The creator of 'Happy's Place' describes how a 'Reba' reboot became NBC's new sitcom

A little more than 15 years after Reba ended its six-season run, Happy's Place creator Kevin Abbott reunited with the sitcom team to explore a possible reboot of the Reba series.

“I had actually come up with where the characters were, where their lives were at (and) what the dynamic would be was some new characters,” Abbott told TheWrap, noting that executives were initially “very interested” in the idea were . However, he added that as time passed and the industry continued to consolidate, the relaunch had not progressed “for various financial and legal reasons,” Abbott said.

“I spent six months working on it and Reba (McEntire) said, 'Well, let's just do another one…we'll do something different.' I thought, 'I don't have another one in my back pocket,'” Abbott recalls. “So I called my wife (Julie Abbott) to complain because I'm a real complainer and she consoled me, hung up and called me back after five minutes like I said, 'I have an idea.' , that hurt. That’s this idea.”

This idea eventually served as the basis for “Happy's Place,” in which McEntire plays the role of Bobbie, who inherits her father's tavern and is less than thrilled when she finds out she has a new business partner, her 20-something half-sister who she didn't even know she had. named Isabella (Belissa Escobedo).

Abbott recalled that McEntire loved the idea, so he began working on the pitch for the new show with Julie Abbott and “Reba” EPs Michael Hanel and Mindy Schultheis.

“We had both ABC and NBC interested in it… and we chose NBC, which we love. ABC is great, but we feel very comfortable with NBC,” Abbott said. “And then the strike came – we wrapped up the deals literally a week before the strike – we just had to wait and fear that something bad was going to happen while (the strike) was going on, but NBC was really excited after that and “We did we got involved in it.”

When Bobbie and Isabella first meet as half-siblings and business partners, their generational difference sets the tone for two different approaches to the workplace, as Isabella is an advocate for Generation Z's work-life balance approach, while Bobbie is a proponent of it is “I’m not paying you to live a life; I’ll pay you for the work.”

The generational difference – along with other hurdles presented to Bobbie – were all designed to challenge Bobbie, with Abbott saying: “When you're my age and Reba's age, we tend to fall into our patterns and get more comfortable .” (with) the way we think we're going to do things, and we wanted her to be put in a situation where she was forced to step out of our comfort zone.”

Escobedo — who has appeared in “Blue Beetle,” “Hocus Pocus 2” and “The Baker and the Beauty” — immediately stood out at Abbott's auditions, and after a chemistry test with McEntire, it was clear she was right for the role . “They have a natural quality,” Abbott said. “They just flow together.”

With “Reba” star Melissa Peterman on board for the potential reboot, Abbott conceived a new role for Peterman as Gabby, the tavern's longtime bartender who wishes she were Bobbie's sister. After playing the “other woman” as Barbra Jean on “Reba,” Abbott noted that the new role “eliminates certain dynamics that worked on the old show,” saying, “I feel a lot freer when I ( this) doesn’t have to serve the new show.”

“We still had a few stories left to tell (on 'Reba' when we got canceled), but as a writer I've been doing this for five years … and you don't want to keep writing the same thing,” Abbott said. “Having this experience – it’s really wonderful. It feels very open… which is really liberating.”

Still, Abbott is looking forward to welcoming more “Reba” alumni, especially after breaking the news that the reboot isn't moving forward. “Because I suggested the reboot to all of them, they’re okay with it,” Abbott said of “Reba” alum Steve Howey and JoAnna Garcia Swisher. “We've already started sharing some ideas about it just because they're both great actors… You could probably look forward to seeing one or both of them at some point.”

“Happy’s Place” airs Fridays at 8:00 pm ET/PT and streams the next day on Peacock.

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