MFM Minisode 506 - The Dolly Parton Tribute Minisode

Hello and welcome to My Favorite Murderer, the Minnesota. Y'all. Hey, y'all.

Hey, y'all.

This is a very special minisode today. This is the Dolly Parton tribute minisode.

That's right. And we got so many emails from you guys. Turns out everyone has a Dolly Parton memory or thought or feeling.

Completely.

They were so good.

I mean, there's so many to choose from. It was like we could do about 18 of these. And thank you. A listener suggested this. I think multiple listeners suggested it.

What a great idea, listener.

Yeah. We're doing it. We did your thing.

We do what the people tell us to do.

We always do.

Once every decade.

Want me to go first?

Yes.

Okay. So the subject line of this is, another reason why Dolly Parton is a goddess. Hello from the U.K. I love Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, and I'm happy to talk about the difference it has made to the children in the U.K., Oh, my God. Have you ever even thought of this? Yeah. I work for an early years education charity in the U.K., and we were put in touch with the U.K. branch of the Imagination Library. The Imagination Library has over 300 community partners in the U.K.

with over 7 million books shared here since 2007. Oh, my God. Anyway, I think you probably don't want a bunch of facts and figures. Why not?

We love numbers. That's what this podcast is all about.

Let's go ahead and look at the chart. Okay. Because you can just look that up. So I will focus on the key things that I believe make the Imagination Library different from other language and literacy support programs out there. Firstly, and most importantly, the program must be set up by a community partner. This is usually the local council or a local charity, etc. The community partner signs up to the program and pays a small fee per child in their catchment area. This is much better than the facts and figures. Explain to us how civics work.

Us people with no children need to know.

Please, who's the partner in this? But basically they're saying the rest is covered by the imagination library. That means that every child in the area is enrolled in the program and they all get the books. This is really important. It isn't a program for quote-unquote poor kids or for rich kids or for kids with additional needs or any one specific type of family. It is for everyone. There is no stigma associated with getting these books. Everyone gets them.

That's what an idea. That's it. Yeah. That's it.

True equity. Some preschools and community groups even use the books as part of their curriculum of activities because they know that every family has them. Because as Dolly says, I just want everybody to be treated good.

All right. Oh, yeah. How many? Oh, I forgot to. How many times is Karen going to cry?

Well, I mean, listen.

It has to be once per story at least.

So that's six. I'm already unstable.

Okay.

This is a great thing to cry over.

That's true.

Because somebody said this on social media. And wait, I may have already said this on the show.

What?

But the thing of this is a person who broke records in the music industry. And all anyone's talking about is this shit she did.

How wonderful she was.

It's just crazy to think about.

Aspirational.

Yeah.

So then it says, then something that people don't often think of, this program helps kids, sure, but it also stimulates language and literacy skills across whole families. The average reading age in the UK is around the level of a 10-year-old, so it shouldn't be forgotten that this program can be great to build confidence in reading for adults, too.

And it was her father's illiteracy that led Dolly to set up the Imagination Library. Families who are sent the books report reading more at home, going to the library more often, and just generally reading more books with their children. Did you know kids who read one book a day will hear about 290,000 more words by age five than those who are not regularly read to?

Wow.

Huge. And a child's development by 22 months serves as a strong predictor of educational outcomes at age 26. Wow. Giving away books to children under five and encouraging more families to read at home is an absolute game changer when it comes to opportunities in adulthood. Anyway, Dolly forever. Grace.

That's so beautiful because she could have just started any kind of charity she wanted and moved on. But she made it so specifically to be fair and be inclusive. And to help throughout your entire life. Like, she didn't need to do that.

Right. And it's like, but she was like, well, if I have this money and that means it could do this thing that then can, it's like seeding a forest.

Yeah. Amazing.

And what I think is really beautiful is that in lieu of flowers, the Dolly Parton estate asked that people donate to the Imagination Library. So we are going to donate, in the name of murderinos, $ 10, 000 to the Imagination Library, which is part of the Dollywood Foundation. Imagine how many little books that can buy.

