The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's Jeopardy Ending Had A Real-Life Hollywood Inspiration
The Amazon Prime comedy "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" has come to a close. The final scene of the series shows old friends Miriam Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) and Susie Myerson (Alex Borstein) in their respective mansions on separate continents, watching taped copies of an episode of "Jeopardy!" together and chatting on the phone.
It's a punctuation mark to the several decades in show business during which the two women were instrumental in helping each other achieve remarkable success: Miriam as a comedian, and Susie as a talent manager. Borstein and Brosnahan said in an interview that the scene was actually inspired by a friendship between two real-life Hollywood legends who, for many years, would famously get together every night to eat dinner and watch "Jeopardy!"
During an interview with TV Insider, Borstein pointed out that Miriam and Susie's story paralleled that of legendary comedians Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks. "They've had a friendship their entire working lives and long after they were making films together," Borstein said. "And daily, they would watch 'Jeopardy!' together. I think that's where she [series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino] borrowed that [story] from." Brosnahan then agreed with her assessment.
Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks were friends for decades
As reported by The Guardian, for many years, Mel Brooks would drive each night from his home in Santa Monica to Carl Reiner's in Beverly Hills where the two old friends would share a meal and watch "Jeopardy!" Brooks and Reiner first met in 1950 when they were both working on Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows" and remained friends until Reiner's death in 2020.
"If you have one good friend, you're lucky," Reiner said during an interview with PBS News Hour. "And I have one good friend, I call him my best friend. My life is fuller because I've had Mel in my life. If he doesn't come over, I don't know what to do with myself. He comes over every night."
Carl's son Rob Reiner told CBS News that the tradition continued even past his father's death. "One year, he would go over to the house, and sit there, have dinner and watch television – when my dad wasn't there for a whole year," Rob Reiner said.