Happy's Place

For the afternoon children's TV program, see Happy's Place (1980s TV program).

Happy's Place is an American sitcom television series that premiered on October 18, 2024, on NBC. The series is created by Kevin & Julie Abbott and stars Reba McEntire, Melissa Peterman, Belissa Escobedo and Rex Linn. It is about a woman who inherits a bar from her father after his death, then discovers she has a half-sister who also has a share of the inheritance. In February 2025, the series was renewed for a second season.^[1]

Happy's Place
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Julie Abbott & Kevin Abbott
Starring	Reba McEntire Belissa Escobedo Melissa Peterman Rex Linn Pablo Castelblanco Tokala Black Elk
Music by	Doug Sisemore
Opening theme	"You Belong at Happy's Place" by Reba McEntire
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	18
Production
Executive producers	Kevin Abbott Mindy Schultheis Michael Hanel Reba McEntire Pamela Fryman Matt Berry Julie Abbott
Cinematography	Gary Baum
Editor	Kris Trexler
Running time	21 minutes
Production companies	RM Business Inc. NestEgg Productions Acme Productions Universal Television
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	October 18, 2024 (2024-10-18) – present

Plot

Bobbie McAllister inherits half ownership of a bar in Knoxville, Tennessee named Happy's Place, a bar/restaurant founded by her father Happy. A young woman walks into the bar and tells Bobbie she is her half-sister Isabella, the result of an affair Happy had with a woman named Maritza Sanchez. After the two realize they are related and therefore share ownership of the bar, they begin running it together.

Cast and characters

Main

• Reba McEntire as Bobbie McAllister, a woman who inherits half of a Knoxville, Tennessee bar founded by her father, Happy, following his death, and Isabella's paternal half-sister^[2][3]
• Belissa Escobedo as Isabella, Bobbie's Mexican American paternal half-sister, who also inherits half of Happy's Place following his death^[2]
• Melissa Peterman as Gabby, a bartender at Happy's Place. Peterman and McEntire have also co-starred in Reba (2001–2007).
• Rex Linn as Emmett, the soft-spoken cook at Happy's Place and a longtime friend of Happy's
• Pablo Castelblanco as Steve, the germophobic, obsessive-compulsive Hispanic accountant for Happy's Place
• Tokala Black Elk as Takoda, the Native American waiter at Happy's Place

Notable guest stars

• Michael O'Neill as Jim Jackoway, Happy's lawyer who reveals to Bobbie and Isabella their familial relationship
• Steve Howey as Danny, Gabby's friend. Howey also has previously co-starred with McEntire in Reba (2001-2007).
• Anthony Norman as Jack, Isabella’s long-distance boyfriend.
• Emma Kenney as Gracie McAllister, Bobbie’s strong-willed daughter.
• Jeremiah Brannan as Dr. Young
• Justina Machado as Maritza, Isabella’s mother.
• Christopher Rich as Maverick, a tattoo artist. Rich also has previously co-starred with McEntire in Reba (2001-2007).
• Larry Cedar as Alvin

