Created by puppeteer Wayland Flowers, Madame gained a significant following in the 1970s with her witty double entendres, sharp comebacks, and penchant for celebrity name-dropping.

The Madame character was often elegantly attired in glamorous gowns adorned with splendid jewels, poking fun at the opulence of Hollywood's Golden era.

Madame lives in a plush Hollywood mansion surrounded by devoted butler Pinkerton, attentive secretary Bernadette, and beautiful niece Sara Joy.

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.

In 1980, Madame landed a recurring gig as a guest on Solid Gold, a weekly series that featured countdowns of the top Billboard hits, musical performances, and dancing galore.

[9][10] 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.

[26] The show featured one primary Madame puppet and nine "stand-ins"[27] each painted with slight variations, including one intentionally made to appear evil.

[27] 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.

"[36] 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.

[38] 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.

[41] 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.

[42] Her character, Sara Joy, incorporated her real-life passion for gymnastics, which she had pursued since the age of 9[43] and excelled in by winning the New York state championships at 16.

"[36] 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.

"[46] The demanding five-day-a-week shooting schedule began to take its toll on Flowers, leading to strain on his voice, which he described as making him "sound like a frog".

[60] Madame's Place was a huge hit in Atlanta, where the hour-long Saturday edition topped the ratings for WATL,[61] but many stations only licensed the hour-long version,[62] weekday distributors complained that inexpensive reruns of The Twilight Zone pulled in higher ratings,[63] and it was dealt a death-blow when New York's WWOR-TV and another major RKO network decided to drop it from their schedule.

[64] The cost of maintaining the five-shows-a-week pace became unsustainable when a significant portion of the country wasn't even airing the episodes,[62] leading to the show's cancellation in January 1983.

"[73] Bob Curtright of The Witchita Eagle-Beacon noted, "The talk-show format allows numerous guest celebrities, giving it the feel of The Muppet Show.

James Brown of The Los Angeles Times commented, "Liking this show depends on one's tolerance for the campy utterings of Wayland Flowers' sassy puppet, Madame.

Shortly after the series concluded, a multi-page Paramount trade ad in Television/Radio Age magazine stated there were "75 half-hours" available,[78] a count that is accurate only if you include the unaired pilot.

[3] Later in the same issue, it mentions "150 half-hours" (the show was canceled halfway through the season,[79] so it's probable that someone didn't get the memo), and this number continued to appear in trade magazines for over a year.