What's the Latest on the 'Reba' Reboot?
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Reba McEntire is one of the busiest women in show business, but given the chance, she’d like to add another project to her resume: a reboot of her sitcom, Reba. The beloved series ran for six seasons on The WB (later The CW) before its abrupt cancellation in 2007.
“We’ve really been trying hard to do a reboot of the Reba show,” McEntire said during a September 2022 interview on The Bobby Bones Show. “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. We wanted to get back together like a reunion and have fun. So, hopefully that will happen one day.”
While McEntire is known primarily as a country superstar, she’s also built quite a career as an actress, starring in Young Sheldon and Big Sky and making a show-stopping cameo in Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar. Since September 2023, she’s been a coach on The Voice, and in October 2023, she released the lifestyle book Not That Fancy: Simple Lessons on Living, Loving, Eating, and Dusting Off Your Boots.
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All this activity is great news for fans who can’t get enough Reba, but it also means that a Reba revival could be a tough proposition because of her packed schedule. “I don’t think that’s ever going to come to fruition, but maybe one of these days,” McEntire told E! News in January 2023. Still, the dream is alive for those of us dying to know how the single mom who works two jobs is doing now. Keep reading for everything to know about a potential Reba reboot.
What is Reba about?
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Reba tells the story of the Hart family, led by matriarch Reba Hart (played by McEntire). Her ex-husband, Brock (Christopher Rich), made her a single mom when he left her for his much younger dental hygienist, Barbara Jean (Melissa Peterman). Before their divorce, Reba and Brock had three children: Cheyenne (JoAnna Garcia Swisher), Kyra (Scarlett Pomers) and Jake (Mitch Holleman). Cheyenne’s boyfriend, Van (Steve Howey), also lives with the Harts because his own parents kicked him out of their house for getting Cheyenne pregnant.
How long was Reba on the air?
Reba aired for six seasons from 2001 to 2007 on The WB and later The CW, with a total of 127 episodes. It still airs in syndication, though, meaning that plenty of new fans can still watch the Hart family’s adventures 16 years after the show’s end.
Why was Reba canceled?
Reba was canceled in the aftermath of The WB’s merger with UPN, which created new network The CW. Fans hoped The CW would continue the show, but it ultimately aired a shortened Season 6 with only 13 episodes and never returned.
McEntire later said she herself was confused about why The CW didn’t take a shot on the show. “We had no idea why they canceled us,” she told Taste of Country Nights in September 2020. “We were a huge success, so it was a head scratcher for us.”
How did Reba end?
A house fire prompts Cheyenne and Van to move back in with Reba. Meantime, Barbra Jean turns down a job in Arkansas after she and Brock, who were going to get a divorce, reconcile instead. The finale closes with the family taking a photo that mirrors one they snapped earlier in the series, at Van and Cheyenne’s wedding.
Is a Reba reboot happening?
McEntire has said repeatedly that she hopes to revive Reba, but so far, there are no official plans for a reboot of the sitcom. In September 2022, she said on Good Morning America that a revival is “unfortunately” not happening. “I thought we were getting really close,” she explained. “But nope. Not gonna be able to do it for right now. But we’ll keep seeing if we can get in there somewhere.”
In January 2023, however, she said that she and the cast are “very interested” in a revival and have been working on it for several years. “The cast is eager and hoping, and there’s just a lot of things that you have to go through the red tape to get it done,” she told Entertainment Tonight.
What has the Reba cast said about a reboot?
Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire would love to get back in the shoes of Reba Hart, but she’s said there are “so many obstacles” that have kept a reboot from happening. “The TV business changes so much that sometimes reboots are hot and then they’re not,” she told Deadline in August 2022. “Plus, getting everyone scheduled together is also hard. Steve Howey is very busy, and so is Joanna Garcia [Swisher]. Melissa [Peterman] is doing wonderful and here we are making a movie together. I guess timing and schedule will dictate that in the future.”
Steve Howey
Steve Howey—who played the boyfriend of Reba’s eldest daughter, Cheyenne (JoAnna Garcia Swisher—has said he’s ready for a reboot if McEntire is. “To see where Van is now and where the family is, I mean, I would do anything,” Howey told Entertainment Tonight in March 2023. “Reba says, ‘Jump,’ and I’ll say, ‘How high?’”
Howey noted that he actually pitched a mini Reba reunion for McEntire’s April 2023 concert at the Hollywood Bowl, but she shot it down over time constraints. “I was like, ‘Can I come out on stage and say, ‘Hey, Mrs. H?’ And she was like, ‘Well, I gotta go change and then we come out and I sing ‘Survivor,’ and that's when she’s like, ‘We don’t have time. I don’t have time,’” he recalled. “And I was like, ‘Alright, just kick down my dreams.’”
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JoAnna Garcia Swisher
Like Howey, JoAnna Garcia Swisher is on board for a revival. “I think it’s been more than just thought about and something that I think we would all really love to be a part of,” she told People in September 2021. “It’s very much in our hearts and our minds and topics of conversations. I can assure you that if someone came to all of us and said that they wanted to do it, we’re all there ready with all of the stories.”
Melissa Peterman
Melissa Peterman, who played Brock’s second wife, Barbara Jean Hart, reunited with McEntire for the 2023 TV movie Reba McEntire’s The Hammer. During a joint interview with McEntire, Peterman said she’s also interested in a reboot. “I’m just so curious to think about where these characters would be 15 years later. And I think there were still so many stories to be told, and I think what they did so beautifully in the first run is they created characters that had a lot of layers and flaws,” she told Entertainment Tonight in January 2023. “I would just love to see where they’re at right now. Plus I just wanna be with everybody again. We just had such a wonderful, special group and it would be fun to do it again.”
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