Dolly appeared in a special holiday episode of "The Magic School Bus," the animated children’s television show based on a series of children’s books and adapted by Scholastic Entertainment. The show premiered on Sept. 10, 1994, on PBS and helped kids, especially girls and minorities, get more interested in science. The series finished its run in 1997 but aired again on Fox, TLC, Fox Kids, Discovery Kids, Qubo, and NBC as recently as 2010.
Dolly voiced the character Katrina Eloise "Murph" Murphy, operator of Murph’s recycling plant and the cousin of Ms. Frizzle, one of the main characters voiced by Lily Tomlin. On a holiday episode that originally aired on Dec. 25, 1996, Murph taught the class the importance of recycling.
[su_vimeo url="https://vimeo.com/120158482"]
The Magic School Bus from Dolly Parton on Vimeo.
Dolly starred in "Unlikely Angel," a made-for-television film, as Ruby Diamond, a selfish country singer who is granted a second chance at salvation by St. Peter (Roddy McDowall) after she dies in a car accident. If Ruby is able to help reunite and heal a suburban family suffering after the passage of their mother (by midnight on Christmas Eve) she will be given her wings. If she fails to reunite the family, Ruby would head for far smokier shores.
Dolly was also an executive producer for the project and provided some original songs ("Wat'cha Tryin'na Do" and "Unlikely Angel"). "Unlikely Angel" premiered on CBS on Dec. 17, 1996.
Dolly helped create a television sitcom called 'Mindin' My Own Business' for CBS. The show’s plot, which never made it into production, featured Dolly as a caterer to the stars. In addition to cooking, Dolly’s character found herself in a variety of crazy situations. The pilot episode never aired.
Dolly appeared as herself in the made-for-television mini-series "Naomi & Wynonna: Love can Build a Bridge," the true life story of Naomi and Wynonna Judd. The mini-series which originally aired May 14-15, 1995, on NBC, tells the story of the Judds as single mother Naomi turned to music as a way to deal with her increasingly rebellious teen daughter Wynonna and follows them as they make the leap from singing at home through Nashville to national celebrity.
The series is narrated by Naomi’s second daughter Ashley Judd and features a short cameo appearance by Dolly. Variety’s review found Naomi and Wynonna to be, "above average for the genre."
The made-for-television movie about the late singer was nominated for two primetime Emmy Awards (cinematography and hairstyling). The movie which originally aired on CBS on, Jan. 22, 1995, depicts West’s childhood, the start of her career, her highest successes (in particular her duets with Kenny Rogers) and her fatal 1991 car crash.
