‘Grace and Frankie’ Creators Tease Dolly Parton’s Much-Awaited Guest Spot
Preview
In their twilight years, odd couple best friends Frankie Bergstein and Grace Hanson (Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, above) have said goodbye to plenty: their marriages, subsequent relationships and close friends who passed away. Now, it’s viewers’ turn to bid adieu as the once-reluctant roommates — who moved in together and bonded when their respective husbands, law partners Robert (Martin Sheen) and Sol (Sam Waterston), left them for each other — sign off after seven seasons.
Happy endings aren’t guaranteed, but storylines will be wrapped up. “You want to leave everybody without too many question marks,” notes Grace and Frankie cocreator Marta Kauffman.
The hijinks we’ve come to expect from this crew stem from flighty Frankie and uptight Grace’s efforts to keep the hydraulic toilet seat lift they invented from going down the drain, plus a detour to Mexico for an illegal prescription drug run. But the series also addresses the realities of aging, as Robert deals with accelerating memory loss, much to the distress of husband Sol. “Our feeling was the characters are in their eighties; things happen and we can’t ignore that,” Kauffman says.
Also not to be overlooked: a guest appearance from Fonda and Tomlin’s 9 to 5 costar Dolly Parton! “She has a light inside her that always shines brightly,” teases cocreator Howard J. Morris, who’ll only describe her role as “surprising.” Somehow, we don’t see her as a home health aide!
Grace and Frankie, Season 7 Part 2 Premiere, Friday, April 29, Netflix
