A music legend reflects on her half century as a member of Nashville’s musical pantheon on “Dolly Parton: 50 Years at the Grand Ole Opry” (9 p.m., NBC). Rare among celebrities, Parton is as likely to remind viewers that her history with the Ryman Auditorium actually stretches back 60 years. She performed there as a 13-year-old, introduced by Johnny Cash, no less.
Look for the “9-to-5” star to perform that song as well as her biggest hits, including “Jolene” and “Islands in the Stream,” along with guest stars and fellow musicians Dierks Bentley, Emmylou Harris, Chris Janson, Toby Keith, Lady Antebellum, Margo Price, Hank Williams Jr. and others.
Just last Friday, Parton launched a new series on Netflix called “Heartstrings,” an eight-episode anthology, each featuring a different cast, and all based on the stories found in her songs.
Parton is a bundle of paradoxes, a wonder of contradictions. She remains beloved because she’s never had to pretend to be genuine. She plays the character of Dolly Parton, and seems to enjoy the rhinestone role of a lifetime. As she has long joked, it takes a lot of money to get her to look so cheap.
All the same, people can’t seem to get enough of her character and her story. If Disney theme parks now offer a chance to spend time with fairy-tale characters and corporate mascots, Dollywood was founded as Parton’s investment in her home region, a corner of Eastern Tennessee where jobs were scarce and the influx of tourists might help.
In its earliest days, Disneyland was associated with founder Walt Disney’s celebration of small-town America and the lure of its Main Streets. Parton has put a similar personal stamp on her celebration of country ways and family gatherings. Both Disney and Parton knew that it wasn’t enough to invite people to a waterslide and feed them cotton candy. You had to tell a story and create a myth.
The story of Disney’s plans for his theme parks and the creators behind his biggest attractions can be seen in the series “The Imagineering Story,” now streaming on Disney Plus.
— “College Behind Bars” (9 p.m., PBS, TV-14, check local listings) concludes as the student/prisoners end their sentences and wonder how their education has changed them.
— “Lindsey Vonn: The Final Season” (10 p.m., HBO, TV-14) follows the skier and Olympian as she completes her last competitions. “Vonn” also offers footage from her childhood on the slopes to Olympic glory and her emergence as the American face of the sport.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— Nine move forward on “The Voice” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).
— Owners of a quaint local resort fight a takeover bid from a giant hotel chain in the 2019 romance “Check Inn to Christmas” (8 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
— An argument leads to a missing persons case on “FBI” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— A phony alibi lights a fire under Pride on “NCIS: New Orleans” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
— The FBI muddies the waters on “Emergence” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
— Tara reaches a low point on “Treadstone” (10 p.m., USA, TV-MA).
CULT CHOICE
— An esteemed career as the most respected actress of Hollywood’s Golden Age could not save an aging Bette Davis from being cast in ghoulish camp like the 1962 shocker “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” (8 p.m., TCM, TV-PG) and “Dead Ringer” (10:30 p.m., TV-14), released in 1964, starring Davis as her own homicidal twin!
SERIES NOTES
An officer’s murder is live-streamed on social media on “NCIS” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-14) … The ER floods with patients on “The Resident” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … Becky works the graveyard shift on “The Conners” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … Barry hallucinates on “The Flash” (8 p.m., CW, TV-PG) … Sibling rivalry on “Bless This Mess” (8:30 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
Cookie thinks she’s found the real deal on “Empire” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14) … The kids’ choices confuse Paul on “mixed-ish” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … Life or death on “Arrow” (9 p.m., CW, TV-14) … Junior’s career choices prove surprising on “black-ish” (9:30 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
“Conan” (11 p.m., TBS, r) visits Japan … Paul Rudd and Adrienne Warren are booked on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Sen. Bernie Sanders, Katherine Langford and Gary Vaynerchuk on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Oscar Isaac, Casey Wilson and Jon Pardi visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC) … Kathy Bates and Billy Eichner appear on “The Late Late Show With James Corden” (12:35 a.m., CBS).
