Monday, April 4, 2016

Forgotten TV: Madame's Place (1982)

The late ventriloquist Wayland Flowers landed his big break with a guest appearance on The Andy Williams Show in the 60's, and parlayed that into a lucrative run with his puppet, Madame, a bawdy, older entertainer. After succeeding Paul Lynde as the center square on the original Hollywood Squares, Flowers & Madame began appearing on the syndicated Solid Gold, and in 1982, they were spun off into a weekday series from Gold co-producer Brad Lachman, Madame's Place, a daily syndicated sitcom.

Much like The Muppets this season, Madame's Place had a show-within-a-show, as Madame not only invited viewers into her home, but also hosted a talk show, as Flowers used his experiences from appearances with the likes of Mike Douglas, Dinah Shore, and Johnny Carson to create this scenario. Judy Landers (ex-BJ & The Bear), Corey Feldman, Ty Henderson (formerly of the Saturday morning series, Space Academy), and Johnny Haymer, late of M*A*S*H, filled out the supporting cast.

Here's a sample episode:



Sadly, we lost Wayland Flowers in 1988, and Madame has long since been retired. Never saw the show, so there's no rating.

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