Bonus Video! Meet Madam, America's Most Bewildering Puppet (Plus: Dynasty's UFO Problem)
Added 2022-03-13 17:00:05 +0000 UTCHi hello!
I am SO DELIGHTED to share these clips of weird queer TV history with you! Recently, a Madam puppet appeared on an episode of Antiques Roadshow, and if you're not familiar with Madam ... you'll just have to trust me that she was a whole THING in the 1970s, a saucy diva puppet performed with blinding gayness by a man named Waylon Flowers. Speaking of 70s queerness, I also unearthed a newspaper article from 1976 that oddly predicts many queer milestones that actually came true. And I've GOT to show you this unbelievable clip from the season 8 premiere of Dynasty, as well as another vintage TV Guide with some treasures (and disasters) hiding in its pages.
Backup link in case the embed's not working:
https://youtu.be/OB7WB2KaOG4
- Watch Madam on Antiques Roadshow: https://youtu.be/Am7RZJk9HeY
- Madam with Bea Arthur: https://youtu.be/mAl0gEo-0dI
- The spaceship on The Colbys: https://youtu.be/0TP_07zq84s
Comments
Seeing Madam in this episode of "Solid Gold." Not sure if that was special for the countdown show or if she was involved that full season. https://youtu.be/1AUoMJJ4kIQ?si=JNPa54ycYBEAJAQ3 I believe the comedian behind her also portrayed Reagan. Not sure how he managed to get so much more support in 2 years, sounds like in '82 things were not so great.
Benjamin Rippel
2024-09-07 07:15:52 +0000 UTCRaja doing Madam for Snatch Game on All Stars Winners was ART
Steely Dan Rather
2022-05-29 20:44:36 +0000 UTCI remember Madame's Place. I was pretty young but it always made me laugh. I'm sure I did NOT understand a good bit of the humor. 🤣 Sadly, I also watched The Colbys because my BF at the time was Dynasty freak. But I didn't mind watching Maxwell Caufield in tight shorts with no shirt.
Bob Geise-Hoefer
2022-04-24 03:23:35 +0000 UTCI love how Bea Arthur basically says (between the lines) that Rock Hudson was gay: "Rock Hudson is a friend!....He's a very dear, kind, thoughtful person---he's a perfect gentleman who would never, ever take advantage of a woman!"
David A. Diaz
2022-03-19 21:20:56 +0000 UTC"Recognizing the Importance of Faggotry in our National Social Life!" Talk about a mission statement!
David A. Diaz
2022-03-19 21:14:21 +0000 UTCOn the TV Guide with MASH on the cover, was the cusswords referring to the first use of the word "ass" (as in backside) on the show? I remember that was a big deal... but I thought that was in the early 80s, so maybe I'm wrong. I was so into MASH around 14 years old... my best friend and I wore olive drab clothing and MASH shirts and dog tags to school many days! Sometimes I wore my Indiana Jones hat to top off my ensemble! Who says lesbians don't have fashion sense! Haha! Now I want to go to Goodwill and buy up all the old TV Guides.
Erica Gamet
2022-03-16 21:33:01 +0000 UTCOh gosh, I remember Madame! Wow... May I also recommend Abebooks for old books? Sometimes they're very expensive but a lot of times they can be quite affordable. I am currently working my way through a few 70s detectives series and buying through them. (Better World Books have consistantly had good condition books for great prices)
Kris Olsen
2022-03-16 16:46:42 +0000 UTCSolid Gold! 🎶 Filling up my life with muuusic🕺🎶🎶 Madame was my favorite part of that show!
The Stepford Life ( Bryce )
2022-03-14 16:45:26 +0000 UTCOh lollllll literally the shirt I fussed about in the video
Matt Baume
2022-03-14 16:42:33 +0000 UTCI meant the OG T-shirt. 😉
Lauren Upshaw
2022-03-14 14:45:11 +0000 UTCI had several Betamax VCRs before finally switching to VHS format, as the Beta picture quality was much better. My first Betamax had a CORDED remote, which one of my cats chewed through the cord for. I've never been so upset with a pet as I was with that cat! And I fondly remember Madame's Place, as well as a made-for-tv movie she starred in (or maybe it was a special). Great character!
Lin Kibblemom
2022-03-13 22:32:31 +0000 UTCGoodness! I love Madame. In fact my music literature professor in college looked just like her - head dress and all
Rory Chalcraft
2022-03-13 21:02:31 +0000 UTCGreat to see someone remember Madame. I remember catching episodes of her syndicated series, Madame’s Place, in late night on a UHF channel. It featured a young Corey Feldman pre- Stand By Me, Eddie McClurg, and Judy Landers. It was a talk show within a sitcom so they’d have guests too like Betty White, Tab Hunter, Charles Nelson Reilly, Rip Taylor, and William Shatner - everyone of that era you’d want to see with Madame. I’m sure it’s even worse than I remember but I wish it was available. I distinctly remember the Fallon UFO bit on Colbys and think they really never resolved it. She had gone missing in Colbys and then Jeff finds her miles from her abandoned car. She insists she saw the UFO but it’s just kinda dropped a couple episodes after they returned to Dynasty. The writers dropped several storylines from The Colbys cliffhanger even though some of the characters eventually ended up on Dynasty. Given the tanking ratings, I can understand why but for the millions who stuck with Colbys to the end, it was a disservice. The wheels had clearly come off the cart for both shows at this point (though I thought the final and cheaper season of Dynasty was its best season in years).
Trevor
2022-03-13 20:18:25 +0000 UTCYES I'm so pleased to have an excuse to talk about that next week!!!
Matt Baume
2022-03-13 18:26:47 +0000 UTCOh geez it's from Urban Outfitters and I've had it literally since college so I think it's pushing 20??? Old enough to vote.
Matt Baume
2022-03-13 18:26:27 +0000 UTCBased on Bea's appearance, this looks like the same special where she did the famous "Everybody's Turning On" duet with Rock!
George Barrett III
2022-03-13 17:54:30 +0000 UTCI want to haz that tshirt. It must be a baseball ringer.
Lauren Upshaw
2022-03-13 17:24:33 +0000 UTC
