Reba McEntire is still a survivor.
Over 17 years after her sitcom Reba went off the air, the country music legend is returning to TV with a new comedy, Happy’s Place, and she’ll once again be singing her own theme song.
“It’s written, and we’re recording it at the end of this month. We’ll see if you like it,” McEntire said recently, per The Hollywood Reporter.
McEntire, 69, performed the enduring theme song to Reba, “I’m a Survivor,” which opened all six seasons of the sitcom with its memorable lyrics about a working single mom. The song remains popular to this day as a sound on TikTok and Instagram.
Happy’s Place, which reunites McEntire with the executive producers behind Reba, was given a series order by NBC in May. It is expected to premiere later this year.
McEntire will play Bobbie, who inherits her late father’s restaurant only to discover that she will have to be business partners with the half-sister she never knew she had. McEntire stars opposite Belissa Escobedo as her half-sister, Isabella, and her former Reba costar Melissa Peterman as a bartender at the restaurant.
“Ever since we stopped doing Reba, we’ve been looking for another project to do. I love the sitcom genre. Out of all the things I do, this is my favorite,” said McEntire recently, per The Hollywood Reporter.
McEntire teased the new comedy in May in an interview with Entertainment Tonight as she described filming the pilot.
“The cast is wonderful. We’re so excited,” she said. “We shot the pilot and everybody said, ‘You know, this is like a second season first episode instead of the pilot and that’s the way I felt. Everybody gelled, everybody got along, and the writing is wonderful, so I’m really happy. I’m so happy.”
Peterman, meanwhile, talked about reuniting with McEntire 17 years after Reba during a Television Critics Association panel event on Sunday, July 14.
“It’s just easy, it’s like riding a bike. We’ve never really left each other. I mean, the show ended, and we’ve been friends ever since,” said the actress.
Happy’s Place premieres on Friday, October 18, on NBC.
