Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas: release date, cast, plot and everything we know

Dolly Parton appears as herself in Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas

(Image credit: NBC)

Dolly Parton is returning to television with an all-new Christmas special on the heels of her induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas is a celebration of the holiday season filled with music and heartwarming stories.

Here’s everything we know about Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas.

Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas release date

Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas premieres Thursday, December 1, at 8 pm ET/PT on NBC, with an encore at the same time on December 21. It will also be available to stream the following day on Peacock.

There is no release date for UK viewers as of this writing.

Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas plot

Here’s the plot for Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas as provided by NBC:

"A modern-day movie musical about the making of a network TV special, Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas is the frenetic backstage story and delightful on-camera results of Dolly’s desire to uplift an exhausted world’s spirits by sharing the unique 'mountain magic' she has always found in and around Dollywood at Christmas. Throughout the movie’s production numbers and rehearsal chaos, Dolly finds herself taking a private journey into her past, guided by the mysterious appearances of her personal Three Wise Men. When it’s time for her big special to air live, a renewed and inspired Dolly goes rogue and shows the world that the real magic of Christmas lies in the hearts of the children we all once were, the realization that Christmas is about the people we share it with, and how her faith remains the common thread between Christmases past, present and future."

Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas cast

Parton will be joined by Tom Everett Scott (That Thing You Do!), Ana Gasteyer (Saturday Night Live) and Angel Parker (The Dropout).

The show will feature a number of guest stars including Willie Nelson, Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus, Jimmy Fallon, Zach Williams, Jimmie Allen, Mary Lane Haskell, Bryan Batt, Brenden Bradley, John Newberg, Rachel Parton George, Cassie Parton Griffith, Rhoda Griffis, Liam Rauhoff and Steve Summers.

This won’t be the last team-up of 2022 for Parton and Miley Cyrus. Deadline reports that the duo will ring in 2023 as co-hosts of the network’s annual Miley's New Year’s Eve Party special.

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Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas trailer

Here's a look at the trailer for Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas:

How to watch Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas

Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas airs on NBC on Thursday, December 1, and it will be available to stream the following day on Peacock. NBC is included in cable TV packages in the US, but if you’ve cut the cord you can use services like Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, Sling TV or Fubo TV to access the network.

Sarabeth joined the What to Watch team in May 2022. An avid TV and movie fan, her perennial favorites are The Walking Dead, American Horror Story, true crime documentaries on Netflix and anything from Passionflix. You’ve Got Mail, Ocean's Eleven and Signs are movies that she can watch all day long. She's also a huge baseball fan, and hockey is a new favorite.

When she's not working, Sarabeth hosts the My Nights Are Booked Podcast and a blog dedicated to books and interviews with authors and actors. She also published her first novel, Once Upon an Interview, in 2022.