After hours with the '9 to 5' gang

Years after being fired for refusing to sleep with her boss, Jane Fonda -- empathizing with harassed women everywhere -- developed a popular 1980 film called 9 to 5, about sexism in the workplace.

The comedy arrives on DVD Tuesday (Fox, $20) in what is being marketed as the "Sexist, Egotistical, Lying, Hypocritical Bigot Edition," with commentary from stars Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton.

Calling from her Atlanta home before catching a plane to L.A., thrice-married Fonda, 68, chuckles when asked whether she has experienced sexism since making the film. "You've got to be kidding," she says, aghast. Sexism, she says, is something she has experienced in "my marriages. Maybe that's why I'm not married anymore."

Even so, Fonda is careful to differentiate her last ex, corporate mogul Ted Turner, from 9 to 5's similarly tough, mustached boss, Franklin Hart (Dabney Coleman).

"Mr. Hart was a terrible character," says Fonda, while her relationship with Turner was "much more subtle. Sexism can be almost invisible."

"Jane was married to very strong, aggressive men," reminds Tomlin, 66, calling in from the L.A. set of The West Wing series finale. "(In the '70s and '80s), there was all that machismo."

At 60, Parton says she still welcomes the occasional whistle from construction workers on the street. "I take all that as a compliment," Parton says from her Beverly Hills home, where she's whipping up macaroni and cheese. "And if someone gets vulgar, I can put them in their place, but still do it in a fun way."

Mishearing a question about unwanted sexist encounters, Parton says, "I've only had sexual encounters that I've wanted. But not as many as I'd like," then laughs when the question is clarified.

After all, Parton went right from 9 to 5 to shooting The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, "and I made a better whore than I did a secretary."

Parton, who says she grew up in a family of sexist men, often jokes about her rarely seen real-life husband, Carl Dean, but she turns uncharacteristically sentimental when asked if he is a sexist. "In all seriousness, I have a very fine husband -- a true gentleman who respects women," says Parton.

"I've met Carl, and I couldn't agree more," Fonda echoes.

Dean, Parton says, has encouraged her work on a Broadway musical version of 9 to 5, for which she has already written several songs for an anticipated fall 2007 opening. "It's still set in the '80s, and we gave Violet a boyfriend," Parton says. Her favorite new song: The One I Love, in which the three women wax eloquent about their loved ones.

Parton and Dean will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary May 30 with an annual ritual: They take a trip to Ringgold, Ga., where they got married. "We drive our RV through a drive-through and load up on food," Parton says. "Then we visit a park and get our picture taken on the steps outside the little Baptist church where we said our 'I do's.'"

Tomlin and producer Jane Wagner have been a couple for 35 years, but with no plans to marry. "I don't know that we ever will," she says. "(Coordinating) our wardrobe is complicated enough."

Jokes aside, Tomlin believes it is probably easier for a woman to be in a relationship with another woman. "Especially a woman of consciousness," she says. "And if you are married to a man with any consciousness, I think that would probably be all right, too."

As for Fonda, she remains single and says, "I'm enjoying the way I am, but if I met someone I liked, I would love to date."

And she, too, would welcome a whistle on the street. "I should be so lucky. At a certain age, you become invisible, so a whistle would be great. And I'd whistle right back."

"Yeah," Tomlin adds. "If I looked as good as Jane, I would, too!"

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