3 Times ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ Referenced ‘Gilmore Girls’

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel certainly echoes Amy Sherman-Palladino’s previous work, Gilmore Girls.

The award-winning Amazon original series starring Rachel Brosnahan as Miriam “Midge Maisel, a housewife-turned-comedian in the late 1950s and early 1960s, has many similarities to Amy Sherman-Palladino’s mother-daughter show starring Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham. 

While both programs are alike in many ways — they both have fast-talking characters, pop culture references, and an ensemble cast — there have been times in The Marvel Mrs. Maisel’s three-season run (as of Dec. 12, 2019, Amazon officially renewed the series for a fourth season) where nods to Gilmore Girls have been hidden among the hilarious dialogue. Keep reading to find out three times when The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel made references to Gilmore Girls.  

‘Gilmore Girls’ actors are part of the cast

Let’s state the obvious first. Fans of Gilmore Girls might recognize familiar faces in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Alex Borstein who played harpist Drella and stylist Miss Celine plays Midge’s manager, Susie Meyerson, in the Amazon show. Borstein’s won two Emmys back-to-back for best supporting actress in a comedy series for her performance, according to PopSugar Celebrity. 

Then there’s Liza Weil who played Paris Gellar on Gilmore Girls. Weil joined the cast of Sherman-Palladino’s newest drama in Season 4 where she plays bassist, Carole Keen. Weil and Brosnahan’s characters bond over life on the road while touring with singer Shy Baldwin. 

Like Borstein, Emily Bergl — known to Gilmore Girls fans as Francie, the leader of the Puffs — has been featured in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel since Season 1. Bergl’s played the recurring role of Susie’s sister, Tessie. 

The last actor who made an appearance on the Amazon series is Brian Tarantina, who played newsstand owner, Bootsy, in Gilmore Girls. He teamed up with Sherman-Palladino again, this time to play, Jackie, the M.C. at the Gaslight who subleases Susie’s apartment in Season 4. Sadly, Tarantina died on Nov. 2, 2019, a little more than a month before new episodes debuted, according to The New York Times.

While not spoken references to Gilmore Girls, casting actors from the program in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel certainly gives us Stars Hollow vibes.

Susie and Midge reference ‘jam hands’ comment made by Luke Danes’

Luke Danes, played by Scott Patterson, panicked at the thought of becoming a father during a scene in Gilmore Girls when he complained about kids’ hands always sticky, possibly covered in jam. 

“They’re always sticky like they’ve got jam on their hands,” Danes said. “Even if there’s no jam. Somehow, they’ve always got jam on their hands. I have no patience for jam hands!”

Susie mentioned the same thing during a scene in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel while holding Midge’s son. She asked: “Why is his hand sticky? Why is your hand sticky? Where has his hand been that it is now currently very sticky?”

“It was jelly, god****t,” Midge replied. “Children get jelly on their hands.”

Midge references Lorelai Gilmore’s Russian themed wedding

Emily Gilmore (Kelly Bishop) once told Lorelai about what she envisioned for her wedding, according to Refinery29.

“Yours was going to be a Russian winter theme – the Romanovs,” she told Lorelai. “Snow white roses, trees with white lights and candles, snow everywhere, you arriving in a silver sleigh with white horses.” 

In the Season 1 finale of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Midge told her friends about her own wedding. Her nuptials “had a Russian winter wonderland theme. Everything was white, and there were trees painted like they were covered with snow.” Sounds very similar to the one Emily wanted Lorelai to have.