In an interview on WTF with Marc Maron on Thursday (May 25), the show's creator-writer-producer-director shared her thoughts on why Maisel had to end, blaming the financial priorities of the streaming platform. “It wasn't me. But things come to an end,” said Sherman-Palladino.

Borstein says that Midge was "the greatest love" of Susie's life because she "didn't allow it to turn into anything romantic" and therefore, a lifelong friendship was born.

It's hard to name a single influence for Shy Baldwin (Leroy McClain). Co-writer Daniel Sherman said (via Parade) “we were inspired by a lot of African American crooners at the time, like Johnny Mathis”; however, Harry Bellafonte is another real person with whom Shy shares similarities.

While Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) is a fictional comedian based on the great Joan Rivers, the show gives fictitious storylines to a few real-life, influential comedians. With Maisel coming to a close this season, it's time to focus on the unsung hero of the series, who was also a comedic icon in real life.

[This story includes major spoilers for the series finale of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.] The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel ended the only way it ever could have: Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) and Susie (Alex Borstein) still friends and laughing together 50 years after they met.

Joan Rivers Midge Maisel Was Based On Joan Rivers In The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Lenny does Midge a favor, opening for her at the Gaslight after she is blacklisted by Sophie Lennon.

Both Jackie the character and Brian Tarantina will be dearly missed on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but the show used the Brian Tarantina death and the tragic loss of Jackie to uplift and fuel Susie's story.

While Joel's deal and eventual arrest is the biggest reason for the confrontation, Midge also had other complaints. Apparently, Susie had also been overworking Mrs. Maisel to pay off her gambling debts.

Joan Rivers Midge Maisel Was Based On Joan Rivers Though Midge saw greater success in the early stages of her career than Joan Rivers, both Rivers and Midge performed at the real-life club, the Gaslight Café, located in New York's Greenwich Village. Another significant tie between the two comediennes is Lenny Bruce.

Johnny Mathis 3 Shy Baldwin – Johnny Mathis/Harry Belafonte Bellafonte and Mathis both produced highly successful Christmas albums, much like Shy's Christmas album which Midge's mother adores, and all three cited Nat King Cole as an influence.

Joan Rivers Midge Maisel Was Based On Joan Rivers Like Joan Rivers, Midge was born in New York to Jewish parents who grossly disapproved of their daughter's career, and both Rivers and Midge went to prestigious schools, with Rivers graduating from Barnard while Midge attended Bryn Mawr.

Although much of her career and the show's setting is based around Amy's father, a lot of Midge's experiences are based on the life of Joan Rivers. Similarly to Midge, Rivers was born in New York to Jewish parents who disproved of her career in comedy.