The late Dolly Parton wasn’t just the queen of country music, she was also an accomplished actor who left behind a number of TV credits. These include the record-breaking ’80s variety show “Dolly” and the remnants of Parton’s never-aired sitcom with a supernatural twist.
In March 1994, Variety announced that Parton was to star in a new sitcom called “Heavens to Betsy,” in which she would play a singer who was killed right before her big break to open for Siegfried & Roy. She was then faced with the terrifying option to either go to hell or return to her hometown and atone for her sins. Naturally, she chose to return home. According to producer Stuart Sheslow, the show was modified from an earlier idea where Parton was to play a cooking show hostess for a show called “Dixie’s Fixin’s.”
“Heavens to Betsy,” which was produced at Disney-MGM Studios in Florida to accommodate Parton’s wish to stay close to her home base in Tennessee, never made it onto the air. Although the creative problems that impacted the production were a big issue, they were made worse by the distance between Orlando and LA, where some of the people with the decision-making power lived. Ultimately, the TV show was abandoned by all key parties. “Dolly’s people, managers and team just didn’t feel this was the best vehicle for showing off her talent,” explained Ted Kaye, vice president of video tape production at Walt Disney Television, in May 1995 (per Orlando Sentinel).
Can you watch Heavens to Betsy today?
Dolly Parton’s television series “Heavens To Betsy” may have never actually made it to air, but it isn’t entirely lost. According to Lost Media Wiki, a VHS tape of several episodes was once listed on eBay and then uploaded to YouTube, but the videos are no longer available today.
Fortunately, there is still at least one six-minute clip of “Heavens to Betsy” floating around on YouTube, in which you can see Dolly Parton in all her small-town glory. Although the clip is brief, Parton shows off her comedic timing as her character, who is working as a waitress. She plays off of several people, including her boss, who scolds her for putting actual beef into a batch of beef stew and presumably cutting into his profits.
Despite the setback, Parton announced five years later, in 2000, that she and her production company were producing a “Heavens to Betsy” movie — though with a different premise, it seems. “I’m doing the movie ‘Heavens to Betsy’ for CBS this fall or winter,” she told MTV at the time. “It’s about two black girls and me; we have a group called Milk and Honey. It’s a gospel musical that I wrote all the music for.” However, the project never materialized.
