ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
If I were to list everything our next guest is famous for, we wouldn't have any time left to talk to her. Among many other things, she is a star of TV, Broadway, TikTok and, oh, yes, the queen of country music with dozens of No. 1 hits. She's known by just four letters - R-E-B-A.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FANCY")
REBA MCENTIRE: (Singing) She said, here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down. She said, here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down.
SHAPIRO: Reba McEntire also has a new sitcom on NBC called "Happy's Place." Reba, welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
MCENTIRE: Oh, thank you very much.
SHAPIRO: This is a show about family. In the pilot, you discover that your father left his restaurant to you and the half-sister that you never met. And you were making the show with chosen family. The executive producer, Kevin Abbott, worked with you 20 years ago on the show "Reba." So did your costar, Melissa Peterman, your real-life boyfriend, Rex Linn, plays the cook. Was it part of your concept to make this show with a tight circle of people who you already know and love?
MCENTIRE: I wanted to work with the same people that I know and love. You know, the backstory - you've been there when their children were growing up. You were with them through six years, wonderful years of the "Reba" TV show. And we had been looking ever since they canceled us on "Reba" to do work together again.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "HAPPY'S PLACE")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) What if the three of us lived here? We could be the new Golden Girls, except Izzy (ph) and I are young. Yeah.
(LAUGHTER)
MCENTIRE: (As Bobbie) Oh, my gosh - it's past 7:30. What am I, a teenager?
(LAUGHTER)
MCENTIRE: (As Bobbie) Knock (ph) knock, ladies.
And, man, patience is a virtue. But, boy, it was worth waiting for to get this show 'cause we absolutely love it.
SHAPIRO: Can you give us an example of onset, day to day, how it is different working with people whose life histories you know so well, who you share a common unspoken language with?
MCENTIRE: Well, if I've got a problem on the set, I just text Mindy and say, hey, Mindy, can we do so and so?
SHAPIRO: That's Mindy Schultheis, executive producer.
MCENTIRE: You don't have to say, Mindy, this is Reba. Remember, I'm the redhead dame (ph) that's working.
SHAPIRO: (Laughter).
MCENTIRE: You just cut to the chase. Mindy and I are great friends, Michael Hanel, my other producer. Well, we've just known each other since 2001. That's the same year I met Melissa. And so it's just like friends getting together again. I remember watching John Wayne movies when I was a kid. And the same actors were in every movie with him, and I was wondering why he did that. Now I know. You work better if you're having fun. And that's usually the fun people are the ones you've been working with so much, and you have a history with them. And that's the way it is with Mindy and Michael and Kevin. We have a history together, and we like working together.
SHAPIRO: That makes a lot of sense, but I have a hard time believing you have ever said to anyone for many years, remember, I'm the redhead.
MCENTIRE: (Laughter).
SHAPIRO: You know, it's funny. You mentioned your previous show, "Reba," being canceled after six seasons. But it has been re-released on Netflix and Hulu. It's streaming. And even though it was on the air 20 years ago, there is now a whole generation of young people who know you from rediscovering the show. It was in the Nielsen Top 10 earlier this year.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I'M A SURVIVOR")
MCENTIRE: (Singing) With gentle hands and a heart of a fighter. I'm a survivor.
SHAPIRO: What's it been like to see this show have a renaissance?
SHAPIRO: Gratification. Thankfulness. We're all thrilled to pieces that people who didn't see it while it was on the air are getting to see it now. Thanks to Netflix, I'm just thrilled to death that people are tuning in. The new generations are tuning in. When I was touring during the "Reba" show, I would have fan club meet-and-greets or sign autographs afterwards. And there was this one woman who looked down at her little girl, and she said, this is Reba McEntire. She said, what's she doing here? She said, oh, she's putting on a concert tonight. She said, no, she's supposed to be home with Cheyenne and Van. You know, she was - could not understand why I was at this concert, had no idea I was singing at all.
SHAPIRO: You've also been one of the judges on "The Voice" for years. And one thing that "The Voice" and "Happy's Place" have in common is you taking on the role of a mentor to someone younger.
MCENTIRE: Yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "HAPPY'S PLACE")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Thought I'd ask you since you probably know best.
MCENTIRE: (As Bobbie) Good instincts.
(LAUGHTER)
MCENTIRE: (As Bobbie) So what do you say if I take you under my wing?
SHAPIRO: Is that a role that you naturally take to off camera too?
MCENTIRE: I like that. I like to help. I don't give unsolicited advice. If they ask, I'll sure enough tell them what I think. I don't think it's my place just to start saying, hey, you know, if I was you, I'd do this. So I wait until I'm asked for advice. And I love being a mentor. I love giving advice, especially on "The Voice." And that's what they're there for. They're wanting to learn. They're like sponges. So I totally enjoy doing that.
SHAPIRO: Who do you consider your mentors?
MCENTIRE: Mama, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline - I mean, they didn't talk to me about it, but I learned and I watched. Barbara Mandrell - I watched every television show, every special she had. But mama was the one that was saying, all right, now Reba Nell, I don't know if I'd do that or not. And I said, what would you do? And she'd say, and I said, OK, that's what we'll do. And she was our coach, our cheerleader, our driver, our disciplinarian and our best friend.
SHAPIRO: You know, "Reba" and "Happy's Place" are both traditional half-hour network TV sitcoms. And that's a genre that often doesn't get as much attention and love from critics and Emmy awards compared to other kinds of shows. What do you love about the genre? What keeps you coming back to it?
MCENTIRE: It's 30 minutes. It's quick. It's fast. Mama always said I had the attention span of a 4-year-old. No, she said 2-year-old, matter of fact. But it is quick. You get two in one hour. My favorite Thursday night was "Bewitched" and "Batman." Remember that? When they first - just absolutely loved it. So I've just always loved sitcoms. I liked the sitcoms better than the one-hour shows when I was growing up. So watching a sitcom, being a part of it? I love that.
SHAPIRO: You wrote a new theme song for this show.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "HAPPY'S PLACE")
MCENTIRE: (Singing) But here you'll find a place that'll surely lift your spirit. Come on to Happy's Place.
SHAPIRO: Will you tell us a little bit about it?
MCENTIRE: I had an idea. When I first read the treatment for "Happy's Place," I had an idea, a melody. I started kind of humming it and singing it. Do-do-do (ph), all that kind of stuff. And they said, what are you doing? I said, well, that's the theme song I'm trying to write. And so I got it to a place. And my manager, Justin Mcintosh, said, you know, this is pretty good, but maybe you can get some more help with it. I thought, well, shoot far. I've got to write with her before. So I asked Carole King if she'd write with me, and she said she'd love to. I sent her what I had and sat with her and looked at her lyrics, absolutely loved them, but I still loved my melody. So I took her lyrics, my melody, and that's what the theme song is.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "HAPPY'S PLACE")
MCENTIRE: (Singing) Happy's Place.
SHAPIRO: Well, Reba McEntire, congratulations on your new sitcom, "Happy's Place," and thank you so much for speaking with us.
MCENTIRE: Oh, you're very welcome. Thank you for this time. I appreciate it.
SHAPIRO: That is the redhead, country music legend Reba McEntire.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "HAPPY'S PLACE")
MCENTIRE: (Singing) Here at Happy's Place. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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