‘Happy’s Place’ EPs Kevin Abbott and Pamela Fryman Preview NBC Sitcom Following Midseason Break (Exclusive)

Happy’s Place is back this week, and executive producers Kevin Abbott and Pamela Fryman told PopCulture.com what to expect.

The sitcom resumes its second season on Friday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

The first half of the season was filled to the brim with guest stars, secrets, revelations, laughs, and more, and the second half is sure to be even bigger. Abbott, who also serves as co-creator and showrunner, and Fryman, a director for the series, spilled some details about the upcoming episodes and guest stars. Take a look at what they had to say. (Interview has been edited for length and clarity.)

PopCulture: What can you guys preview for these upcoming episodes?

Kevin Abbott: There’s some big stuff happening in the next couple of episodes. Big Bobbie and Emmett stuff, some big Gabby stuff, some fun Steve stuff, things change. That’s the most terse way I could put it.

Pamela Fryman: Good guest star stuff. Lots of stuff.

PC: Going off of that and going back to the season premiere, we find out that Emmett has been keeping this secret that he’s known about Isabella for years, and now Steve knows. It hasn’t really come up since the premiere, but could we be getting some more about this as the season goes on, especially as Emmett and Bobbie’s relationship continues to evolve?

Abbott: It’s a ticking time bomb, isn’t it? It didn’t just go away. Let’s put it that way. There will definitely be complications because of that. We wanted to spend a little time playing with the good portion of the relationship before we started to overly complicate it.

Fryman: This is a real stay-tuned moment. Stay tuned.

Abbott: If you are interested in that, you will be interested in the episodes coming up.

PC: Speaking of staying tuned, we also saw Gabby finally picking a sperm donor towards the end of the first half of the season. Where will the storyline go as the season continues?

Abbott: I think it will take quite a surprising twist. It is a continuing storyline that takes, I believe, an unforeseen road.

Fryman: It’s so rare. It’s so unexpected and riveting, I would say, and beautifully acted.

PC: There are some great guest stars in the first half with Cheri Oteri, Christopher Lloyd, and Carol Kane, to name a few. In the back half, we’ll be seeing JoAnna Garcia Swisher for a Reba reunion, as well as Jane Lynch and Eric Stonestreet, who were both recently announced. What can fans expect from these upcoming appearances and more?

Fryman: Fun. So much fun. Even when I hear you say it, I’m like, Oh my god, Christopher Lloyd and Carol Kane came on the show.” I was there, but it’s a really big deal. The roles are so fantastic.

Abbott: I mean, I’m usually anti-guest star just because we only have so much verbal real estate on the show, and I love our people so much. I think they’re great. The opportunities to have these characters on and what we were able to play with them were so kinda unique that I overcame my reluctance. We had Jane on for several. We had Cheri on for three in the upcoming season. We have Eric on. They’re all so marvelous that we keep wanting to bring them back because the roles are just so rich and so fun. Jane Lynch will be playing Gabby’s mom, and that is just gold. It’s just gold.

Fryman: It’s too good. It’s too good.

Abbott: They have one of my favorite screen scene moments in the season. They make me laugh. I mean, Jane is the only one that I’ve seen Pablo [Castelblanco] break in a scene. He doesn’t break ever. He’s so good. I mean, she did this thing where she touched him on the chin. He just was struggling so hard not to break. They’ve got some really interesting roles, and they’re integral to the characters that we have on the show. They’re fun to watch.

Fryman: They all had such a great time being there. I mean, it’s such a welcoming cast. Sometimes it’s hard to walk into an established show, but not at all with this group. They left wanting more, too, which is great.

PC: Out of all the storylines that we’ve had so far this season, which has been the most fun to execute?

Abbott: I would say this season, it’s the Gabby pregnancy. Where it goes through the end of the season, I think it’s probably my favorite storyline, only because that’s the one we brought Jane Lynch on, and I just adored those stunts. It’s a great one, especially in the back half, where all the dynamics started playing off each other. I love them all.

Happy’s Place returns on Friday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, streaming the next day on Peacock.