Entertainment

'Grace & Frankie' Needs This '9 to 5' Reunion

by Alanna Bennett

I am not strong enough to resist the pull of Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda in a show centered around their husbands leaving them to marry each other. And why would I want to? That sounds amazing! And the woman in charge of it co-created Friends! Which is why I'm so psyched Lily Tomlin recently talked all things Grace & Frankie with Vanity Fair.

There is something missing from Marta Kauffman's upcoming Netflix comedy, though — a sort of big blonde elephant in the room whenever the show comes up. That something is the wonderful Dolly Parton, whose lack of presence is the only thing keeping this promising new show from being what my instincts so desperately want it to be: A 9 to 5 reunion. That film, which featured Tomlin, Fonda, and Parton as three women working under a misogynistic boss and enacting their revenge, is a classic.

So where the hell is Dolly Parton? And will the show always be Parton-less? Tomlin's response to VF's Julie Miller bringing it up was brief and a little evasive, but maybe promising:

Dolly. Yes, we need our Dolly. She might [show up], who knows.

Considering we haven't even gotten a first trailer for this show yet I guess I'll take this answer for now. And Tomlin's certainly describing a show I'm interested in watching:

[Fonda’s character] is very straight-laced, Republican, and conservative in her dress. She is married to Martin Sheen’s character. [My character, who is married to Sam Waterston's character,] is very bohemian.
[...] We go out to dinner thinking that our husbands are going to announce their retirement. And instead, they announce that for 20 years they’ve been having an affair. And because they can legally get married now, they want to divorce us and get married.

C'mon, Netflix — hurry this one along.

Also, the thought of Jane Fonda playing a Republican just made me laugh out loud. I cannot wait.

Image: 20th Century Fox