The Dolly Show No. 116
The Dolly Show No. 116
The Dolly Show #116 with special guest Rod McKuen.
The Dolly Show No. 116
Opening of The Dolly Show #116 with special guest Rod McKuen. To the strains of Dolly's record "Love Is Like A Butterfly" we fade up on plastic prop butterfly lit with pulsating pastel blue and violet lights. Camera pulls out to reveal butterfly as part of giant sparkly sign reading simply "Dolly." The sign rises into the rafters as lights come up on the set and Dolly Parton is lowered from the ceiling on a swing. To canned applause as voice-over announces her, Dolly steps off the red velvet swing in a flowing, sparkly pastel green dress and sings The Doobie Brothers hit "China Grove." Dolly is joined by "the poet of the road," Rod McKuen, who suggests that Dolly might want to try a different outfit for the travels they'll take together on the program. Dolly pops off stage for a second for a comically brief costume change, then she and McKuen duet on a reprise of "China Grove."
The Dolly Show No. 116
Fade up on Dolly in brunette wig and yellow dress, sitting behind a counter over which is posted a sign reading "Psychiatric Help $.05." Yes, she is portraying Lucy from the comic strip "Peanuts," and Rod McKuen plays Charlie Brown. Lucy works a crossword puzzle, looking for a six-letter word for "stupid," but neither "Charlie" nor "Brown" fits the bill. Charlie Brown asks for advice, so Lucy marks up her price to $.25 for "inflation." After this hilarity, Rod McKuen sings the sad, maudlin tune "A Boy Named Charlie Brown."
The Dolly Show No. 116
After the sadness of "Charlie Brown" there's no where to go but deeper into the schmaltz, so Dolly Parton and Rod McKuen duet on the 70s feel-bad classic, "Feelings." In a vignette superimposed on screen, Rod recites a syrupy poem about "why do we always feel the need to run" while Dolly sings Morris Albert's timeless classic.
The Dolly Show No. 116
Surrounded by acolytes on a set constructed to look like a campfire, Rod McKuen sings "The World I Used To Know" as his fellow campers listen attentively and bond romantically to his deeply sensitive tale of running... always running.
The Dolly Show No. 116
On location in a park alongside a lily pad-covered stream, Dolly Parton throws a romantic picnic with a basset hound. As a uniformed butler tends to the saccharine-soaked scene, the dog drinks milk from a goblet while Dolly plays with his ears sings "My Funny Valentine" to him.
The Dolly Show No. 116
Dolly Parton tells Rod McKuen she wants to do a little bit of a song that describes how much she loves him, so they duet on a chorus of "All I Can Do."
The Dolly Show No. 116
Dolly and Rod McKuen duet on Rod's lachrymose new song "Every Loner Has to Go Alone" from his album "The Black Eagle." Break out the Maalox, it's gonna be a bumpy flight.
The Dolly Show No. 116
Dolly changes back into her stage clothes, but Rod's clothes go untouched: "Maybe I hadn't finished my traveling" is his sage reasoning. Then Dolly wraps the program by singing the standard closer "I Will Always Love You" as end credits roll.