‘Reba’ Semi-Reunion Set for Lifetime With New Reba McEntire Project

Reba McEntire’s next Lifetime movie will also count as a mini-reunion for her classic WB sitcom. According to TV Insider, the country music legend will reunite with Melissa Peterman for The Hammer on Lifetime.

The full title is presented as Reba McEntire’s The Hammer, with the country icon starring and executive producing the movie. She will also bring back Reba co-star Melissa Peterman,playing sisters this time around instead of opposing wives in the sitcom world.

The film is inspired by the real life of Kim Wanker, a traveling circuit judge who “hands down justice unlike anyone else.” McEntire portrays Wanker in the film, though the character will be named Kim Wheeler. The official logline from Lifetime, as shared by TV Insider, calls Wheeler “an outspoken, firecracker lawyer who is appointed Judge of the 5th District of Nevada and is one of the few traveling judges left in America. After the reigning judge passes away under suspicious circumstances, Kim finds herself covering a circuit that stretches between Las Vegas and Reno – a rugged, often desolate area where anything and everything can happen.”

The title of the film is a reference to McEntire’s character laying down the law “with a no nonsense brand of justice.” Peterman will play Kris Wheeler, McEntire’s sister and a local brothel owner that becomes the prime suspect in the death of the judge McEntire is replacing.

The movie is McEntire’s second with Lifetime, previously appearing in the 2021 Christmas feature Reba McEntire’s Christmas in Tune. As for McEntire and Peterman, the film will represent their second reunion since Reba came to an end. The pair previously shared the screen on ABC Family’s Baby Daddy.

Reba ran for six seasons on The WB, setting viewership records for the network’s Friday lineup. The series was almost canceled as part of the merger between The WB and UPN in 2006. But the new The CW network gave the show one more season to fulfill its $20 million syndication contract, quickly becoming the top-rated sitcom for the network until its final episode on Feb. 18, 2007. Even after the show ended, repeats of the show were on top of the network’s ratings. So how long until there’s a real follow-up revival or Netflix spinoff?