Reba is an American sitcom starring Reba McEntire as the titular character Reba Hart. It first aired from October,2001 until February 2007. For the show's first five seasons, it aired on The WB, and crossed over to The CW for its sixth and final season.
The show is set in Houston, Texas. It stars Reba McEntire as a wise-cracking single mother Reba Nell Hart, whose dentist ex-husband Brock has left her to marry young, ditsy Barbra Jean, his dental hygienist after an affair with her, when it is revealed in the pilot episode that Barbra Jean is pregnant. Ironically, although Reba sees "B.J." (Barbra Jean's nickname) as her nemesis, Barbra Jean considers Reba her best (and perhaps only) friend. As the show progresses Reba slowly and painfully comes to the conclusion that despite all her efforts to hate her, she likes Barbra Jean and considers her a friend. In the pilot episode it was revealed that Reba's oldest daughter, then high school senior Cheyenne, is pregnant.
Cheyenne married her baby's father, fellow high-schooler Van Montgomery, a dim-witted but well-meaning football player. Van moves in with them, as his own parents kicked him out for standing by Cheyenne and Van comes to view Reba as a surrogate parent (something Reba is very comfortable with). Reba's other two children are Kyra, an intelligent and rebellious teenager who shares Reba's sarcastic streak, and Jake, a young boy just trying to sort through the mess of his family.
Cast and Characters
Main article: List of Characters
Reba Cast
Reba McEntire as Reba Nell Hart (née McKinney) - Reba is a single mom who struggles with taking care of everyone in her house after her husband divorces her for his dental hygienist. She is temperamental and prone to sarcastic remarks. But Reba can also be kind and caring, and is usually the sensible one. She worked as a secretary for her ex-husband's dental rival, Eugene. She becomes a real estate agent.
Christopher Rich as Brock Enroll Hart - Reba's ex-husband, a dentist and golfer, who leaves her for his much younger, pregnant, dental hygienist, Barbra Jean. He is vain, addicted to tanning, and tries to convince everyone that he is still young. Brock sometimes shows regret for his divorce from Reba because of all the chaos it caused for his children. His marriage with Barbra Jean is rocky, due to his selfishness and impetuousness, but he is in love with her. His name is a play on "rock and roll."
Melissa Peterman as Barbra Jean Hart (née Booker) - "BJ" was Brock's dental hygienist and had an affair with him as his marriage to Reba was deteriorating. She gets pregnant even though Brock and Reba were not divorced yet. Her comically religious behavior was phased out over the course of the first season. Barbra Jean is more intelligent than Van, but is more oblivious than Jake and is often an easy target for Reba's sarcasm. While noisy and annoying, She is a kind-hearted person with good intentions. Her tendency to tell "over-the-top" tales results in her sharing many random and often bizarre facts about her childhood and past.
Joanna García as Cheyenne Montgomery (née Hart) - Brock and Reba's oldest daughter, who initially is looking forward to her senior year of high school before learning that she is pregnant. She marries her boyfriend, Van Montgomery, who moves into Reba's house after his parents disown him. Cheyenne gives birth to their daughter, Elizabeth, after going into labor on graduation day. She can be somewhat air-headed and self-centered, but she can also be thoughtful and kind-hearted. She is very sensitive, especially when she is insulted (mainly by Kyra, her younger sister). Her work ethic and sense of responsibility improves as she raises her daughter and studies dentistry in college. Cheyenne also begins volunteering at a homeless shelter, improving her shallowness greatly. When she comes to the realization that she is an alcoholic, she's inspired to discontinue doing dentistry for her major, and, instead of that, decides to study counseling for those affected by alcohol and drugs. She is truly her mother's daughter and cares greatly for her entire family.
Steve Howey as Van Montgomery - The star cornerback of his high school's football team, Van was kicked out of the house when his parents found out that he planned to marry his pregnant girlfriend, Cheyenne. He consequently moves in with Cheyenne at Reba's house, and his future in professional sports looks bright until an injury to his tail bone reveals that he has narrowing of the spine. He works to recover his life after the loss of his football dream, and eventually becomes a successful Realtor in a partnership with Reba. Van is portrayed as a big goof and is not good with words, especially when it comes to Cheyenne. Kyra especially loves making fun of him. He is a great father to his daughter, Elizabeth. He cares deeply for his in-laws, especially Reba, for taking him in and caring for him in his darkest hours. His relationship with his parents remains strained throughout the series, and they never truly make up.
Scarlett Pomers as Kyra Eleanor Hart - The middle child, Kyra has the fewest emotional issues of the family. Many of her traits and looks come from Reba, including her sharp wit and knack for sarcasm, although she's known to be more manipulative and difficult. In the final season, she decided not to go to college and focus on her music. Kyra also likes teasing Van. During season 5, she appeared in only two episodes towards the beginning of the season, due to Pomers' real-life battle with Anorexia. She returned at the beginning of Season 6.
Mitch Holleman as Jacob "Jake" Mitchell Hart - The youngest of the Hart children, Jake is often teased by his sister Kyra. In the earlier seasons, Jake sometimes is only seen for one scene where he would crack a joke or just mention something that involves the current topic. Jake is pretty oblivious of what goes on around him and has a habit of saying the first thing that comes to his mind without thinking. He acts like a normal boy for his age, although in earlier seasons he displays feminine characteristics that worry his father, Brock.
