adds Dan: "So if we tackle him [the next time we see him], then he'll [come on Maisel]?"
But wait—what about Milo Ventimiglia? "Believe me, if the right part came along, we would call any one of those people!" Sherman-Palladino promises. "We saw Milo the other night. He's our son! We always gotta make sure he's eating and wearing a sweater. Very important."
Susie and Midge's relationship will be even more complicated in season three. Sherman-Palladino says they're going to do a deep-dive into what their actual working relationship is when there's actual work and success. "That's very different than just 'We're dreaming [of success],'" she says. "When it's real, it's different."
Will Sophie Lennon drive a wedge between Susie and Midge? Susie hasn't quite agreed to represent Midge's nemesis, Sophie, yet, but it certainly looks as though she will. Will Jane Lynch, who was nominated for an Emmy for playing the character, be back in season three? "Yes, we are hoping to have Jane back," Sherman-Palladino says.
Susie's unknown past and sexuality will be explored. "We'll be touching on it a little bit, but part of the fun of Susie is the mystery of Susie," Sherman-Palladino says. In fact, Dan Palladino adds that sometimes they don't even know a character's backstory. "There's a long gap in Susie's story from the time she was maybe living with her family to when she met Midge," he says. "It's a lot of years, and we’ve talked a lot about what she could have gone through. Something shut her down, either a love life or career or people making fun of her. Eventually you will find out about what was going on during those years."
We might have seen the last of the Weissmans' lavish apartment. Say it ain't so! "We can do whatever we want," Palladino says with a laugh. Even Tony Shalhoub thinks Abe will give up his residence now that he's shaking up his professional life: "Oh yes. Because it's owned by Columbia University, and he's leaving Columbia. So at least for a while, Rose and Abe will have to figure out something else. But I love that apartment. I just want to move in there!"
Abe might take a page from Midge's book. Just as his daughter started over after her marriage fell apart, Abe will be exploring uncharted territory if he indeed leaves Columbia. "I'm hoping that Abe will become more of an activist, more political, and he'll give up on having all of his creature comforts that he's had for so many years," Shalhoub says. "I’m hoping Abe and Rose's horizons really expand, because we’re going into a cultural shift from the '50s into the '60s."
The third season might have fewer episodes than season two. TV Line reported in April that there will be eight episodes in season three. It's fewer than we got in season two (10 episodes) but on par with season one's episode count.
Palladino and Sherman-Palladino have already started brainstorming season four. "We've already discussed little bits of season four," Palladino says, even though Amazon Prime has yet to announce one. "[If they don't], we'll just do it ourselves," Sherman-Palladino jokes. "We’re going to keep going until someone throws us out of our offices."
The costumes will be more theatrical. "They're oriented more toward Midge’s performance, so there’s a lot more theater," costume designer Donna Zakowska tells Glamour. "There’s a lot more theatrical reality and performance reality; we’re a little bit out of the house more and into performance. It means we’ll have a little more glitz that we did, a little bit more shine and theatricality. The color is always important, and we’ll always keep to that.”
And Susie will have a bit of a different look in the new season. "Susie is changing a little bit," Zakowska says. "She’s beginning to play a bit between these two worlds—remember, we saw her in the jacket that Sophie Lennon gave her at the end of season two—of being downtown, but now entering the entertainment world. So her image is changing, but it’s still within the context of who she is.”
The music will continue to reflect the show's time period. “A lot of times the music reflects where we are, so we pay attention to that," Daniel Palladino says. "The music, also, if they’re listening to it on the radio, is of the era, so as we go forward in time, we have more music that we can access in that way. Bob Dylan’s right around the corner, so we’re looking forward to that.”
“We’re going to a dry period, so we have to wait until the Beatles and Bob Dylan come around, because a lot of that early ‘60s music, you’re like, really? They can still listen to Frank Sinatra, right?," Amy Sherman-Palldino continues. "A lot of people [back then] were like, ‘What’s next?’ So when the Beatles came along, it was. like, ‘Thank you!’"
The shows are bigger in season three. “It’s about a woman’s world constantly expanding, and when her world expands, it forces her family’s world to expand, and her ex-husband’s world to expand, and Susie’s world to expand, and you gotta show the expansion!" Sherman-Palladino explains. "If you don’t show the expansion and then suddenly everyone’s locked in an elevator for an episode, [the audience will be] like, ‘What happened?’ So it’s kind of the nature of the beast.”
There are a lot of extras. "I think this season [season three] we had close to 6,000 extras. It was insane," Zakowska says. The reason is pretty logical, however. “As Midge’s world expands, that means bigger theaters, she’s touring with Shy Baldwin, so that means bigger theaters, which means bigger crowds. We went to Florida, etc.," Sherman-Palladino explains.
