On April 15, 2005, Dolly appeared on the "Reba’s Rules of Real Estate" episode of the WB sitcom playing the character Dolly Majors, Houston’s most successful real estate agent.
When invited to be on the show, Dolly only had one request of her friend,
"I said I want to have my high heels and tight clothes... Don't you put me in no cowboy boots. Don't take off my big hair."
The guest appearance came during a conversation between the friends,
"It's been a while since I've done any TV things... This was special for me. I've been trying to do Reba's show ever since she started. We struck up that conversation, got the show all together. They picked a good little character for me, and off we went."
On Aug. 30, 2002, Country Music Television started its three-part series "The 40 Greatest Women of Country Music," hosted by actor Billy Campbell. Dolly claimed the No. 4 spot, behind Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn, who placed one through three, respectively.
Dolly is interviewed throughout and several of her songs are highlighted, including "Here You Come Again" and "Dumb Blonde." The show also featured interviews with other artists like Emmylou Harris and Barbara Mandrell, who commented on Dolly’s illustrious career and contributions to country music.
According to CMT, the list was selected by hundreds of artists, music historians, music journalists, and music industry professionals who considered every aspect of what a great artist is, from her musically groundbreaking body of work to her overall contributions to the ever-changing world of country music. Country music historian Robert K. Oerman said of Dolly during the special,
"No one can touch her. No one can touch the hem of her dress as far as I'm concerned."
Dolly appeared on the Oct. 25 "Halloween Special" episode of the one-season CBS television show "Bette" starring Bette Midler and featuring Dolly as a character very similar to herself. In this episode, Bette grows jealous of Dolly as they film a Halloween special. Dolly and Bette sing several songs together during the show including a version of Dolly’s classic "Islands in the Stream."
Dolly starred as Leanna Taylor in her made-for-television movie, "Blue Valley Songbird" and worked behind the scenes as the film’s executive producer.
The movie aired on Lifetime in November of 1999. Leanna Taylor is a Nashville singer who uses her music to face her troubled upbringing. Dolly’s inspiration came from her song "Blue Valley Songbird" on her album "Hungry Again." Dolly said,
“As soon as I wrote the song, I had full intentions of making a movie from it… In my mind, I thought, 'This is like a screenplay.'”
Dolly took a hands-on approach to the project.
"I was very involved… And I promoted shooting the movie in Nashville from day one. I was thrilled that we could film it here… I felt it was very important to find Southern people to write this script… The writers we chose were both from the South, so they had an understanding of it."
While there is no official soundtrack, a number of the songs in the movie are available on Dolly’s album "Hungry Again."
Dolly make an appearance in the made-for-television film biopic "Get to the Heart - The Barbara Mandrell Story" which originally aired on CBS on, Sept. 28, 1997. The movie covers Barbara’s life from her early musical promise through stardom to her near-fatal car crash and recovery. The movie was based on Mandrell's autobiography, "Get to the Heart: My Story" published in 1990.