Oh, my God. Teeny, tiny little books.

Little books for little kids. They love the children.

Love the books. The children love it. Learning. This one's called, my first one's called, I Once Sniffed Dolly Parton. Oh, wow.

I want to hear all about this.

And this was sent before Dolly died, but there's an update about it, which is really sweet and some photos. Ladies and furballs, I once sniffed Dolly Parton. Do I have your attention now? She's the queen of the South, and as I live in East Tennessee, it had always been my dream to meet her. The summer after my sophomore year in college, a friend called me to say that Dolly was coming to Dollywood and staff were going to have their pictures taken with her. I suddenly realized that I lived close enough to Dollywood, the happiest place on earth, And if I move fast enough, maybe I could have a picture taken with my hero. And as luck would have it, I got hired. She went and got a job. At Dollywood? At Dollywood. Too neat.

So she was definitely going to be there when Dolly was there.

I got hired as a ride attendant in time for Dolly's visit to the park. And that day, I raced over to where staff were getting their photos with her. We were all in our seats in one of the big theaters in the park as it was explained to us that we would be in groups of 20 on risers. So it's like a group photo. and Dolly would alternate between two sets of them to make the process go faster.

Dolly came out on stage, and my heart beat faster than ever before. She said something amazing like, I hope y'all brushed your teeth.

That's so cute.

And they started putting folks on stage. To my delight, when I got up there, I realized they were sending tall guys to the back. I'm neither tall nor a guy, and I lingered until I was on the front row.

Oh, crap.

I sniffed Dolly Parton. And it says she smelled like a wonderful church lady in case you wondered. And in case you did wonder....

No.

Look what Kate was able to track down for us. It's a little. This truly is her perfume. Sample of Dolly's perfume. Don't spray it. I'll get a headache.

No.

Nothing personal. I can't do smells.

My old roommate used to put on perfume before she left for school. And it's just like you just filled the room with like the worst, heaviest. We had a guy who came over.

Never mind. Okay. This is for the main episode.

Not now.

This is come on.

Isn't that amazing? So good.

In 2009, Dolly was given an honorary doctorate from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and a friend of mine was asked to interview her for a local radio station. Knowing my love for the queen of country, she called me and asked if I would be her sound tech for the interview, assuring me it wasn't that hard, just pointing a microphone, and I jumped at the chance. As everyone gathered for the interview, her security team insisted on no fan pictures. Only interview questions, no autographs, etc. So I was a little disappointed. But Dolly soon came out and all was forgotten. My friend's interview came and I bent down to position the microphone in front of Dolly like I'd been shown. And she looked at me and said, hello.

I forced myself to get over my nerves and said, hello, back with what I'm sure was the biggest smile ever. Dolly and my friend had their interview, and after, Dolly actually took a photo with me. Ha ha, suck it, security guys. And said, why, you're a little like me. You want a pair of shoes? Why am I trying to do her accent?

It's really good, though, because it's that kind of like, she just had so many funny little quippy kind of things.

Totally, because everyone wanted that from her, and she gave it.

You want a pair of shoes?

Yeah.

I'm pretty sure I giggled, yes, and still have that photo with my family photos. No shoes, though. Stay sexy and do meet your heroes, Courtney. And then here's an update from Courtney. I lost my mom in May, and it may sound silly, but losing Dolly in the same year has been such a blow. However, at least my mom never knew a world without Dolly. She was born two years after Dolly was born. My mom took me to Dollywood for years, just she and I, when I was younger, and I did the same for her when I got older. Ugh. Now that both she and Dolly are gone, my Dollywood trips will be a little bittersweet, but I hope they're both looking down on me. Here are the pics. And here are her.

At Dollywood?

Both of them.

Oh, my God.

That's the Dollywood. Oh, here, yeah. I knew what it would be. I'm like, that's a murderina. That's clearly a murderina. This is too cute. Look at Dolly.

You're a little like me. You're a little like me. You want a pair of shoes?

And then there's the one from the interview. Look at her makeup.

I know.

It's flawless.

