Dolly Parton says she’d love to take part in a “9 to 5” reunion, which would be easier now that her co-stars from the 1980 movie Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda are working together again on the Netflix series “Grace and Frankie.”
While addressing the Television Critics Association last week in support of her NBC movie “Coat of Many Colors,” Parton said, "Of course, we're girlfriends, and I want to be on (‘Grace and Frankie’) … I told them whenever I get a little block of time, I'd love to come be on the show," according to the Hollywood Reporter. "We always talked about a (‘9 to 5’) reunion."
Parton fans and fans of the feminist comedy were ecstatic about the possibility. A writer at the feminist blog Jezebel said, “It has been almost 35 years since the trio appeared onscreen together. Don’t you love how they are all still friends?” A writer at the pop-culture website PopSugar called it “the reunion of our dreams.” Also, entertainment website HelloGiggles offered, “7 reasons Dolly Parton’s ‘9 To 5’ reunion needs to happen.” (No. 5: The three could accidentally steal a dead body again.)
But not so fast, says Marta Kauffman, executive producer of “Grace and Frankie,” which is filming its second season.
When asked about bringing Parton onto the show, Kauffman told the Associated Press in May, “Here’s the thing. Until the show is established as a world of its own, when you bring Dolly Parton into it, who I love by the way. I love her, I love everything about her. When you bring her in what it takes you to is, ‘Oh, it’s a 9 to 5 reunion.’ We haven’t established Grace and Frankie yet as individuals so you can enjoy that without it taking you out of the show so that’s why I’m hesitant.”
That hasn’t killed the reunion buzz. As entertainment site NewNowNextpoints out, “Maybe now that we have one season of getting to know the characters already under our belts, Kauffman will change her mind.
“We’re ready for you Dolly!”