TV's Madame appeared with Joel and the Bots during the fourth host segment of Experiment #301 to showcase how Foley sound design worked. Joel demonstrated that to produce the sound of a scream, a person can set fire to TV's Madame.
Pop Culture Significance[]
- The TV's Madame puppet was operated and voiced by Trace Beaulieu.
- The TV's Madame puppet used on Mystery Science Theater 3000 more closely resembles the character Lady Elaine Fairchild from the children's television program Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood than the actual Madame.
- The puppet Madame (a bawdy old movie star with a naughty sense of humor) was popular with audiences in the 1970s and 1980s. She appeared on a number of comedy/variety shows with American puppeteer Wayland Flowers, her creator. Madame's appearance and wardrobe are based on movie stars such as Gloria Swanson.
- Though the character's name is typically pronounced "Madam", it is consistently spelt "Madame".
- Flowers adapted the character for a TV sitcom entitled Madame's Place, which aired for one first-run season of 51 episodes from September 20, 1982 until February 25, 1983. The show was unusual for a sitcom in that it was produced for first-run syndication to air five days a week.
- On the sitcom, Madame lived in a plush mansion with her butler, a former boxer named Pinkerton (Johnny Haymer). They interacted with Madame's bookish secretary Bernadette (Susan Tolsky), Madame's beautiful, simple-minded, southern-belle niece Sara Joy (Judy Landers), and nosy kid neighbor Buzzy (Corey Feldman).
- Within the series, Madame hosted a talk show. Guests included Debbie Reynolds, Foster Brooks, Frankie Avalon, and William Shatner.