NOW ENTERTAINMENT Oct. 13 Month 00- -19, 00,2024 2023
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Reba McEntire returns to sitcom duty as the NBC series “Happy’s Place” premieres Friday, Oct. 18.
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Reba McEntire, Melissa Peterman and Belissa Escobedo star in “Happy’s Place”
Cover Story Reba McEntire’s comedy return: NBC opens ‘Happy’s Place’ By Jay Bobbin Reba McEntire is in a happy place, in more ways than one. The country music icon’s acting career has endured, confirmed in large part by the repeats of her first sitcom, “Reba,” that continue on Hallmark Channel, CMT and UPtv. She hits many of the same notes — along with one of the same co-stars — as she returns to comedy series work in “Happy’s Place,” which NBC debuts Friday, Oct. 18. Also continuing as a coach on Season 26 of NBC’s “The Voice,” McEntire now plays sassy, strong-willed Bobbie, who gets multiple surprises as “Happy’s Place” begins. She learns that she has inherited her late father’s restaurant (which gives the program its title), and also that she has a partner in running it: Isabella (played by Belissa Escobedo, “Blue Beetle,” 2023), the half-sister she didn’t know she had. Their business views differ frequently, and trying to
help moderate those are the site’s staff: bartender Gabby (fellow “Reba” alum Melissa Peterman), cook Emmett (Rex Linn, who also worked with McEntire on “Big Sky”), waiter Takoda (Tokala Black Elk, “Yellowstone”) and accountant Steve (Pablo Castelblanco, “Alaska Daily”). “We all said, ‘Yes, let’s go for it!’,” McEntire recalls of embracing “Happy’s Place” when the idea was presented initially. “I love the sitcom genre. Out of all the things I get to do, this is my favorite, because it’s camaraderie. It’s fun. You just get to go to work and play, and it’s creative. It’s very comforting to me. I absolutely love it, and to get to work with these folks? That’s icing on the cake.” A three-time Grammy winner and Kennedy Center Honors recipient, McEntire has brought along several former “Reba” executive producers — Kevin Abbott, Mindy Schultheis and Michael Hanel — as she shares that title with them
on “Happy’s Place.” Abbott’s wife, Julie, is billed similarly, having come up with the show’s concept. Executive producer Kevin Abbott, who is doing much of the writing for “Happy’s Place,” is comfortable in reteaming with McEntire. “I’ve worked with a lot of people,” he says, “and I have never worked with anybody who has such immense talent in so many areas and yet still keeps a spirit of humility and graciousness and gratitude [that] makes coming to work with her just a joy. It’s very easy for me to write for her, for whatever reason. I sync up very well with her attitudes and the way she looks at life.” The same goes for co-star Peterman, who has kept a link to McEntire via the Lifetime movie “The Hammer” (2023) and the recurring roles they both had on CBS’s “Young Sheldon.” Also the host of the syndicated game show “Person, Place or Thing,” Peterman confirms of McEntire:
“We’ve never really left each other. [‘Reba’] ended, and we’ve been friends ever since. We’ve done other things together. I got to go on tour with her and open the show and do stand-up, and we vacation together. We hang out, and we just were waiting for another project so we could actually go to work together again.” Linn is McEntire’s significant other off-camera, so he has multiple reasons to be glad to act opposite her again. He notes that “The Hammer” launched their professional collaborations: “Reba was 110% behind getting me to be a part of it, so that was wonderful. Then, ‘Big Sky’ came along, and she was talking to the producers on Zoom about her character. I just walked back in the background a couple of times — out of focus, which always happens — and then pretty soon, Reba wondered if her character had a husband. Anyway, that happened, too. And now I’m really glad to be a part of this.”
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