Dolly Parton’s New Show Has a Lansing Connection

Dolly Parton's Heartstrings, a new series set to premiere on Netflix on November 22nd, has a local connection. East Lansing native Timothy Busfield, star of Broadway, movies and the TV shows thirtysomething and West Wing, will direct one episode and act in another.

The series will be eight episodes, each based on a Dolly Parton song. Busfield directed the episode based on the song, If I Had Wings. He also plays one of the characters on an episode called Sugar Hill.

At the Dollywood press conference for the show, Dolly said she didn't want the shows to only be based on just her hit songs. Yes, Jolene was the inspiration for one of the episodes, but some of the other songs you may have never heard. I'm a big fan of Sugar Hill  and one of my other favorites, These Old Bones (both are on the Halos and Horns album), was used for another episode.

By the way, Busfield and his wife Melissa Gilbert and Michigan's own Jeff Daniels have formed a production company called Grand River Productions. According to the Detroit Free Press, their first film, starring Daniels, is called Guest Artist.