Completely happy’s Place — and Rex Linn — are finally giving Reba McEntire the prospect to have a sitcom romance after multiple failed attempts on her OG Reba series.
In the course of the season finale on Friday, March 21, Isabella (Belissa Escobedo) attempts to establish her half-sister, Bobbie (McEntire), with their coworker Emmett (Linn). The one problem is that each Bobbie and Emmett are apprehensive about ruining their decades-long friend so that they pump the breaks. Completely happy’s Place ends by hinting that Bobbie and Emmett are in it for the long haul, which isn’t what executive producer Kevin Abbott originally had in mind.
“I actually had a special place I used to be going to wind up with in the primary season. It involved that relationship,” he exclusively teased to Us Weekly. “But I couldn’t because we wish to track these out after which construct them in order that once we get there, it’s a surprise. It seems obvious the tracks have been laid because we had the 13 episodes and we weren’t told whether or not we were going to get picked up for more.”
Completely happy’s Place ultimately received an extra four-episode order however the writers’ room decided to not rush the romance, with Abbott adding, “I didn’t have time to construct where I wanted to construct to. But I wanted to begin that relationship since the one thing I never got to do on the old Reba show was relationships.”
Before working with McEntire, 69, on Completely happy’s Place, the duo collaborated on Reba, which ran from 2001 to 2007. Abbott used what did — and didn’t — work on Reba when reuniting with McEntire on NBC’s latest hit sitcom about coworkers at a tavern.
Reba McEntire and Christopher Wealthy in sitcom “REBA.” Danny Feld / © Fox Television / Courtesy Everett Collection
“For whatever reason, Reba can do almost anything. The one story we couldn’t tell on the unique show was relationships. There have been love interests however the chemistry never worked,” he recalled. “We tried a pair different times and people were horrible episodes — from my standpoint. They were all the time very tough episodes for me because they only didn’t work well.”
Completely happy’s Place didn’t have that issue because McEntire was paired off with Linn, 68, who was already her real-life boyfriend.
Reba McEntire and Rex Linn first crossed paths 30 years before they began dating. McEntire met the actor while shooting 1991’s The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw but didn’t pursue a romance until January 2020. “We’ve kept involved with one another over time, and we each know the identical people, so […]
“She’s with Rex now and we thought, ‘If it’s ever going to work, that is going to work.’ For me it really works. They are only wonderful together,” Abbott gushed. “So I’m desirous about following that track and seeing the way it goes. That was the plan even before we solid Rex — imagine it or not. Because we did solid him and that was all the time intended as a possible love interest because I’ve got a few of those stories I need to inform. I wasn’t capable of tell them within the old Reba sitcom.”
McEntire and Linn originally met while filming 1991’s The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw, but they didn’t pursue a romance until nearly three a long time later. After reconnecting, McEntire and Linn have had a good time starring in the identical projects, including Big Sky and now Completely happy’s Place.
Rex Linn as Emmett, Reba McEntire as Bobbie. Casey Durkin/NBC
The NBC series, which premiered in 2024, features McEntire as a tavern owner who inherited her father’s business and discovered a brand new skilled partner in a half-sister she didn’t know she had. Linn, meanwhile, plays a cook named Emmett who has a crush on Bobbie, which will likely be explored within the already-ordered season 2.
Completely happy’s Place also stars Melissa Peterman, which Reba fans remember from the unique sitcom. But simply because Completely happy’s Place reunited the costars doesn’t make it a replica and paste version of the Reba series.
Reba McEntire proved she is greater than just a rustic superstar when she led her own TV show — appropriately called Reba. The sitcom ran for six seasons from October 2001 to February 2007. McEntire starred as a single mother raising her three children — played by JoAnna Garcia Swisher, Scarlett Pomers and Mitch Holleman […]
“I did the unique Reba show with Reba and he or she’s every little thing that you just would hope she’d be as an individual — let alone as a performer. We didn’t quite tell all of the stories that we desired to tell in the unique Reba. That was an odd ending to that show. We were actually doing a reboot of the unique show,” he recalled concerning the pilot that was eventually not picked up. “I feel we’ve done a fairly good job of [doing something different with Happy’s Place].”
He continued: “We didn’t need to do one other family show with kids because we’d done lots of that. So we wanted to only do an adult workplace show. We’ve been really pleased with it. I’m thrilled to be back with these people.”
Completely happy’s Place has been renewed for season 2. Season 1 is now streaming on Peacock.
