Sunday brings surge of Dolly specials

It will be a double Dolly night Sunday (Aug. 30) on TV.
Both CBS and ABC will have new Dolly Parton specials. ABC will also include her movie, “9 to 5.”
Parton (shown here) died Tuesday at 80, in the cancer wing of a Nashville hospital. There have been waves of tributes for her music, her philanthropy and the sheer joy of her personality.
CBS had a special that night, but will follow with another Sunday. “Remembering Dolly: A Rhinestone Life” will be at 8 p.m., nudging “Big Brother” to 9 and removing “Tracker.”
This one will be from “Entertainment Tonight,” with clips ranging from her first “ET” interview in 1982 to one more than four decades later. It will also have comments, old and new, from Dianne Warwick, Melissa Etheridge, Jennifer Nettles, Debbie Allen, songwriter Diane Warren and more.
Overlapping with that will be the movie “9 to 5,” at 7:30 p.m. on ABC. Parton starred with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin and wrote the theme song — which hit No. 1 on both the country and pop charts.
That will be followed at 10 by a “20/20” special: “Dolly Parton: An American Original.”
Other Parton-related programming includes:
— The CMT cable channel is airing “Steel Magnolias” (1989), with Parton starring alongside Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine and Julia Roberts. That’s 9 p.m. today (Aug. 27) and 6 p.m. Friday.
— CMT also has a 2003 “CMT Crossroads” hour that paired Parton with Melissa Etheridge. That’s 8 a.m. Friday and 3 and 9 a.m. Saturday.
— And MeTV, which is carried in many markets digitally or by cable, reruns two specials Sunday. At 5 p.m. is a 2024 documentary, “Dolly Parton: Big Hair, Bigger Heart.” At 6 is a half-hour “Collector’s Call” from 2020. It featured two people who filled their home with Parton artifacts … and were surprised when she sent a video message.