Madame's Place is an American sitcom based on the ribald, acerbic, aging-celebrity diva Madame, a puppet character portrayed by Wayland Flowers. A single season of 74 episodes was produced for weekday broadcasts in first-run syndication, originally aired from September 1982 to February 1983.EpGuides.de Madame's Place (archived) Initial syndication also featured hour-long composites created for weekend broadcasts. With broad humor based on double entendres, sharp comebacks, and her penchant for celebrity name-dropping, the character of Madame was often attired in gowns and jewels, a parody of the opulence associated with Hollywood's Golden era.
Premise Madame lives in a plush Hollywood mansion surrounded by devoted butler Pinkerton, attentive secretary Bernadette, and beautiful niece Sara Joy. The domestic comedy antics are supplemented by the Madame's Place talk show within-the-show, a revolving door for stand-up comedy, variety performers, and celebrity guests.
The series opens with Madame successfully negotiating a revival of the popular talk show broadcast from her home studio, convinced by the fans tired of watching reruns. In a departure from comedies of its era, the show adopts a serialized format, occasionally featuring storylines that span multiple episodes. To accommodate viewers who may have missed previous episodes, a character routinely recaps the relevant events.
The series makes multiple mentions of Madame writing her autobiography. Nine months after the show concluded its run, Flowers published Madame: My Misbegotten Memoirs,The book was initially promoted as Madame: The First Hundred Years:
Black-and-white promotional brochure for Madame: The First Hundred Years a book delving into Madame's backstory without reflecting on the television series or its characters.
Cast and characters Principal Wayland Flowers as Madame - Madame has enjoyed a storied career in stage, radio, film, and television. She currently resides in a lavish Beverly Hills mansion, where she hosts a late-night talk show. Despite her age, Madame exudes childlike behavior, shamelessly pursuing younger men and often greeting female peers with verbal barbs. Johnny Haymer as Walter Pinkerton - "Pinky," as he is affectionately called by the staff, is a former boxer, stunt-man, and stand-in. He met Madame on the set of the 1957 film Gone with the Milkman while standing in for her costar, and the two carried on a torrid affair behind the back of Madame's then-husband. When Pinky fell on hard times, Madame hired him as her butler. Their deep friendship prevails, although Pinky grapples with his role as a butler in his 50s and stifles feelings of jealousy towards the various men who frequent Madame's bed. Susan Tolsky as Bernadette Van Gilder - Bernie initially came to Hollywood with dreams of becoming an actress. However, she encountered the unsavory aspects of the industry and opted for a more conservative path as Madame's secretary. Bernie manages administrative tasks, answers phone calls, and ensures the household runs smoothly. She carries the weight of her husband Bart's tragic death in 1962, as he choked on a dove during a magic show. Judy Landers as Sara Joy Pitts - Sara Joy, the naive and curvaceous daughter of Madame's sister, fled her unhappy life in Georgia to seek fame in Hollywood. Her Auntie Madame extended her protection and guidance. Sara Joy aspires to be an actress and often showcases her gymnastic abilities.
Recurring Corey Feldman as Buzzy St. James - Buzzy is the snarky 11-year-old son of a pretentious writer and actress who are seldom home, leaving the boy to run amuck. His hobby is taxidermy, he is a super-fan of Madame's, he gleans delight from annoying Bernadette, and has a not-so-secret crush on Sara Joy. Ty Henderson as Barney Wolfe - Barney is the producer and director of Madame's talk show, who's frequently exasperated because she does whatever she pleases. Edie McClurg as Solaria - Solaria is an eccentric psychic medium who shares her bed with an extensive family of felines. Despite her peculiarities, Solaria possesses uncanny psychic abilities, as well as supernatural gifts that she unleashes on those who cross her. Don Sparks as Mister Honest - Eric Honest is Madame's most frequent TV guest, a send up of Mister Rogers. He is known for his unwavering commitment to telling the unvarnished truth, regardless of how inappropriate it may be. In an early episode, he sings about his disdain for his wealthy wife, but his marriage is later disregarded. John Moschitta Jr. as Larry Lunch - Larry is Madame's fast-talking and unscrupulous agent, who communicates in rapid double-talk, firing off a million words per minute. Chandler Garrison as R. Ray Randall - "No face," as he is referred to by Madame, is the sinister, disembodied voice of the TV network owner. Hector Elias as Roland Esperanza - Although he is seldom seen, Roland is generally announced at the top of Madame's talk show. He is a widower bandleader who conducts "the middle-aged sounds of Madame's All-Divorced Orchestra."
Featured Guests were frequent and ranged widely, often appearing as themselves; notables include Peggy Gilbert, Debbie Reynolds, Betty White, Phyllis Diller, Tab Hunter, William Shatner, Charles Nelson Reilly, Rip Taylor, Charles Pierce, Frankie Avalon, Marty Allen, Foster Brooks, Paul Reubens (as Pee-wee Herman), Alice Ghostley, Scatman Crothers, John Schneider, Robert Culp, Jay Leno, and Arsenio Hall, as well as various members of The Groundlings comedy troupe, who appeared as an assortment of characters and provided stand-up comedy bits.