Alena & Gabrielle Leberger as Elizabeth Montgomery - Elizabeth is the daughter of Van and Cheyenne. Elizabeth rarely speaks (although in the ninth episode in Season 5 she said her first line), but will sometimes be shown in a family member's arm or running around. She's a happy child who is often shown giggling.
Alexander & Jackson McClellan as Henry Charles Jesus Hart - Brock and Barbra Jean's son and is also Cheyenne's, Kyra's, and Jake's younger half-brother. He sometimes displays bad behavior which leads Reba to believe that Barbra Jean is a bad parent.
By the end of its six-year run, Reba had aired a total of 125 episodes over six seasons.
Midway through Season 6, word began circulating that the CW had ordered "the back nine," or the remaining episodes that would have given Reba a full-season order. But on January 19, 2007 during the network's TCA Press Tour, it was revealed that the series had been canceled, with no "back nine" on order. The final season of Reba was originally scheduled to debut in the spring of 2007, but returned in November 2006 following the cancellation of the CW drama Runaway.
Prodution
Season 6 Title Card
Opening Credits
The show's theme song, "I'm a Survivor," was written by Shelby Kennedy and Phillip White and performed by Reba McEntire. The song comes from Reba's album Greatest Hits Vol. 3: I'm a Survivor. Though the first part of the TV version's lyrics appear elsewhere in the song, the album version has a different chorus:
"The baby girl without a chance / a victim of circumstance / the one who ought to give up / but she's just too hard-headed / a single mom who works two jobs/ who loves her kids and never stops / with gentle hands and the heart of a fighter / I'm a survivor.
The show's lyrics are as follows:
Seasons 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, Note: Season 2 was a shortened version.
My roots are planted in the past,
Though my life is changing fast,
Who I am is who I want to be: I'm a survivor. (Season 2 version)
A single mom who works too hard,
Who loves her kids and never stops.
With gentle hands and the heart of a fighter.
I'm a survivor.
In Season 1, the opening credits were black-and-white photos of cast members interspersed with clips of each cast member from the show (mostly if not all from the pilot episode), along with color video shots of Reba on a sound stage. The theme song, "I'm a Survivor", was slower and softer, very similar to the original album version. The first ten episodes of season two featured a truncated opening sequence: Cast and crew names were shown during the first and second segments of the show. The song was re-recorded at a faster, more energetic pace, but only two lines of the chorus ("Who I am is who I want to be / I'm a survivor") were sung. New video inserts of McEntire were shot and played with a color photo of the entire cast at the end.
From the 11th episode of Season 2 onwards, a full opening sequence was returned to the show. The fast-paced song played among the new shots of McEntire plus clips of cast members from previous episodes as their names scroll past the screen horizontally. In Seasons 5 and 6, the song was re-mixed again, with more accompanying instruments.
The series finale of Reba ended with a family photo, similar to the first episode and the season five finale "Reba's Heart". This marks the only time that Reba ended back to back seasons using the family photo of season one.
Other Songs
Other songs in the Reba series include Reba's hit single, "Walk On" which is in the pilot episode, and three unreleased songs performed for the specific episode, the songs are:-
"Angel's Lullaby" which Reba performs in the season one finale, It Ain't Over Till the Redhead Sings.
"So Far Away" which Reba performs at the end of the episode entitled,Terry Holliway.
"9 to 5" which Reba and Melissa perform in the episode entitled Driving Miss Kyra.
International Broadcast
Reba is broadcast worldwide in over 30 different countries. Worldwide, the series finale garnered 8.2 million viewers. It was extremely successful in the Czech Republic (under the name "The Diary of a Seasoned Mother") where the season premiere on September 29, 2007, garnered over 1 million viewers. It was also successful in Canada, Mexico, and Croatia. The show is extremely popular in the Caribbean giving McEntire an enormous fan base there.
Country / Region
Channel
Season Premiere
United Kingdom
Lifetime
September 7, 2005
Australia
Seven Network, Fox8
2003
Canada
CMT, Joytv
October 10, 2001
South Africa
M-Net
November 29, 2007
Barbados
CBC TV 8
November 22, 2008
Ireland
RTÉ ONE
June 13, 2005
Finland
MTV3, Sub
2004
Trinidad and Tobago
NCC 4
January 21, 2009
Trivia
Scarlett Pomers went into treatment for an eating disorder and therefore only appears in two episodes of Season 5. When she returned in Season 6, jokes were made about Kyra's absence; such as Reba asking "Where have you been?" to which Kyra replied, "I went to get something to eat."
The character of Reba was originally going to have the name "Sally" but Reba McEntire decided that because she had such a loyal fanbase from her singing career, naming the character Reba would help her fans connect to the show.
Reba McEntire, JoAnna Garcia, and Steve Howey are the only cast members who appeared in all 125 episodes.
Reba McEntire and Melissa Peterman are best friends in real life.
Season 6 was the shortest season with only 13 episodes (due to the series cancellation), while Season 2 had the most episodes with 24.
In the episode titled Have Your Cake Brock tells Barbra Jean that she needs to lose some weight well in real life Melissa Peterman gave birth to a baby boy in October 2005
