OnlyOnAOL: Lily Tomlin spills on Dolly Parton & 'Grace and Frankie'

By: Donna Freydkin

You want timelessly hilarious, relevant and astute?

Watch the 1980 hit comedy "Nine to Five," starring Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda as three disgruntled office drones who band together to overthrow their sexist, bigoted boss.

Two of the three -- Tomlin and Fonda -- are headlining their own series, the Netflix hit "Grace and Frankie," about a mismatched pair of ladies who bond after their husbands announce they're gay and leave their spouses to be together. In season two, now streaming, Grace (Fonda) and Frankie (Tomlin) branch out, exploring friendship, sexuality and moneymaking via lube made of yams. Frankie even has a suitor.

"Now they're blooming. Frankie is going to find out who she is without (ex-husband) Sol. The last interaction she had with Sol was the final one. They slept together. She's trying to figure out who she is and what she wants. She's embarking on that," says Tomlin.

Tomlin has a bit in common with Frankie, a free-spirit who paints and journals and can't pass the driving test. "I'm very morose as a person," she jokes. "I'm playful. You have your body and your self to work with. I don't paint or anything like that."

On the show, she and Fonda bicker, but ultimately bond. In reality, they're longtime friends. "Jane and I have a lot of fun," says Tomlin.

Which brings us to Parton. Will she ever make a cameo appearance on the show?

"Of course everybody asks us. Jane and I are always lobbying for her. Marta (Kauffman), the show's creator, has it in her mind that once the three of us get back together, it's 'Nine to Five.' She's tried to kind of avoid that. We're shooting the third season right now and there's no sign of Dolly in the vista. Jane and I are ever hopeful. We love Dolly. We want her to be on the show," says Tomlin.

As for a possible character arc: "She could certainly play herself."