Happy’s Place has enjoyed keeping it in the TV family by casting numerous stars from Reba McEntire‘s past sitcom Reba.
Reba, which aired from 2001 to 2007, starred McEntire, Melissa Peterman, Christopher Rich, JoAnna Garcia Swisher and Steve Howey. Nearly two decades later, McEntire and Peterman reunited with former Reba executive producer Kevin Abbott on Happy’s Place.
“We are new characters. It’s a new time and it’s different. But those core things that you loved about it are there. It does feel really different [though],” Peterman exclusively told Us Weekly in October 2024. “As far as trying to harness the things that [Reba fans] love — like the chemistry that we have — that is there no matter what. We’re just new characters. And Barbra Jean [from Reba] was forced on Reba because she married her ex-husband. Gabby is there because she’s her friend.”
Peterman applauded Happy’s Place for finding a way to “keep the magic” without copying the same sitcom structure.
“The other big difference is real life family and the reality of blended families,” she noted. “Happy’s Place is all about finding family at work, and Belissa [Escobedo’s] character is also finding a family that she didn’t know existed and figuring that out. You’ll feel that same warm feeling but you’re gonna it’s new.”
Her costar Howey felt the same way when he joined for a potential multi-episode arc. “Kevin had this idea for this character ahead of time. And then he was like, ‘What if Howey would do it? That would be really great to get a reunion going.’ I fit the character description, so he gave me a call,” Howey recalled to Us two months later. “The planets just aligned on this one.”
He continued: “Now after 20 some years, I can bring different experiences to the characters that I play. Also the character relationships — because Happy’s Place is a new thing — are different. Yes, it’s Reba and Melissa, but the characters are different. Bobbie is a lot different than Reba. Gabby is a lot different than Barbara Jean, and Danny’s obviously different.”
Keep scrolling to see which Reba alums have reunited on Happy’s Place so far: