Dolly Parton Will Appear In The Last Season Of 'Grace And Frankie'

The 75-year-old renowned country music star Dolly Parton has reportedly tried severally to make a guest appearance on the comedy television series "Grace and Frankie" for some years now, and now her wish has finally come true.

The show already stars two of her former co-stars, Jane Fonda as Grace Hanson and Lily Tomlin as Frankie Bergstein.

The series was met with mixed reviews upon the release of its first season in May 2015, but its other six seasons had a largely positive reception from critics and fans.

Per reports, the show producers only decided to release four episodes out of season seven and promised to release the remaining 12 episodes in 2022. The break-in production was due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the show will make a huge comeback next year.

Fans of Parton have been quite vocal about how they would love to see the star feature on the show, and Netflix recently confirmed that their wish has come true. The Queen of Country music will be guest-starring in the final season of "Grace and Frankie."

The announcement that the country star would appear on "Grace and Frankie" came as no surprise, as many followers already speculated that it would happen sooner or later. Even before Netflix's confirmation, Lily Tomlin hinted at the guest-starring of her "9 to 5" co-star.

During an interview with Today, she explained that they'd been trying to get her a role and that she hoped it was successful. "We've got a great role for her this time," Tomlin said about Parton. "I think she will do it. I'm just hoping she will. And we hope she can do it and we think she can do it by remote," she continued.

Parton must really love the show, as she had tried severally to make her guest appearance on it possible. She confirmed this in a February interview with Lorraine, where she spoke about wanting to work on the show.

She expressly stated, "I've been trying to do Grace and Frankie for years." She then recalled her time with Tomlin and Jane Fonda on "9 to 5," a 1980 comedy film, and explained that she would like to work with them again.

Fans are excited to reunite the three stars because of their outstanding work in the "9 to 5" film, which was also Parton's debut movie in the industry. Parton wrote about the experience in her 2020 book, "Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics."

She explained that her co-stars encouraged her, knowing it was her "first time in the movies." She wrote, "Lily and Jane were very helpful,...Jane said, 'Don't worry about acting. Just be yourself. The director will tell you what to do, and you'll learn."

Her co-stars also spoke well of her presence on the movie set. In 1981, Fonda told Playgirl positive things about Parton's presence on the show. She said, "spirit and goodness made everybody else come up a bit, and the film was a little better because of [her]."

Tomlin also commented on the country singer's personality during the show. "She was wonderful; she's so quick, so natural, dazzling, down-to-earth, bigger than life," Tomlin said to Rolling Stone in 1980. She continued, "once you got the idea for Dolly to be in her role, it would have been more of a disappointment to not have her."

The series was renewed for the seventh and final season on September 4, 2019. However, production was halted on March 12 the following year due to the pandemic. Fonda noted in an interview that filming was planned to resume in January 2021.

The show's production was delayed a second time and resumed in June. The season finally premiered on August 13, 2021, when the initial four episodes were released. Although there was no exact date, Netflix sent word that the other episodes would arrive in 2022.

Parton noted that the several halts in production of the show affected her casting. "We've been trying to write me in somehow," she said. She also noted that they'd continue with her filming when it was safe enough to do so.

Netflix finally announced her appearance on the show's final season on November 5. "It's finally happening: Dolly Parton will appear in the seventh and final season of Grace and Frankie!!!" Netflix's Twitter page disclosed.

After the late release of the first four episodes of the show's seventh season in August, the specific date for the release of the remaining episodes has not been unveiled to fans of the show.

Unlike previous seasons, which had 13 episodes each, Netflix announced the seventh season would have 16 episodes. However, according to Deadline, the remaining 12 episodes are scheduled to drop in early 2022.

The released episodes have been received positively by fans so far, but the "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" singer has yet to appear in season seven, and fans are anxious to see how she performs.

Netflix didn't announce the exact episode or date that Parton will be guest-starring on the show. Fans are also unaware of what her role is in the series. But her IMDb page shows that she'll be in the season's fifth episode.