It’s that time of year on the 2024 TV schedule when holiday episodes are on full display, and NBC followed up Lopez vs Lopez's Christmas ep with NBC’s’ Happy’s Place, which pulled out all the stops for its first-ever special. The bar-set comedy already serves as a mini-reunion of sorts, with Reba McEntire once again teaming up with Reba co-star Melissa Peterman and their former showrunner Kevin Abbott. However, the ongoing reunion got even bigger when Steve Howey appeared during Episode 7, and as a Reba fan, I’m so happy he agreed to do it.
Famously having played Van on The WB/CW sitcom, Howey joined Happy's Place as Danny, an acquaintance of Gabby’s (Peterman) and a business owner looking to rent out a space to host a holiday party for his employees. Of course, shenanigans ensue due to Gabby lying about who she is, claiming she’s Bobby (McEntire), the bar’s owner.
It’s no surprise that the three actors clicked immediately on set, and their hilarious chemistry was infectious, resulting in one of the funniest episodes of the show to date. The NBC series has been met with mixed reviews from critics, though only its earliest episodes were available at the time, and eps like this prove that it's worth sticking around.
It’s not too often that sitcom stars agree to reunite on screen in different roles, but from what Howey told TVInsider, it was an easy decision for him to make. As he put it:
Kevin Abbott, the showrunner for Reba, who’s now doing Happy’s Place, reached out to me and said, ‘I have this idea for this character and want to know if you want to come play with us.’ And I was like, ‘Are you kidding? Absolutely.’ It just made sense. It wasn’t anything that made me feel uncomfortable or weird, and it wasn’t Van.
Reba ended its run back in 2007 in a hilarious but touching series finale that left little need for a reboot. It’s unlikely that fans of the family sitcom will ever get a reboot or revival, but the mini-reunion on Happy’s Place was a nice reminder for fans of just how hilarious these three actors can be when they share the same stage.
And even though the holiday episode didn’t reunite the entire Reba cast, it did allow three of the core actors to work together again alongside their beloved showrunner. In fact, it was for that reason that Howey agreed to take on the guest-starring role in the comedy after appearing primarily in dramas as of late.
I liked that. This was an opportunity to reacquaint with some people that I adore that I grew up with, Reba McEntire and Melissa Peterman. I’ve always said that Reba has the Midas touch. [She’s] an amazing person and a mentor for me. So [when] Kevin asked me to come on, I was like, ‘Dude, are you kidding? Tell me when.'
While the episode that aired kept any explicit mentions of the actors’ roles in Reba out of the story, that didn’t stop Howey from playing around during an outtake. In the clip shared on NBC’s official TikTok page, Howey’s character falls into his old Reba character, calling McEntire “Mrs. H.” This prompts Peterman to run in, reprising her role as Barbara Jean, to tell Van that she has been in witness protection.
Even though Howey’s character appeared in a guest role, I’m hopeful that he’ll get another chance to reprise the role in future episodes. And who knows, maybe if Happy’s Place lasts for several seasons, we’ll get more and more cameos from Reba.
You can catch new episodes on Happy’s Place on Friday nights on CBS at 8:00 p.m. ET. They’re also available to stream the next day with a Peacock subscription. And if you’re looking to relive the magic McEntire, Peterman, and Howey have on set together, you can stream all six seasons of Reba with a Hulu subscription.