Episodes

No.	Title [4]	Directed by	Written by	Original release date [4]	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	"Pilot"	Pamela Fryman	Teleplay by : Kevin Abbott Story by : Julie Abbott & Kevin Abbott	October 18, 2024 (2024-10-18)	4.03[5]
Bobbie, already mourning the loss of her father, Happy, gets a further shock when she unexpectedly meets her half-sister Isabella and learns that Happy jointly left his tavern to the both of them, forcing the set in her ways Bobbie and the cheery Isabella to navigate their new relationship as sisters. Isabella meets the eccentric staff of the tavern: Gabby, the talkative bartender; Steve, the nervous and germophobic accountant; Emmett, the soft-spoken cook and a longtime friend of Happy's; and Takoda, the well-meaning Native American waiter.
2	"Tapped Out"	Pamela Fryman	Kevin Abbott	October 25, 2024 (2024-10-25)	3.49[6]
Bobbie gets irritated by the changes Isabella wants to make around the tavern. Bobbie tries to get her lawyer to talk Isabella out of taking half ownership of the tavern but it backfires, forcing a confrontation between the two of them.
3	"Don't Sweat It"	Joanna Kerns	Gemma Baker	November 1, 2024 (2024-11-01)	3.48[7]
Bobbie offers to let Isabella move in with her when she struggles to find a place to live but Emmett warns her that Isabella is now a roommate instead of a guest and will try to change things. When his words prove to be true and Bobbie loses her cool, Isabella moves back out and Bobbie realizes she misses her.
4	"Fish Fry Monday"	Pamela Fryman	Matt Berry	November 8, 2024 (2024-11-08)	3.48[8]
Emmett wants to revive Fish Fry Mondays, a tradition where he used to go fishing on Sundays with Happy and fry up the catch the next day. Bobbie is less than excited when Emmett wants to take her along because it means leaving the tavern in the staff's hands until Emmett reveals the real reason he used to drag Happy along with him. Meanwhile, Isabella learns bartending from Gabby and Gabby gets drunk with power.
5	"Ladies' Night"	Victor Gonzalez	Erin Berry	November 15, 2024 (2024-11-15)	2.95[9]
When Gabby has her latest in a long string of heartbreaks, Bobbie and Isabella offer to help improve her dating profile. When that doesn't work, they throw a ladies' night at the tavern and are shocked when it inspires Gabby to have a baby.
6	"Happy's House"	Pamela Fryman	Matt Berry	November 22, 2024 (2024-11-22)	3.07[10]
Bobbie finally reluctantly decides to take Isabella to see Happy's house so she can get to know her father but it makes Bobbie question who Happy really was. Gabby tags along in search of a rumored valuable penny Happy had collected. Emmett and Steve spend their day off together at the tavern and unexpectedly find themselves bonding.
7	"Ho-Ho-Howey"	Pamela Fryman	Pat Bullard	December 6, 2024 (2024-12-06)	3.39[11]
When the tavern loses out on a big holiday party that was going to pay the staff's health insurance for the year, Gabby offers an alternative plan that involves her friend Danny (Steve Howey). There's one small catch, though: Danny thinks that Gabby is Bobbie and vice versa and that Isabella is French. Steve decides to amuse himself by pretending to be Emmett and Takoda is unnerved by all the dishonesty. Note: Steve Howey played Reba's son-in-law, Van Montgomery, on her earlier show Reba, and has a throwaway line near the end of the episode referring to that.
8	"Dear Jack"	Pamela Fryman	Brittany Miller	December 13, 2024 (2024-12-13)	3.35[12]
When Isabella wants to break up with her long distance boyfriend Jack, she struggles to figure out how to do it until Bobbie offers to write a Dear John letter to him. The letter backfires and inspires Jack to move to Tennessee to work things out with Isabella, who is even more reluctant to break up with Jack in person. Meanwhile, a local magazine article praises Emmett's cooking but Gabby is upset when she sees her name misspelled in the article.
9	"Emcee Squared"	Pamela Fryman	Erin Berry	January 3, 2025 (2025-01-03)	3.36[13]
Happy's Place prepares for their annual anniversary party where Happy would traditionally roast the regular patrons. Now that he is gone, Bobbie and Gabby each compete for the coveted emcee position. They respectively recruit Isabella and Steve to help them, leading the two to engage in a wager. If Bobbie wins, the germaphobic Steve has to kiss a dollar bill. If Gabby wins, Isabella has to go an entire day without bringing up her college education.
10	"The MacAllister Girls"	Pamela Fryman	Jon Haller	January 10, 2025 (2025-01-10)	3.30[14]
When Bobbie's daughter, Gracie (Emma Kenney) returns home from military deployment, Isabella tries her best to get along with her strong willed niece, which ends up bringing out some long simmering issues between mother and daughter as Isabella tries to strengthen family ties. Meanwhile, the rest of the staff compete to see who can give Gracie the best homecoming present.
11	"Heart of the Matter"	Robbie Countryman	Gemma Baker	January 17, 2025 (2025-01-17)	3.45[15]
12	"Baby Doll"	Pamela Fryman	Helen Fernandez	January 31, 2025 (2025-01-31)	3.52[16]
13	"Mama Drama"	Pamela Fryman	Brittany Miller	February 7, 2025 (2025-02-07)	3.34[17]
14	"Accountability"	Pamela Fryman	TJ Martell & Tommy Wright	February 14, 2025 (2025-02-14)	3.13[18]
15	"Sisters Ink"	Pamela Fryman	Brittany Miller & Erin Berry	February 21, 2025 (2025-02-21)	3.11[19]
16	"Whiskey Business"	Pamela Fryman	Eugene Garcia-Cross	March 7, 2025 (2025-03-07)	3.25[20]
17	"The Doctor Is Out"	Pamela Fryman	John D. Beck & Ron Hart	March 14, 2025 (2025-03-14)	3.34[21]
18	"Alarm Bells"	Pamela Fryman	Kevin Abbott	March 21, 2025 (2025-03-21)	3.19[22]

