Reba McEntire’s ‘Happy’s Place’ Concludes Successful First Season

Admit it. You love Reba McEntire. Who doesn’t? So, when the news broke last year that McEntire would be tackling the new NBC sitcom Happy’s Place, we had high expectations it would succeed.

Happy’s Place has now officially ended its first “must see” season. And the stage is set for some potential romance in the sitcom air in season two.

Reba McEntire, of course, is known primarily as a legendary country western singer. But there is another Reba, the sitcom star, who can deliver a zinger or two like the best of them. In a setting similar to Cheers in Boston where “everybody knew you name,” the gang at the fictional restaurant/pub at Happy’s Place in Knoxille, Tennessee is a comfortable mix.

On Happy’s Place, the main premise follows McEntire as Bobbie McAllister after she finds out she has a much younger half-sister (Belissa Escobedo as Isabella). Isabella is less than half her age and she owns a share of the bar with Bobbie after their father’s death. So, much of season one was spent developing the relationship between this “odd couple” – one senior and one Generation Z. But there was much more to Happy’s Place than the main premise.

Former Reba co-stars Melissa Peterman (as Gabby, the needy and dramatic bartender) and Reba McEntire already have proven chemistry, and any scene between the two is a lightning rod for plenty of chuckles. Then there is Happy’s Place occupants Steve (Pablo Castelblanco), the accountant who is a major germaphobe, and waiter Takoda (Tokala Black Elk), the voice of reason who can fix anything. By episode 17 of the inaugural season, we witness a more human side to Steve that makes him more than just the eccentricity-themed jokes. But the “secret sauce” behind the successful first season of Happy’s Place was the burgeoning romance between Reba’s Bobbie and the gruff (but lovable, of course) cook Emmett (Rex Linn), who is also Reba’s real life love interest.

In the season finale of Happy’s Place on March 21, Isabella tries to set up Bobbie on a date with Linn’s Emmett. The two already flirted with potential feelings earlier in the season, but they are worried about ruining their friendship if they take the next step.

Will Bobbie and Emmett take the plunge in season two?

Traditionally, romance in the sitcom world takes time to brew. Remember how long it took for Sam (Ted Danson) and Diane (Shelley Long) and Sam and Rebecca (Kirstie Alley) in that first place where everybody knew your name?

Thankfully, there is plenty of time to build the potential relationship of Bobbie and Emmett in season two…and likely behind. And a shout out to Happy’s Place for this particularly satisfying, and funny, first season.