It’s been almost 20 years since Reba got here to an finish — however the place would the characters be now?
Melissa Peterman completely advised Us Weekly her theories on the place every individual — and couple — from the sitcom could be at this time.
“I might like to see the place all of them are actually. I actually would. I feel it will be actually fascinating to see the place they’re all at now. I feel everybody’s nonetheless collectively,” Peterman, 53, shared. “Steve [Howey] and I, we’ve talked about it. Like, what would occur [to the characters]?”
Peterman began along with her character Barbra Jean and onscreen husband Brock (performed by Christopher Wealthy).
“I feel Barbra Jean and Brock would nonetheless be collectively. Van and Cheyenne could be. I feel Reba could be both in a extremely dedicated relationship or married,” she mirrored. “I truthfully suppose Reba ought to completely have met the love of her life in her life.”
The actress then walked again one in all her solutions, saying, “Possibly Brock and Barbra Jean are struggling. However [Reba and Barbra Jean] would undoubtedly be finest pals. Or not less than Barbra Jean would inform everybody that they have been finest pals.”
Reba, which aired from 2001 to 2007, adopted “a single mother who labored too arduous, who liked her youngsters and by no means stopped” a.ok.a Reba performed by Reba McEntire. After her husband, Brock, left her for his dental hygienist, Barbra Jean, Reba tried to start out recent whereas elevating her three youngsters — together with her pregnant teen daughter (JoAnna Garcia Swisher) and her boyfriend (Howey). Reba and Barbra Jean fashioned a bond all through the seasons whereas finally turned one in all our favourite TV friendships.
“I feel humorous is humorous perpetually. I feel if there’s nice writing and characters that individuals need to spend time with, then these reveals proceed [even after they end],” Peterman advised Us about Reba’s longevity. “We’ve been so fortunate in syndication and with Netflix and that impact. So individuals have fallen in love with these characters [all over again]. Finally, I feel it was nice writing, forged chemistry and characters you wished to spend time with.”
The sitcom additionally paved the way in which for Peterman and McEntire, 69, to construct a lifelong friendship. After Reba, McEntire and Peterman reunited on CMT’s Working Class, Freeform’s Child Daddy and Lifetime’s The Hammer earlier than becoming a member of NBC’s Comfortable’s Place. (Followers may need additionally seen that McEntire and Peterman have been each recurring forged members on CBS’ Younger Sheldon however by no means acted alongside one another.)
“Sharing the display with Reba is very easy. You may by no means clarify why it occurs, however we’ve this chemistry and comedic chemistry the place I simply belief her. She is aware of if I toss stuff up, she’s gonna hit it again. It’s so straightforward that approach,” Peterman advised Us. “[When it comes to working together], Reba desires it to work for everyone. She at all times walked in wanting it to really feel collaborative like an ensemble.”
Peterman and McEntire are actually set to star on a brand new present: Comfortable’s Place. The NBC sitcom, which reunites McEntire and Peterman greater than 17 years after Reba ended its run on The WB, follows Bobbie (McEntire) as she inherits her father’s restaurant and discovers a brand new enterprise accomplice within the long-lost half-sister (Belissa Escobedo) she didn’t know she had. Peterman performs a bartender on the restaurant whereas McEntire’s boyfriend, Rex Linn, additionally seems as tavern prepare dinner Emmett.
Along with McEntire and Peterman, Comfortable’s Place forged Howey in an upcoming function — and there could also be extra the place that got here from.
“We’re hopeful that it’s going to work for everybody and so they can do it. We’d find it irresistible. And having Steve, it was a lot enjoyable and he’s one other person who we’ve continued to nonetheless be in one another’s lives,” Peterman famous. “We’ve got a historical past. We shared one thing that not everybody did. That was each of our first kind of massive factor. We simply have recognized one another perpetually. It was a lot enjoyable, and no person makes me snicker more durable than Steve Howey.”
Comfortable’s Place may need some similarities to Reba however, finally, it’s its personal present.
“We’re new characters. It’s a brand new time and it’s completely different. However these core issues that you simply liked about it are there. It does really feel actually completely different [though],” Peterman defined. “And what I’m loving is the interplay with the brand new forged members together with Pablo [Castelblanco], Tokala [Black Elk] and Belissa.”
She added: “The opposite massive distinction is actual life household and the fact of blended households. Comfortable’s Place is all about discovering household at work, and Belissa’s character can also be discovering a household that she didn’t know existed and figuring that out. You’ll really feel that very same heat feeling, however you’re gonna [know] it’s new.”
Comfortable’s Place airs on NBC Fridays at 8 p.m. ET.