Also, just it's like that's a woman just having a great time.

Yeah.

Just really enjoying. Yeah. Enjoying what she's been given or what she's earned.

Amazing. Great job, Courtney. You met her twice. Courtney.

And you held you held it together. Yeah. So this is hilarious. We got this email and it's from your friend and mine, Vicki Ernst.

Oh.

Who is one of my oldest friends.

Yeah.

I worked on Ellen with her for five years. She was one of the producers on our HBO show, Upcoming.

Yep. Stay tuned. Oh, my God.

Vicky wrote in. Vicky wrote in because, of course, Vicky's been working in talk shows for 20 years. So the headline of this email is, Working 9 to 5 with Dolly on my birthday, in brackets, from Vicky Ernst.

I love it.

And it says, Hi, Karen and Georgia. Before producing your HBO series.

Nice plug. Thank you.

Before producing your HBO series, I was a talk show producer and I had the pleasure of producing Dolly twice.

Whoa.

That's incredible. That is the amazing part of working in talk shows. It's a, every day is just a, it's a carousel of big celebrities that you kind of are like, like that, where you're kind of standing near them. If they feel like talking to you, maybe you get to. Totally.

And then there's a dog that juggles next to them, right?

And a little kid that can limbo so low to the ground on roller skates. Incredible.

Wow.

So the first time was on my 39th birthday in 2014. Ooh, Vicky's giving it all away. Dolly was traveling, so instead of doing our pre-interview by phone the day before, we met in her dressing room on the day of the show. She introduced me to everyone on her team, many of whom, if I remember correctly, were members of her family. Then she asked everyone to leave so we could talk privately.

No one does this. Usually the whole team stays while you attempt to focus in on what feels like Grand Central Station. Before I could start interviewing Dolly, she started interviewing me. She asked about my life, told me she loved jokes, and immediately shared one. There were racks and racks of clothes and tons of wigs in the dressing room, so I asked what she planned to wear for the show.

She told me she had picked out something special. Then she said she was game for anything. Naturally, I decided to test that theory. I asked if we could borrow one of those wigs for the segment. She said yes, and suddenly I was going through wigs with Dolly Parton, which is a completely insane thing to get paid to do.

The second time I produced her was remotely during COVID. Remembering how much Dolly loved planning her wardrobe, I told her team our set colors. Dolly selected an outfit. That's good producing. It's real good producing. Dolly selected an outfit that matched so perfectly that Oprah commented on it during the interview.

Wow.

I attached a photo so you can see exactly what I mean.

I need to see it. Oh, wow. She matches that little chair perfectly.

It's so good.

Like down to her neck. Oh, my God, my ring matches.

Look. Yay. No, nice one. She was everything you would hope Dolly would be. Warm, funny, thoughtful, completely genuine, and perfectly dressed for any occasion.

Yes.

And the best birthday present of all, when Dolly asked me during the first pre-interview, I told her it was my birthday. She immediately sang happy birthday to me.

Good God.

With just the two of us in her dressing room. On my 39th birthday, I got paid to choose a wig with Dolly Parton and got my own private performance of happy birthday. I mean, how do you— this is Vicky's accent. How do you top that?

Yeah, she's so New Jersey.

I mean, how do you top that? My best— Long Island.

Long Island.

Long— shit, sorry. Long Island.

Long Island.

Best birthday ever. I just wish I had hit record on my iPhone. I'm still mad at myself about that. And then it says Vicky from Long Island.

Vicky! Vicky. I love when, like, people we know join in. Has that happened before? Because I feel like nobody listens to this podcast.

Everyone I know is like, you're what?

Yeah.

Vic, thank you, Vicky. That's hilarious.

That's great. And yeah, I highly recommend you hang out with people who produce talk shows because they have the best stories. Like when we were on tour with her and you, you'd be like, remember when we met? And it's just like the most random.

So crazy.

And you find out who's actually an asshole and who's not.

That's right.

Pretty rad.

That's all in the fan cult, everybody.

Yeah, wait for my tell-all. This was also sent before Dolly passed.

