It’s no secret Dolly Parton has had an incredibly accomplished career. The 74-year-old is a country music icon, famed star of 1980's 9 to 5 with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, businesswoman, philanthropist… and Buffy the Vampire Slayer producer. Wait, what?
That’s right. This week, out of nowhere, a bunch of fans shared their shock when they learned that Dolly Parton had a role in bringing the cult television show to the small screen through her production company Sandollar Entertainment. It was right in front of fans’ faces the whole time too, since the company’s logo shows up at the end of each Buffy episode. Check out this response:
Fans of the seven-season series were surprised but delighted to hear the news that wasn’t particularly new information or a “secret” per se. I guess Dolly Parton is so famous that she doesn’t need to mention the likes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to still have an influence on its birth. Here’s another fan reaction:
Well this is the best news I never expected ever but am fully in support of..
Another Twitter user reacted by saying she assumed Dolly was already part of everything good in the world “so this tracks.” Everyone processed the information differently, one fan thanked the singer with these words:
It’s a peculiar pairing that just doesn’t seem like it would happen, but here we are. Dolly Parton co-founded Sandollar with her friend and former business partner Sandy Gallin back in 1986. The company also produced films such as Father of the Bride and Fly Away Home before dipping its toes into the franchise with 1992’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie.
As you may know, the movie that inspired the television show was essentially a box office bomb. But it was Sandollar’s Gail Berman who had faith in the property and moved forward the concept of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television show. Now it doesn’t sound like Dolly Parton herself was directly involved in work on Buffy but, if she had not started up Sandollar, we might have certainly lived in a world without the series.
That’s not the only connection between Dolly and Buffy, either. Apparently, the vampire slayer shared the same birthday as the “Jolene” singer as well! Perhaps as a tribute to the producer? Buffy the Vampire Slayer just reached its 23rd anniversary and could be turning to Disney+ based on a recent hint by the platform.
The series that began in 1997 and ran until 2003 kickstarted the career of Joss Whedon, who would go on to direct massive blockbusters such as The Avengers and Justice League, along with actors Sarah Michelle Gellar, David Boreanaz and Alyson Hannigan.
Everyone say, "Thank you, Dolly!" Buffy the Vampire Slayer is currently available to stream in its entirety over on Hulu.
