Happy’s Place has found a way to cast every main cast member from Reba, so are they aiming for the guest stars next?
“I think those are the next steps,” Melissa Peterman exclusively told Us Weekly about the hit NBC series. “I would love to get all of them in. It’s a bar so people come and go. That could be very fun.”
Peterman, 54, who plays Gabby, loved the idea of more familiar faces on the show.
“I love the idea of getting those big, iconic guest stars. We had Dolly [Parton], we had James Denton and Patrick Fabian,” she continued. “We’ve had so many great guest stars on the show. That would be really fun. Plus Kelly Clarkson, please. That would be such a fun list to go down.”
Reba, which aired from 2001 to 2007, starred Reba McEntire, Peterman, Christopher Rich, JoAnna Garcia Swisher and Steve Howey. The show followed a single mom who had to start over after her husband left her for another woman. Reba (McEntire) attempted to start fresh while raising three kids — including her pregnant teen daughter (Garcia Swisher) and her boyfriend (Howey).
Nearly two decades later, McEntire, 70, and Peterman reunited with former Reba executive producer Kevin Abbott on Happy’s Place. This allowed them to cast some familiar faces in their new sitcom, which centers around Bobbie (McEntire) as she inherits her father’s restaurant and discovers a new business partner in the long-lost half-sister (Belissa Escobedo).
Season 1 introduced Us to Peterman’s character Gabby, who is a bartender on Happy’s Place after the actress previously played Barbra Jean on Reba. Howey, 48, meanwhile, rose to stardom playing Van on Reba before making a guest appearance on Happy’s Place as Gabby’s rich friend. Rich, 72, originally played Brock on Reba and then crossed paths with McEntire and Peterman while playing a tattoo artist on Happy’s Place.
Swisher, 46, meanwhile, is making an appearance in season 2. “JoAnna was a dream to work with. She plays an influencer and Gabby wants to know all about being an influencer so she’s going to help with the commercial for the tavern because I can’t cut it,” McEntire teased to Us. “It’s just hysterical. That was one of the episodes that was totally fun.”
While teasing the rest of the season, McEntire and Escobedo, 27, shared how they were excited for viewers to see how much Happy’s Place has evolved.
“It is a great place to be. We know our audience, we know each other better and we’ve gelled. We didn’t have that big of a break between the first season ending and second season beginning so we just fell right back into it,” McEntire teased. “We’re bonding a lot more. All six of us are very confident and very comfortable with each other — to a point that when we do have a guest cast, we feel very comfortable sharing the stage.”
Escobedo said the connection can be felt on the show.
“As we get more comfortable and more bonded, we see it in the characters as well,” she added. “Because we’re getting comfortable with our own characters and so each personality gets a little deeper. You get more into that person.”
She continued: “That’s what I’m so excited for everyone to see is how much the relationship between everyone has progressed into even more of an ensemble. It’s just so funny.”
McEntire teased to Us that the stories in season 2 are even bigger and better, adding, “We’ve progressed and we’ve grown together. We’re a tight knit family — although [Belissa and I] are the only ones that are blood related on the show. But it feels like we’re kids that have been adopted into one big family called Happy’s Place.”
Happy’s Place airs on NBC Fridays at 8 p.m. ET before streaming the next day on Peacock.
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