I love that we had emails about meeting Dolly Parton before.

Enough to do, like, yeah. My BFF, Dolly Parton. Hello, everyone, including all fabulous pets. After this week's Famous People conversation, I thought I would share my story about Dolly Parton. I live in Blaine, Tennessee, which is about 30 minutes from Sevier County.

Sevier County. I want to go there.

Home of Dollywood. You've been there.

Oh, what a life I'm leading.

What else do you want?

I'd love to go to Sevier County. You got it.

You got it.

The one place my eyebrows make sense. Sevier County.

Dollywood used to be a park called Silver Dollar City. In 1986, Dolly reopened the park as Dollywood. There was a huge celebration. It was announced Dolly would be there to cut the ribbon and make an appearance.

Oh.

As a young gay boy of nine years old, yes, I knew it then and I know it now, I was ecstatic. I begged my parents to take me and my siblings, even though back then it would cost the equivalent of a mortgage payment for us all to go. My mom and dad took only me. My oldest brothers didn't want to go. Of course. No. What?

Go where? But they're wrong about that. They would have loved those rides.

We stood in line for what seemed like forever to catch a glimpse of her. All of a sudden, we hear an announcement. She was coming right past where we were roped off. I look, and here comes Dolly, dressed in her best East Tennessee backwoods Barbie attire. I reached up to touch her hand. She asked the driver to stop the carriage, and she got down. She walked up to me after signing autographs and all caps, PICKED ME UP to hold me. I think I only picked ones that I have to pretend to be her voice. I have to do her voice.

Act outs?

They're all act outs. She pinched my cheeks and said, You have the prettiest cheeks I've ever seen. And put me back down. I died. I had been touched by an angel. You are crying again.

That little nine-year-old boy was like, Please, mother.

This is important. Gay in Tennessee, and it's the 80s. That's not easy.

No.

And he gets to have this moment.

And she sees him.

Yeah, she sees him. Now, of course, living here my whole life, Dolly has made hundreds of appearances at the park. Back in 2016, Andy Cohen came to Dollywood to interview her. I won tickets from SiriusXM. Are we allowed to say that? To attend a town hall. I took my best friend, and off we went. We walked into the amphitheater and are told to stand in line. The woman with the clipboard said, if you guys wait patiently, we're setting up the step and repeat so you can have your photo taken with Dolly. Excuse me, I was not told this when I won the contest. I lost my mind. About 10 minutes later, it was our turn to have our photo taken with her. She asked me where we were from, and I told her, here. And she said, I love

my hometown people. Oh, it's so bad. I couldn't help but tell her, Ms. Parton, I don't expect you to remember this, but when I was nine, you picked me up, pinched my cheeks, and told me I had the prettiest cheeks you'd ever seen. She smiles, in all caps, in front of Andy Cohen, the entire Bravo crew, the audience, and producers. She pinches my cheek again and says, and you still do, sugar. And you still do, sugar.

You found your character. You found it.

I was really hoping you'd come in here in a fucking Dolly wig today. What?

I forgot what I meant to do.

Oh, my gosh. You have a Dollywood sweater.

I literally was like, oh, I'm going to bring it. I'm going to wear it. I'm going to do this.

Let's start over. Yeah.

Cut.

Can we get wardrobe?

I completely forgot about this. But look at what the best. So I got this when we went to Dollywood recently. It's a pink sweatshirt.

What?

Oh, my God. This is going to be so hot. I'm going to immediately need to take it off.

Oh, it's got pocket.

It's fucking got pocket.

It's not a hoodie and it has the like hoodie pouch. Right. That is fucking. She knows. She knows.

And also the best color combination.

It's so good. Pink and burgundy-ish, brownish.

I'd say so.

Amazing. Yeah.

I had to wait till the end of this episode so that so I didn't die. Right.

Okay. And you still do sugar. Needless to say, everyone started laughing and I started crying. Even if she didn't remember for real, she knew how important it was to me that she did. It made my day. I have attached said picture for evidence and jealousy purposes. Love you all at MFM. Stay sexy and become best friends with your idols. Jason. And here they are. Jason. He looks so nervous. Oh, he's got a dolly shirt on. They both do.