Development Wayland Flowers and Madame had become regular fixtures on talk shows, variety programs, and game shows in the mid-1970s, notably holding the center square on the popular Hollywood Squares. In 1980 Madame began a recurring gig as a guest on Solid Gold, produced by Brad Lachman as a weekly series featuring countdowns of the top Billboard hits, musical performances, and dancing galore. Madame was extremely popular with the youth market, and soon Wayland Flowers began devising ideas for her own show. His initial concept involved Madame launching into space on a rocket at the start of each episode, followed by her unexpected appearances in various TV shows. However, this idea proved to be impractical. He then proposed a scenario in which he would share a mansion with Madame, but this was shot down by the producers because Flowers was no ventriloquist, visibly voicing Madame.
Ultimately, a pilot was produced and made available to the press and distributors in January 1982.Madame's Place Trade Ad, February 1982 This pilot featured the diminutive Patty Maloney as Madame's secretary, Alan Young as her English butler, and included additional puppets like Jiffy, Crazy Mary, Mr. Mackelroy, and Baby Smedley in supporting roles.IMDb Madame's Place: Unaired Pilot Although the pilot was instrumental in pitching the show, Paramount believed that the inclusion of all these puppets made it appear "too cartoonish". Consequently, it was decided that the show would be more distinctive with Madame as the sole puppet star.
Production Brad Lachman Productions commenced work on Madame's Place in August 1982,Electronic Media 1982-08-26: Vol 1 Iss 13 at the KTLA studio. with the cast and crew working at a breakneck pace to create 74 half-hour episodes within 26 weeks. They had already produced 30 episodes before the show's September debut. It was touted as the most expensive comedy ever produced for syndication, costing $250,000 per week (adjusted for inflation, nearly $800,000) for five 30-minute episodes and one hour-long recap. The show was shot without a studio audience, necessitating the use of a laugh track. Flowers expressed his preference for having an audience, remarking that it was the one thing he disliked about the TV show. "I'm used to hearing the laughter, only now it's not there."
A team of 12 writers collaborated to develop the show's stories and bounced around ideas in the room. Flowers, who had an intimate understanding of the Madame character, often revised her dialogue, noting, "There's a way to deliver a line for Madame. I call it putting a button on it. And I'm good at buttoning up." At times, Flowers would improvise new lines during filming, and the script would be swiftly adjusted on the teleprompter.
The show featured one primary Madame puppet and nine "stand-ins" each painted with slight variations, including one intentionally made to appear evil. Flowers could distinguish between the puppets and switched them as needed for different scenes. Together with costume designer Minta Manning, he scoured magazines for wardrobe ideas for the dolls, resulting in a collection of over 100 custom outfits.
To prevent erecting scaffolding sets for the puppeteer as they did on The Muppet Show, Flowers devised a small black vinyl stool with six wheels. This allowed him to roll around the set, propelling himself with his legs while holding the puppet over his head. This innovative approach enabled a recurring gag in which Madame would be sent flying across the room after getting smacked, punched, or blown by a hairdryer. However, it caused issues for some of the guest stars, who found it challenging to focus on Madame instead of looking down at Wayland. Co-star Judy Landers remarked that "After the initial shock, you begin to feel she's not a puppet anymore. She becomes a whole person because Wayland Flowers is so talented." For scenes set in the bedroom and bathtub, Flowers had to manipulate Madame's movements through a crevice while watching one monitor and tracking the script on a separate teleprompter. "You have to be a contortionist," he remarked.
Corey Feldman recalled being enamored by both Wayland and Madame, so Flowers borrowed a plush monkey from the boy and fitted it with rods so he could puppeteer it. Feldman was thrilled, but his mother was unimpressed, telling him, "Wayland Flowers is gay." The boy wasn't even sure what "gay" meant. Feldman was eventually dropped from the show due to the studio's concerns that the material was too risqué for a child actor.
Judy Landers' agent encouraged her to stick to dramatic roles, but she had a preference for comedic parts and eagerly accepted the opportunity to co-star in the series. Her character, Sara Joy, incorporated her real-life passion for gymnastics, which she had pursued since the age of 9 and excelled in by winning the New York state championships at 16. To maintain her fitness during filming, she adhered to a low-carb, high-protein diet. Landers addressed her portrayal of the ditsy character, explaining, "We're both extremely determined and ambitious, [but] I'm a very serious-mind person. I can be silly and that's what I do for Sara Joy. I take that silly side of myself and just extend on it." She also responded to critics who questioned her repeated portrayals of dumb characters in sitcoms by stating, "I think laughter is God's hand on the shoulder of a troubled world."