Reba McEntire talks about her sitcom return with “Happy's Place”

When Reba McEntire first plunged into the treacherous waters of primetime sitcoms, she had no idea what she was doing.

But with six seasons that included the transition from The WB to The CW, and an unforgettable theme song, Reba became a hit and continued to air in syndication years after it ended in 2007.

Now, McEntire — between her music career, her appearance on The voiceand saving small towns – is with NBC’s Happy's PlacePremieres on October 18th. And yes, Reba will sing the theme song.

No longer a single mom who works two jobs, loves her kids and never quits, McEntire plays Bobbie, the fiery owner of the titular bar left to her by her late father Happy. However, Happy may have been a little too happy in life and Bobbie finds out she has a half-sister, Isabella (Belissa Escobedo), who was left half of the bar in Happy's will.

“Bobbie has been running the tavern for 10 years,” says McEntire Weekly entertainment“She was married, but her husband died. She has a daughter who is in the army, so she's pretty much alone and spends her life in the tavern.”

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The “very down-to-earth, no-nonsense” Bobbie is surrounded by a diverse cast of employees: Pablo Castelblanco as fussy accountant Steve; Tokala Black Elk as the far too affable waiter Takoda; McEntire's real-life boyfriend Rex Linn as the short-tempered short-order cook Emmett; and a familiar face from RebaMelissa Peterman as the clingy bartender Gabby.

Peterman and McEntire are friends off-camera too, so getting back into the comedic groove with her was “like riding a bike”.

“We can support each other, which is wonderful,” McEntire says of Peterman. “We have so much fun together, and it's just about putting Bobbie in certain situations that she has to find a way out of.”

For newbie Linn, however, McEntire used what she learned in her early days in television to give her friend some advice.

“Oh my God, I learned everything from [Reba]how to rehearse, how to keep things flowing,” says McEntire. “This is Rex's first sitcom and I kind of told him that. I said, 'Don't memorize everything from the first draft because they're going to change it and they do that every day just to make it better. What doesn't get big laughs gets changed. And so you just learn to get comfortable with the blocking and everything, but don't nail down the dialogue until the third, fourth day.'”

While McEntire and the cast love show nights and filming in front of a live studio audience, the “Fancy” singer is particularly fond of rehearsals.

“What I love is the camaraderie between all the actors and the crew, the writers, everyone. We just have fun creating what we're going to film on the night of the show,” she says. “And the writers are great. Kevin Abbott wrote for me on Reba, [her second sitcom] Malibu Landand he's a genius. He knows my voice and I just absolutely love being Bobbie.”

Happy's Place Premieres Friday, October 18 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.