When Reba McEntire first landed the lead role in the primetime sitcom Reba in 2001, she had no idea what to expect. Despite moving from The WB to The CW, her first sitcom was a huge hit, running for six seasons and gifting the masses with an unforgettable theme song.
Despite being busy with her music career, starring on The Voice , saving small towns and more, McEntire is set to return to sitcoms after 17 years with NBC’s Happy’s Place . The country veteran is set to play Bobbi, the fiery owner of the bar left behind by her beloved late father, Happy.
However, she soon has to adjust to a new dynamic when she learns of a half-sister, Isabella (Belissa Escobedo), who has been given half of the bar in Happy’s will. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, McEntire spoke about her “very down-to-earth, no nonsense” character.
“She was married, but her husband passed away. She has a daughter who’s deployed with the military, so she’s pretty much alone and her life is spent at the bar,” the country singer said. Surrounding Bobbi will be a number of celebrity staffers – Melissa Peterman as clingy bartender Gabby, Pablo Castelblanco as finicky accountant Steve, McEntire’s real-life boyfriend Rex Linn as grumpy cook Emmett, and many others.
During the interview, the I’m a Survivor singer credited her show Reba for teaching her everything she knows about sitcoms. “Oh my God, I learned everything from (Reba), how to rehearse, how to flow with things,” she said.
McEntire is definitely a pro when it comes to understanding sitcoms, good enough to give her new boyfriend a few tips. “This is Rex’s first sitcom and that’s kind of what I told him. I said, ‘Don’t memorize everything from the first draft because they’ll change it and they do it every day to make it better,'” she said. Instead, she told him to work on blocking and other technical things, at least in the early episodes. That’s what a supportive girlfriend is like!
Happy’s Place premieres Friday, October 18 at 8pm ET/PT on NBC.
