Britt, Anne and Dan via Donald Judd

We started late, finally getting to the art museum, with only two hours before closing. It being New Year’s Eve, the place closed earlier than usual. Stopping off at Kaldi’s first, for coffee and a little something probably didn’t help. Still, it was enough. We eschewed the Rembrandt show for touring the galleries. It was in the contemporary wing that I coaxed everyone to pose for a photo-op with the pictured Donald Judd piece. After art, we drove down to Midtown. Our destination was Black Market Eats, for sushi burritos, but it too had closed early for the holiday. This was probably a good thing, because I’m always leery of landlocked raw fish. Especially, at a place that normally caters to SLU students, all of whom are on break. Heading home, we stopped off at Fozzie’s the neighborhood sandwich emporium for some eats instead. They were both good and filling. After consuming and before the kids split for the night, we all settled down for a little TV time together.

We watched The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which is on Amazon. First, Dan educated me that Google and Amazon had patched up whatever corporate squabble they had had and that now we could Chrome-cast Prime to our big screen. Both Dan and Britt had seen the episodes that we watched, but they were new to both Anne and I. In some of his NYC travails, Dan had done set dressing for this show, but that was in its third season. We started at its beginning.

In this 1950s period comedy-drama Midge Maisel is an upper-class Jewish housewife living in New York’s upper westside, who has it all. Until one night, after her husband bombs, while pursuing his dream of being a standup comedian. While having always been supportive of him, she is shocked to find him packing her suitcase. He’s leaving her, for his much younger secretary. Later that night, in a drunken rage, Midge returns to the same comedy club where her husband had previously bombed and brings down the house, before being hauled off to the slammer for lewd and indecent behavior, a star is born.

This much acclaimed TV series has garnered numerous accolades that are all well deserved. In this #MeToo era, mad Maisel is the perfect counterpoint to that similarly period placed TV show Mad Men. Its writing is to die for. We watched half of the first season, before the kids jetted. Then Anne and I binged the rest, finishing the first season at 12:05. It was the new year, 2020 and not 1958 anymore. Yesterday, I had forecasted my planned New Year’s Eve scenario. So, much for my 20/20 vision. Still, it was a grand evening and I was right about one thing, I did get a kiss or two.