Production

Development

The series is created by Kevin Abbott, who will serve as showrunner and executive producer. The other executive producers are Michael Hanel, Pamela Fryman, Mindy Schultheis and Julie Abbott.^[2] Reba McEntire is also an executive producer. On January 29, 2024, the series received a put pilot commitment by NBC.^[23] On May 7, 2024, the series had been given a series order and reveals the title as Happy's Place. Universal Television produced the series.^[24] On November 15, 2024, the series was given additional script orders, making the season total of 13 episodes.^[25] On November 21, 2024, the series added 5 episodes, giving it an 18-episode full first season order.^[26] On February 20, 2025, NBC renewed the series for a second season.^[1]

Casting

McEntire, who helped develop the pilot, plays the lead role of Bobbie.^[23] On March 18, 2024, Melissa Peterman and Belissa Escobedo were cast in main roles for the pilot.^[27] Announced later the same day, Rex Linn, Tokala Black Elk and Pablo Castelblanco were cast in main roles for the pilot.^[28] McEntire and Peterman previously were co-stars on the sitcom Reba.

Filming

Happy's Place is filmed at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City, California, but it is set in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Broadcast

Happy's Place premiered on October 18, 2024, on NBC.^[29]

In Canada, new episodes air one day earlier than the American airdate on CTV.^[30]

Reception

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 73% approval rating with an average rating of 5.8/10, based on 11 critic reviews.^[31] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 60 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[32]

Ratings

Viewership and ratings per episode of Happy's Place

No.	Title	Air date	Rating/share (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	DVR (18–49)	DVR viewers (millions)	Total (18–49)	Total viewers (millions)	Ref.
1	"Pilot"	October 18, 2024	0.4/5	4.03	0.2	1.47	0.5	5.50	[5]
2	"Tapped Out"	October 25, 2024	0.3/4	3.49	0.1	1.50	0.4	5.00	[6]
3	"Don't Sweat It"	November 1, 2024	0.3/4	3.48	0.1	1.32	0.4	4.79	[7]
4	"Fish Fry Monday"	November 8, 2024	0.3/4	3.48	0.1	1.27	0.4	4.76	[8]
5	"Ladies' Night"	November 15, 2024	0.2/4	2.95	0.2	1.25	0.4	4.20	[9]
6	"Happy's House"	November 22, 2024	0.2/4	3.07	0.1	1.20	0.4	4.27	[10]
7	"Ho-Ho-Howey"	December 6, 2024	0.4/5	3.39	0.1	1.24	0.5	4.63	[11]
8	"Dear Jack"	December 13, 2024	0.3/4	3.35	0.1	1.15	0.4	4.50	[12]
9	"Emcee Squared"	January 3, 2025	0.2/3	3.36	0.1	0.94	0.3	4.31	[13]
10	"The MacAllister Girls"	January 10, 2025	0.3/3	3.30	0.1	1.20	0.4	4.42	[14]
11	"Heart of the Matter"	January 17, 2025	0.2/3	3.45	0.1	1.21	0.3	4.67	[15]
12	"Baby Doll"	January 31, 2025	0.3/5	3.52	0.1	1.08	0.4	4.61	[16]
13	"Mama Drama"	February 7, 2025	0.3/4	3.34	0.1	1.17	0.4	4.50	[17]
14	"Accountability"	February 14, 2025	0.3/4	3.13	0.1	1.08	0.4	4.20	[18]
15	"Sisters Ink"	February 21, 2025	0.2/3	3.11	0.1	1.08	0.3	4.18	[19]
16	"Whiskey Business"	March 7, 2025	0.3/4	3.25	0.1	1.04	0.4	4.29	[20]
17	"The Doctor Is Out"	March 14, 2025	0.3/5	3.34	0.1	1.03	0.4	4.37	[21]
18	"Alarm Bells"	March 21, 2025	0.2/3	3.19	0.1	1.12	0.3	4.31	[22]