Yeah.

That's so cute.

I wish we had the nine-year-old picture, too.

I know. That's got to be somewhere in the archives of Dollywood, like, celebration.

Her picking up a little boy and just being like, look at this.

Yeah.

So cute.

So exciting. Okay. Here's my last one. Similar. The subject line is, please don't embarrass me in front of Dolly Parton. Karen Georgia and the whole MFM crew. Hey, y'all. I started writing this email on the day of Dolly's passing, tucked away in a conference room at work, tears in my eyes after hearing the news from the family group chat.

I put the email aside, unsure if this felt like enough of a story to tell, despite this often being used as my fun fact when needed. But since you asked for Dolly stories, here's what I've got to share. When I was in elementary school, my family was scouted by a talent agent at church. Now, how those conversations came together and what deal was signed was beyond me.

All I knew was that my little thespian heart was thrilled to be in front of the camera. And while we only did a few small commercials for amusement parks and local spots, to me, I felt like I was living the Hollywood dream. But all of that paled in comparison. to the job offer, to sing in a Christmas commercial with the one and only Dolly Parton at Dollywood.

Holy shit.

As an East Tennessee kid and an avid Dolly fan, my entire acting career of three months amounted to this very moment.

Oh, baby.

On the day of the shoot, they rounded up me, my three siblings, and the rest of the children's ensemble to teach us the theme song, give us our cues, and set us at our marks. Bundled in jackets with fake snow falling all around, I couldn't stop looking over at my older sister, Yasmin, and beaming. This was about to be the best day of our little lives. When it was finally time to start shooting, Dolly emerged. She was a vision in a tight red velvet Mrs. Claus dress, hair done up to heaven. Yeah. Not tears of joy, dear reader. Abject horror. Uncontrollable fear. Now, in her defense, Dolly in the flesh was a sight. She was short and petite with the tiniest waist you've ever seen, big boobs, a head of platinum hair piled high, and bright red

acrylics that were long as talons. In that moment, I was ready to disown my sister swiftly and without regret. But Dolly, being Dolly, took it all in stride. She mused that it was probably pretty crazy to see a Barbie doll come to life and start talking like that. After a quick rearrangement of the kid choir, making sure my sister was still at the front, but far from Dolly, we shot the commercial.

She was scared of Dolly.

She was fucking scared of Dolly.

Oh, my God. It's like when you go to see Santa at the mall and the little kid loses it. Yes. It's the same kind of idea where it's like, I don't know. This is It's too far beyond my understanding of reality.

And don't you think with a star like that, there's a vibe that's coming three feet in front of her and like a little kid's just like, what? How did the temperature change?

Here she comes. Yeah, I'm sure it was overwhelming. Yeah. No excuse.

So it says for 20 plus years, I've been telling this story and everyone's immediate response is, where can I watch this commercial? I have scoured the internet, but since it was a local production shot in 2007, I assumed it would never materialize online. That is until the day Dolly passed away. As my family and I were reflecting on Dolly's legacy and what she meant as our hometown hero, my younger sister, of all people, found a link to the video, which had been uploaded just last year. It felt like a little parting gift from her to our family.

So I present to you Dollywood Toyland Commercial Spot 2007. Holy shit.

Get ready. Oh, my God. That's her.

Screaming child over on the side. Holy crap. So it says, we are scattered in this scene. Me, Mads is the writer. My older sister, Yasmin. My younger brother, Macon. And my younger sister, Autumn. Wow.

So Yasmin's right next to her.

That's amazing. Yeah. Yasmin's right there.

But is it.

Who was the crier?

Autumn, I think. Yeah, Autumn. It's always Autumn.

They're like, push Autumn to the front. It's always Autumn. So basically it says... Dolly lived fearlessly, advocated for the underdog, and refused to be anything but herself. May we all learn to live a little like her. Stay sexy and don't be afraid to be in on the joke.

