One of the things I love most about Dolly Parton, and there’s a lot of them, is her uncanny ability to make fun of herself.
And considering her long and extremely successful career in show business, that’s probably helped her out more than anything else.
She has the most incredible sense of humor, and pretty much always beats anyone to a punchline when it comes to making fun of her appearance, and often, a certain body part in particular.
Back in 1989, Dolly was the host and musical guest of Saturday Night Live, and of course, wasted no time getting in on the joke that, yes, she has huge boobs.
The monologue itself was largely free of any specific jokes, with the main gag being that the camera kept zooming in to focus on only her chest, leaving her face and the rest of her body out of the shot.
She quipped at the beginning that she had people from Dollywood brought up to New York City for the taping, going on to ask the audience if they liked her outfit with a sequin peacock embroidered on the top for NBC:
“I think it’s only fair for you folks in the audience to know I had about 12 buses of folks shipped down from Dollywood just so I’d get a good reception. Now, thank you. You did good, you did good.
Well how do you like my outfit? You recognize it don’t you? This is the NBC peacock. That’s because Lorne Michaels told me to wear this because he wanted me to shake my tail feather for you. And I’m gonna do it, too.”
She continued, saying how hard working everybody that worked there was, and how much more artistic things are in the Big Apple, as the camera panned closer to her chest:
“You know, it’s amazing to me how hard these people work. I mean they have put this thing together in just one week.
I mean, Monday they start coming up with ideas, and Tuesday they start to write ’em. Then Wednesday you’re rehearsing, and before you know it, it’s Saturday and it’s time to do the show!
But I’ve done a lot of television in Hollywood and I’ve done a lot of TV in Nashville, but I have to honestly say, things are a lot different here in New York. Really. I mean, everything is just so artistic here.”
They also have a camera guy suspended from the ceiling, and Dolly admires how willing they are to try a new camera angle, and of course, the shot is staring straight down her chest.
I mean, they definitely took the low-hanging fruit in terms of creative jokes (pun very much intended), so to speak, and it’s not the most original skit in the world, but I have to say, Dolly makes it a whole lot funnier than anybody else could.
SNL should do themselves (and all of us) a huge favor and get her back on again ASAP… it would probably do wonders for their ratings, too:
