The 2 "Amazing" Dishes Reba McEntire Is Cooking for Melissa Peterman Right Now
Happy's Place Season 1 ends on Friday, March 21, with Season 2 already green-lit!
Melissa Peterman and Reba McEntire have maintained a close friendship through their different eras. From their time on the beloved sitcom Reba as unlikely close friends to their run on NBC's new sitcom Happy’s Place, the comedic powerhouses have shared delicious meals, seen countless new hairstyles on each other, and so much more.
Happy's Place creator Kevin Abbott revealed to NBC Insider when his wife shared the pitch for the NBC comedy to him, McEntire instantly suggested bringing on Peterman. In exclusive interviews, Abbott and Peterman dove into the origin story of the new characters, what it’s like to work with McEntire, and what’s in store for the next season.
How Reba McEntire and Melissa Peterman ended up on Happy’s Place instead of a Reba reboot
Series showrunner Kevin Abbott previously worked with Peterman and McEntire on their original sitcom together. He shared there were plans for a reboot which “ultimately didn’t pan out,” to their disappointment. However, when the idea for Happy’s Place was pitched to him, he went back to McEntire, who bought into the concept right away and wanted Peterman on board.
“We get to put [McEntire] in different situations," Abbott said. "Obviously, you want to keep the essence of who Reba is and the essence of who Melissa is, but just by changing circumstances, you bring out different aspects of their character and their personalities.”
Working with McEntire again has been “marvelous” for Abbott. A new dynamic he loves to play with on Happy’s Place is giving McEntire romantic storylines.
“In the old Reba show, the one kind of story I could never tell was love interest stories, it just didn’t work out,” Abbott said. “They don’t work for me, still painful for me to watch, so I really kind of obviously wanted to do a love interest and thought, 'Well maybe Rex can pull this off.'”
Rex Linn, who plays short-order cook and Bobbie’s love interest Emmett, is McEntire’s boyfriend off screen as well.
“Suddenly, this whole new world’s opened up and that’s exciting for me,” Abbott said. “We did a lot of parenting stories in the original Reba, and this is not parenting stories. These are adult stories about people at different stages in their life, and I find that really interesting.”
Melissa Peterman reveals Reba McEntire’s delicious cooking specialty and “really fun” aspect of filming Happy’s Place
Peterman knows a thing or two about working on a comedic set as well as working with her longtime friend McEntire.
“Having Rex as her boyfriend has upped her cooking game quite a bit,” Peterman said. “When they invite you over, you say yes because it’s great.”
The couple does a chili cook-off every year in Nashville, according to Peterman, which she doesn’t think Rex has won yet: “It’s a bone of contention.”
McEntire's chili recipe, which she got from a good friend of hers, includes chicken with olives, Peterman revealed. McEntire has also whipped up a banana pudding with vanilla wafers and peanut butter, which Peterman called “amazing.”
The perks of being surrounded by good chefs isn’t the only heartwarming aspect for the cast on set.
“I’ve been different ages on sets before… I love that I kinda get to watch Pablo and Belissa, who are so young,” Peterman shared. “They’ve worked before, clearly. They’re wonderful actors, but on a multi-cam, I love watching them have fun and figure it out.”
This time around, the seasoned sitcom star is happy she can help foster a collaborative set.
“It’s fun to be the one that can maybe answer some questions or try stuff out and encourage them to say, 'It's OK to ask a question,'” Peterman said.
What to expect from Season 2 of Happy’s Place
With the news of Happy’s Place getting another season, Peterman doesn’t “think anyone’s stopped smiling.”
“It’s so rare to have a job sort of completing and then know you get to do it again,” Peterman said. “I can count on one hand when that’s happened to me in my long, long life, so it’s exhilarating. I think we miss each other already.”
The cast can’t wait to get back to work on the new season, Peterman shared.
“Now that the audience is with us, Season 2 really opens it up for everybody,” Peterman said. “We can start meeting family members, start opening up maybe—some more guest starts, so I think there’s a real beauty in getting an opportunity to do Season 2. I’m excited for it.”
One character Peterman is already fantasy casting is Gabby’s mom.
“She seems to be very formidable, interesting… wonderful woman in a way,” Peterman said about what we’ve learned so far about the unseen character. “I want Jean Smart. I think that I’m just throwing it out there. I think that would be a dream come true. I mean, she’s quite busy killing it on Hacks and winning every award, which she deserves, but that would be a dream guest star.”
Watch the Season 1 finale of Happy’s Place on Friday March 21 at 8/7c on NBC and stream the next day on Peacock.
