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Reunited and it feels so good! Hallmark Channel actress Melissa Peterman got choked up during a recent TV interview as she learned she’ll get to reteam with country legend and dear friend Reba McEntire for a new NBC sitcom.
Peterman, who co-starred with McEntire from 2001 to 2007 on “Reba,” now seen in re-runs on Hallmark Channel, looked stunned as “Entertainment Tonight” reporter Deidre Behar gave her the news on May 8, 2024.
“I gotta offer you a huge congratulations,” Behar told Peterman, who looked puzzled. “I don’t know if you know this: your NBC series got picked up!”
Rendered nearly speechless, Peterman said, “It got…that’s…right now?”
After Behar explained that she’d just received an email confirming the show had been greenlit for the 2024/25 season, Peterman — who co-starred with Lacey Chabert and Wes Brown in Hallmark’s “Haul Out the Holly” movies — got choked up over the news.
Melissa Peterman Tears Up Thinking About Her Friendship With Reba McEntire
McEntire and Peterman reunited to film a pilot for “Happy’s Place” in early 2023, according to TV Line, but had been awaiting word on whether it would be turned into a full series. The show is scheduled to air Friday nights at 8 p.m. Eastern starting in the fall of 2024.
When Behar asked Peterman how she felt about the news, the actress continued to stumble over her words and finally exclaimed, “Uh…amazing!”
She then continued, “I get to work with Reba and our team and I’m so excited.”
When Behar asked Peterman what it means to her to work again with McEntire, who’s been her friend “for decades,” Peterman choked back tears as she replied.
“Oh, you shouldn’t have done that one,” she teased. “She’s like coming home, you know? I think that in this business, there’s a lot of, we have a lot of Hollywood friends, and you have friends that you share just the good stuff with. Um, and I think I knew that when we started sharing, like, the real life stuff, it was forever.”
“I know she’s got my back whether we ever work together again, she is on my side always, and she knows I’m on hers,” Peterman added. “I feel very, very lucky.”
Reba McEntire Calls Melissa Peterman ‘One of My Best Friends’
During a red carpet event on May 14, ET played Peterman’s reaction to the news for McEntire, who joked, “I wrote that for her!”
The country superstar then said, “I love Melissa. We gelled really quickly during the ‘Reba’s’ show and went on vacations, and I remember when she told me she was pregnant with Riley — it was at my 50th birthday party. It’s a wonderful thing. She’s one of my best friends. I just will always love her forever and ever.”
According to NBC’s synopsis of the new show, “Bobbie (played by McEntire) inherits her father’s restaurant and is less than thrilled to discover that she has a new business partner in the half-sister she never knew she had,” played by Belissa Escobedo. Peterman will play Gabby, a “needy and dramatic” bartender at the restaurant who wishes she was Bobbie’s sister instead.
The day after getting the news, Peterman, who played Barbra Jean on the original “Reba,” shared on Instagram, “The first time I had no idea how life-changing and special the job was going to be. Getting another chance to work with Reba feels even sweeter because I know how much fun we’re going to have and I am going to savor every moment!!! See you at Happy’s Place!!! I can’t wait to get to work with this amazing cast and crew!”
The friends have worked periodically on one-off projects, including a Lifetime movie in early 2023, per KTLA. They also both had recurring roles on CBS’ “Young Sheldon,” which aired its final episode on May 16, per USA Today.
The new sitcom and Peterman’s role as host of the game show “Person, Place or Thing,” may keep Peterman from filming any new Hallmark projects in the near future, but she makes time to connect with her “Haul Out The Holly” co-stars, including outings with Ellen Travolta and Eliza Hayes Maher that she hilariously documents on social media.
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