Mads. Oh, my God. That was great.

So good.

I love all these memories.

And we have so many. I think we could do this more. Like once a month if we need it or once a quarter.

Yeah, whenever we're feeling down and need like a pick-me-up.

You know what we need right now?

I need a Dolly story. What if we just ended every like real episode with a Dolly story?

Done and done.

That's our fucking hooray.

Yeah.

Like comment in on social media your little quick story about Dolly or what Dolly meant to you and we'll read them. Yes. Just read one or two at the end of every episode.

It'll be the end of the main episode. We'll call it Here You Come Again with another Dolly story.

Yeah. DM us.

Yes. That was a song.

We'll work on it. No, I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. I'm kidding.

You know, let's keep spitballing. We'll get there.

Okay, my last one is called Dolly Parton Tribute Story. Dear Karen and Georgia, I never got to meet Dolly in person, although I did get to attend her tour in 2002. But I feel like I have. In 2019, during a period of great upheaval in my life, I started to see a new therapist. She suggested we form an emotional support team that I could bring into my consciousness and help me during times of intense distress. At first, I was embarrassed by this visualization technique and had trouble picking anyone, probably due to my trust issues more than anything else. Then one day I was staring into space at work and realized that I had the perfect person already, one Miss Dolly Parton. From that moment on, I had

Dolly help me with everything, from revisiting old traumas where she would help escort me out of bad memories to to having her watch over my younger self when it was too painful for me to do. I came to know the dolly in my head so well. She was always by my side, kind, never judgmental. So when I heard the news of her passing, I was shattered. How could my favorite person in the whole world be gone?

I quickly realized, of course, that she would never leave me. Dolly would be with me forever. Sure, my dolly might not be the same dolly everyone else knew, but that's okay too. In a time when I was incredibly lost, she helped me find my true self. If you ever miss her and want to say hi, I know exactly where she'll be waiting for you. We've all got a dolly in our heads and in our hearts, just waiting with a giggle and a beautiful song to get us through the tough times.

Oh, God.

Stay sexy and remember to give back to others, Crystal.

Crystal, my God.

Got me.

Crystal, Crystal, you broke Georgia. Yeah, that's a good one. Amazing.

Yeah.

It's such a beautiful idea.

Totally.

It's very smart of her. But I also want to say to Crystal, you are Dolly Parton because it was you. Totally. You were, that was just the idea of it, but you were the one doing that with yourself. And that was your, you solved that internally.

You are Dolly.

With Dolly, with Dolly's help, but it was you.

And if you ever need like to go crazy and steal some shit, call us. Yes. In your mind. We'll come with you.

We'll be in your mind.

Yeah, think of us. And we'll be like, do it.

Do it.

You should totally steal that Revlon lipstick. Why don't you.

Think you should drink during the day? We are the worst.

Depends on what you need us for. That's right.

It depends on what you're going through.

Wow, that was so great. I love this.

That was the best.

My favorite dolly.

We want to give credit where credit is due. Von Nahr on Instagram is the listener who wrote in and was like, you better do an all dolly mini-sode. So Von Nahr. We hope you're happy.

Thank you. We hope you're fucking happy.

We hope you're fucking happy. Thank you so much. This was a joy.

Love it. That's right. Dollywood.

Stay sexy.

And don't get murdered. Goodbye, y'all.

Goodbye, y'all.

Elvis, do you want a cookie?

This has been an Exactly Right production.

Our managing producer is Molly Smith.

Our consulting producer is Kate Schellenbach.

Our creative lead is Allison Agosti.

Our associate producer is Tessa Hughes, and our editor is Aristotle Acevedo.

This episode was mixed by Liana Squalacci.

Email your hometowns to myfavoritemurder at gmail.com and follow the show on Instagram at My Favorite Murder.

Listen to My Favorite Murder on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Or watch new episodes every week on Netflix. Search for My Favorite Murder, Add us to your list and hit the double thumbs up button.

Goodbye.

MFM Minisode 506 - The Dolly Parton Tribute Minisode

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