STRICTLY ON BACKGROUND, PT. 57: "THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL" (SERIES FINALE)

 If you had told me, when I worked on the first episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in 2017, that it would become one of the most popular, beloved streaming series of its time, I'd have asked for a swig of the spiked kombucha messing with your mind.

Not that I didn't have any faith in it. It was just another gig -- my sixth, in fact -- with the extra added attraction of providing cool 1950s wardrobe and an appearance by Gilbert Gottfried as a sleazy strip club MC. That alone would have made the experience memorable.

Yet six years later, on October 31, 2022, I was at Steiner Studios at 7:40 a.m. for the first day of work on the final week of Maisel's filming. Now this would be memorable.

It would be only one scene -- Maisel's TV debut on The Gordon Ford Show -- and I guess the director wanted it to be perfect: we would be at Steiner roughly 68 hours over five straight days. As one of my colleagues said on Thursday morning, "This is starting to feel like work!" 

Since Maisel was known for its distinctive look, the wardrobe master rather than the assistant director shuffled us around like chess pieces on the set. When one extra in the front row didn't pass muster, I replaced him. A woman played my wife for about an hour pe-filming before being replaced by another. Take a good look at our first screen shot before proceeding to the second.

 Notice anything different here? The guy in the green suit on the left has been replaced by an Asian woman in pink. Green Man didn't do anything wrong; the wardrobe master decided, when looking at the monitor, that the row just needed a different look. He knew that nobody at home would notice; in fact, I didn't notice until I paused the video, and I was there.

 But wait, there's more! My second "wife" couldn't come in on Wednesday. Presto, now I had a third! And I guarantee you, nobody at home noticed. "Wife" #3 remained for the rest of the week. By the way, the second "wife" bowed out due to a funeral. I tried convincing her that being on TV was more important; she disagreed. Upon her return Thursday, she was placed in the rear section away from the camera. I told her TV was more important!

More TV magic: while the camera did a 360 during Maisel's stand-up routine, there were five other people on set. The cameraman and his assistant; a production assistant moving a couple of props out of their way when they passed; the show's still photographer; and an assistant director overseeing everything. None of this fazed Rachel Brosnahan, who did the monologue over and over for five days like the stand-up comedian she was playing. Each time, there were moments when she made eye contact with me; others swore she was looking at them, which kind of lessened the thrill. 

That's Michael Zegen (Maisel's ex-husband) behind us to the right. He leaned over and said his line, "That's my ex-wife up there!" to my "wife" and me a moment earlier. The wardrobe for Maisel must have taken half its budget; there were enough pillbox hats in this scene to fill a year's supply of Bayer Aspirin. 

During one of the many moments we were in the waiting area, Rachel Brosnahan (Maisel) and Reid Scott (Gordon Ford) had already filmed the moment where the latter delivered his crucial next-to-last line of dialogue. (If you've seen it, you know what it is.) When time came turn the camera around, we returned. Reid didn't want to repeat the line in its entirety because it would be too emotional. Caroline Aaron (Shirley Maisel) was having none of it: "You have to say it! We need something to play off of!" Reid acquiesced, and, sure enough, Brosnahan got weepy, as did almost everyone else. 

The hours had been long, with early call times and late wraps, all for a scene that lasts roughly 10 minutes. But by the time Friday rolled around, we all felt this had been a pretty special week.  So did the caterers, who provided a beautiful cake. It was almost a shame to slice into it, but at least everybody had a chance to take a photo before it went under the knife.

Co-star Kevin Pollack, who wasn't there, provided a Chip City truck to hand out
free cookies in the parking lot; Brosnahan paid for a burger truck. Who says show business isn't generous? Besides the writers, I mean.

When the cameras weren't rolling, everybody was taking pictures, not just in the waiting area but on the set between takes, which is usually verboten. Either the powers-that-be didn't notice or, more likely, didn't care. We all wanted to preserve memories of Maisel''s final days.

Just to make things clear, my hands aren't really as hideously large as they appear to be in the above photo.

Friday's filming went late into the evening. Most of the background left around 10:30, but the rest of us stayed on the set to the very end -- around 1:00 a.m. -- just to say we were there when the director said, "Cut! That's a wrap on the final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel!" and pink confetti was shot from mini-cannons. I changed out of my costume and left the studio at 1:30, 18 hours after arriving. It was the first time I saw the tower atop the Steiner entrance lit up, looking like the opening of an RKO Radio picture.  

After getting a lift from my third "wife" and her real husband to the subway station, I waited another 10 minutes before the Q train pulled in; I arrived home at 2:45 a.m. The week had felt like very a long dream, and not just for me.  Other than an early return on the first day of shooting, my wife and I had barely seen each other until breakfast Saturday morning. It might have been her happiest week of marriage.

One more bit of magic. Look carefully at the audience in the Maisel ad at the top of the page. That's us extras they photographed and inserted there. And of course I've tried to find me.

                                                                         ***********