Reba McEntire to Reunite with Her Reba Costar Melissa Peterman in New Sitcom: We’re ‘Going to Have Some Fun’

Peterman is “thrilled” she gets to reunite with former costar Reba McEntire on the upcoming NBC sitcom

Reba McEntire and Melissa Peterman at Celebrity Fight Night Italy benefiting The Andrea Bocelli Foundation and the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center held at the Gran Guardia Palace and Arena di Verona on September 8, 2018. Photo:J Leibson/Radarpics/Shutterstock

Reba McEntire is joining forces with her former Reba costar Melissa Peterman for her upcoming sitcom.

Peterman, 52, expressed her excitement for the reunion with the country superstar on Instagram Monday, sharing, “This is why I have been smiling ALL the time. I am thrilled to share the news that I get another chance to work with my friends. Buckle up @reba We are going to have some fun!”

The NBC sitcom will follow Bobbie (McEntire) as she inherits her father’s restaurant and is less than thrilled to discover that she has a new business partner in the half-sister (Belissa Escobedo) she never knew she had, according to a release from the network.

Reba McEntire and Melissa Peterman on “Reba”.Fox Television/Courtesy Everett Collection

Peterman will star as Gabby, the bartender at the establishment who is “a bit needy and dramatic” and would have loved to have been Bobbie’s sister, per the release.

Escobedo also celebrated the casting news on social media, writing, “😳 I’ve been waiting to share this!!!! REBA!!! This cast!!! This script!!! No amount of exclamation marks can do it justice. I am so immensely grateful. The last two years have been an uphill battle (thank you Miley) so this is so very welcomed and appreciated. AHHHH!!!!!!!!”

Escobedo plays Isabella, Bobbie’s half-sister who is “an enthusiastic 20-something, has studied psychology and loves to analyze people.” According to the release, “she is thrilled to start working at the tavern and is full of ‘great’ ideas about how to bring it to life.”

Belissa Escobedo.Dana Patrick

In January, NBCUniversal announced that McEntire, 68, will helm an untitled pilot for a multi-camera sitcom, more than a decade after her last leading role on a series.

In addition to starring on the sitcom, McEntire will executive produce the series alongside her former Reba EPs Kevin Abbott, Michael Hanel and Mindy Schultheis. Julie Abbott will also executive produce the sitcom.

Over 20 years ago, the “I’m a Survivor” artist took on the role of a middle-aged Texan and single mom coming to terms with the recent end of her marriage following her husband’s infidelity and her daughter’s teen pregnancy in Reba. The Emmy-nominated sitcom ran for six seasons on The WB, and later The CW, from 2001 to 2007.

Steve Howey, Melissa Peterman, Reba McEntire, Joanna Garcia, Mitch Holeman, Christopher Rich and Scarlett Pomers from the cast of “Reba” attend a celebration of the show’s 100th episode December 12, 2005 in Culver City, California. Marsaili McGrath/Getty

In 2012, she starred in ABC’s Malibu Country as a woman scorned by her country music star husband. However, the sitcom was short-lived and concluded after one season.

More recently, Peterman and McEntire work together on McEntire’s Lifetime movie The Hammer, which chronicles an attorney (McEntire) who is appointed as a judge for Nevada’s 5th district after the former judge’s death.

McEntire has been vocal about her hopes for a Reba reboot in the years following the original series. During a July 2022 appearance on The Bobby Bones Show, the actress opened up about her efforts to put together a new series.

“We’ve really been trying hard to do a reboot of the Reba show,” she shared at the time. “I really want to work with the people that I got to work with during that six and a half years.”

“It was fun, the cast the crew everybody we got to work with and play with, they were wonderful people,” she added. “We wanted to get back together like a reunion and have fun, so hopefully that will happen one day.”

Reba is streaming in full on Hulu. No premiere date has been announced for the upcoming NBC sitcom.