‘Palm Royale’ with Burnett, Wiig and Martin welcomes viewers back to campy Palm Beach

The well-dressed society ladies of “Palm Royale” are back in town.

A year and a half after the first episode graced screens around the world, “Palm Royale” is set to premiere the second season of its star-studded, glitzy, campy vision of 1960s Palm Beach.

If the first season is any indication, Palm Beach and “Palm Royale” viewers are in for a heck of a ride — and Palm Beachers are in for one heck of an update to a favorite water-cooler topic. Except in this case, the water would be Evian and the cooler’s tap solid gold.

The first episode of the second season of the Apple TV+ series begins streaming Nov. 12, with the returning top cast that includes Kristen Wiig, Carol Burnett, Ricky Martin, Josh Lucas, Allison Janney, Laura Dern, Amber Chardae Robinson, Leslie Bibb, Kaia Gerber and Mindy Cohn.

The first season of “Palm Royale” was the talk of Palm Beach, mentioned at nearly every island gathering: the cocktail hours, the galas, the late-afternoon dinners, the shopping trips to J.McLaughlin. The show heightened the profile of a town that was already world-famous.

“I think that it has created a little additional buzz — there’s no question about it,” said local historian Rick Rose, who leads the popular Worth Avenue Walking Tours.

But Palm Beachers have not been the only ones talking about “Palm Royale.” Tourists, businesses and those in the hospitality industry are keeping their eye on the visually stunning show laced with over-the-top satire.

“The return of ‘Palm Royale’ continues to elevate The Palm Beaches’ visibility, drawing attention to our iconic locations and inspiring travel interest,” said Erika Constantine, senior vice president of marketing for Discover The Palm Beaches, Palm Beach County’s official tourism marketing entity.

And all while “taking the piss out of” the seriousness of Palm Beach society, said Abe Sylvia, the show’s creator.

“We’re celebrating the (Palm Beach) world, and we’re also sending it up at the same time,” he said. “But hopefully, people see that the show is very good-natured. Even in its satire, there’s a lightness of touch that I hope Palm Beach sees that comes from a place of love.”

The buzz about ‘Palm Royale’

The first season of “Palm Royale” captivated many Palm Beachers with its take on island life and the perils of navigating high society.

Wiig is Maxine, an eager social climber who leverages her marriage to the ditzy Douglas (Josh Lucas) to find a society footing in Palm Beach. She goes head to head — or rather, gold lamé slipper to jewel-encrusted kitten heel — with Burnett’s scheming Norma and Janney’s regal Evelyn. Martin plays a pool boy and Norma’s longtime confidante who becomes close friends with Maxine after she manages to win him over.

The hometown Shiny Sheet got a lot of love in the first season, with Cohn as Ann Holiday, the influential society editor of the Palm Beach Daily News. The season ended on a major cliffhanger, as an attempted presidential assassination plot was foiled, the wrong woman was pinned with the crime and a treasured cast member’s life was in limbo.

The soapy plot must be taken with a grain of salt, of course, said several Palm Beach residents who spoke to the Palm Beach Daily News.

“Obviously, it’s a comedy,” said Alexander Ives, a multigenerational Palm Beacher who once led the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, was a longtime member of the Architectural Commission and earlier this year was reappointed to another term on the town’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. “To expect it to connect with reality or expect it to be historic is asking a lot for it to carry.”

Interior designer and Palm Beach resident Amanda Essex said she loved the show’s fashion, calling it eye candy. In that regard, “Palm Royale” knocked it out of the park, she said.

“I thought it was like any interpretation of a well-known area,” she said. “It was kind of pretty obvious that it was done by an outsider, but some it was really interesting and very funny.”

Like so many others who have spoken with the Daily News since the show’s premiere, Essex and Ives both pointed to the “Palm Royale” cast as a highlight.

“Kristen Wiig is hilarious, and Carol Burnett is so good, even though she’s in a coma (for much of the first season),” Essex said.

“For anyone who ever thought Ricky Martin was just a singer,” Ives said, laughing, “he’s kind of this focal point that gets you to both ends of the story.”

The show was well-received as an “artistically embellished view of Palm Beach life,” Rose said. “It’s just hysterical. Of course, we’re talking about some really top-notch actors and actresses.”

Lots of Hollywood magic

Although “Palm Royale” is set in Palm Beach, only certain aerial scene-setting shots actually show the island.

But the production team worked to give the fictional series a very strong visual taste of the town, Sylvia said. “We really are staying true to the Palm Beach aesthetic,” he said.

The idea of Maxine’s story — and her ambition to become a player amid the island’s social whirl — is one that has been repeated time and time again in Palm Beach, particularly since the town has celebrated more than a century of social seasons, Rose said.

“The show, what it does is kind of solidifies the legend of Palm Beach, not necessarily the facts,” Rose said. “But through artistic embellishment and storytelling, it has in a joking and slightly mocking way looked at Palm Beach society.”

One question Rose hears frequently: Which of Palm Beach’s private clubs is the basis for the one that gives the show its name?

It’s an amalgamation of The Everglades and the Bath & Tennis clubs, Sylvia said. In fact, he noted, in his first draft, the show was set at The Everglades Club.

Could someone scale a wall there, the way Maxine did in “Palm Royale” the first episode?

“No one would ever be able to scale a wall at one of these clubs,” Essex said, laughing. “The front doors are wide open, but you’d be stopped. You couldn’t jump a wall. It would just be too weird.”

A draw for tourists

“Palm Royale” has captivated some viewers to such an extent that they take part in the growing trend of “set jetting,” where people visit locations from their favorite shows, said Constantine of Discover the Palm Beaches. The program helped even more people discover “the beauty, glamour and charm of our destination firsthand.”

Rose said he has seen that in action, both with visitors to his vacation rentals and with participants of his historic walking tours. As people check in, they ask where they can go to get a look at the Palm Beach of “Palm Royale,” he said.

When that discussion comes up, Rose breaks the news to his guests that the show was not filmed in town, but they can visit The Breakers Palm Beach resort and drive by the Bath & Tennis Club. “It’s a spoof, but there are some parallels to real Palm Beach society,” he said.

When it comes to promoting Palm Beach, Ives said he’d enjoy seeing the show focus on the type of “extremely high-achieving women and men” who live in Palm Beach. As examples, he named best-selling author James Patterson and philanthropist and Susan G. Komen for the Cure founder Nancy Brinker.

But, Ives added, the show has been consistent in its take on the town — even if it doesn’t always provide a complete picture of island life.

“If we were to look at the Palm Beach they’re describing as a fictional place, a fantasy version of it, it’s a fun show,” Ives said. “The show delivers on what it says it’s going to be.”

Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at [email protected]. Subscribe today to support our journalism.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: ‘Palm Royale’ welcomes viewers back to campy vision of Palm Beach