Apple TV’s most underrated mystery drama is back with a glitzy first episode that pays homage to ’60s Hollywood icons
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Palm Royale has always had a theatrical musical undertone running through it, but the mystery drama’s creator Abe Sylvia has dialed that up to 11 in the opening scene from the first episode of the second season.
After bagging an Emmy award for ‘Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music’ in 2024, it probably isn’t too surprising that the Apple TV Original series would make even more of a splash with its latest soundtrack from composer Jeff Toyne.
Remixing Ben Tucker and Bob Dorough’s 1962 track ‘Comin’ Home Baby’ performed by Mel Tormé, Toyne has finally made use of Ricky Martin’s singing talents, who until now has only starred in the show as a Korean War veteran turned caretaker of a wealthy family estate.
What inspired Palm Royale season 2’s opening scene?
If the opening scene from the first episode of Palm Royale season 2 reminds you of a lavish French cabaret without the feathers and kicks, then you’ve hit the nail on the head. According to Sylvia, the campy choreography in the dance sequence is completely inspired by real-life performances from the time.
“We’re inspired by all sorts of these great ladies of television and stage and screen of the past,” the showrunner revealed to TechRadar. “The first few minutes of season 2, I would say it’s a mash-up of Lola Falana and Mitzi Gaynor and a whole bunch of other people that the audiences should be refreshing their knowledge of.”
For anyone unfamiliar with these two Hollywood icons, they were both musical comedy stars who started as live entertainers before gaining major attention from roles in the Vegas TV variety circuit (scroll down to find out more about the movies and series that you can still stream today starring these icons).
This type of homage is very fitting of Sylvia’s style and background, who originally started as a dancer on Broadway before transitioning to screenwriting and directing. While he modestly described his theatrical skills as “just another tool in the toolbox of storytelling”, it’s one of the defining parts of the series.
“The show is a work of imagination,” Sylvia said. “The show doesn’t want to be like anything else in its own way, and I don’t think there’s any reason why you can’t go from a musical number to a dramatic scene to something that’s really comic to something that feels soapy.
“It’s all being filtered through the lens of these actors. But coming out of Broadway, I don’t know, it’s just in my blood that I burst out into song daily. So, it doesn’t feel unnatural. It doesn’t feel like it’s not naturalistic to me.”
Putting Kristen Wiig in the opening scene’s dance sequence is certainly playing to her strengths as well, given her own background in dance. She looks as natural as you’d expect from a seasoned pro, but while her performance isn’t scene-stealing (Martin’s singing can’t be overshadowed), it’s a big breakaway for the character she plays in the series.
Wiig’s role as Maxine Delacourt sees her normally as a doting wife chasing the life of a wealthy socialite living in Palm Beach, which might conjure up images of classic sitcom wives, like Carol Brady from The Brady Bunch, but it’s completely original.
“Honestly, in the very beginning, because the show is very loosely based on a book and a character that was from that book, I really worked with Abe a lot because we wanted [Maxine] to be a very specific character but not ‘charactery’, which can sometimes happen when you’re doing something comedic,” Wiig said.
“And I just wanted to make sure she was as charactery as I could go while also making her a real person. But honestly, so much of that was just working with Abe and trying out different mannerisms and accents and things like that. We just kind of landed on [Maxine], she kind of just came out.”
Where can you stream Lola Falana and Mitzi Gaynor movies and shows?
After speaking with Sylvia about what inspired the opening scene of Palm Royale season 2 and realizing that I’d never seen a single movie or show starring either Lola Falana or Mitzi Gaynor, I felt an overpowering obligation to set things right.
Looking at the IMDb profiles of both performers, the pair were extremely busy, starring in over 15 movies each during their careers. Falana’s biggest movie and TV shows are The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970), The New Bill Cosby Show (1972–73), and The Lola Falana Show (1976), which sadly aren’t available to stream at the time of writing.
However, I have found two movies that are. The first is The Klansman (1974) on Prime Video, MGM+ or Plex in the US, and the second is Lady Cocoa (1975), which is on several of the best free streaming services, including Pluto TV, Hoopla, and Plex in the US – both titles are also on Plex in the UK and Australia.
Meanwhile, Gaynor is famous for South Pacific (1958), There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954), Les Girls (1957), Anything Goes (1956), and of course The Mitzi Gaynor Show (1968–1978). Again, not every film or show is available to watch via on-demand services, but I have found South Pacific on Prime Video, Pluto TV, and Plex (it’s also on Now in the UK).
So, if you’re looking to keep the razzmatazz going after episode 1 of Palm Royale season 2, which is now streaming globally on Apple TV, then I implore you to try out one of these icons’ movies with me. Make sure to come back and let me know what you think of them in the comments below.
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