‘Happy’s Place’ Guest Star Eric Stonestreet Teases Upcoming Appearance in Season Finale (Exclusive)

Eric Stonestreet is guest starring in the Season 2 finale of Happy’s Place, and he spoke to PopCulture.com all about it.

In “Couples Counseling,” airing on Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC, “After Bobbie starts serving patrons while they wait in line for the speakeasy, Isabella accuses her of stealing customers, causing the two sisters to attend couples counseling.”

It was announced in January that the Modern Family star would be appearing on Happy’s Place as an “unconventional therapist” who attempts to help Bobbie (Reba McEntire) and Isabella (Belissa Escobedo) resolve their conflicts. Stonestreet admitted he was “excited” about his appearance.

“I was excited when I shot it, and I think people will be happy to see that I’m playing a therapist and helping Reba and her character through some difficult situations right now that they’re experiencing,” he said. “And happy to get that call to come play in their world.”

While Happy’s Place is only finishing up its second season, the NBC sitcom has a knack for bringing in great guest stars. Just this season alone, the show has seen Cheri Oteri, Jane Lynch, Christopher Lloyd, Carol Kane, JoAnna Garcia Swisher, and more. And for Stonestreet, he had a blast being on the show.

“Personally, it was great because I love Reba, and I’ve known Rex [Linn] for a long time. I’ve known Melissa Peterman for a very long time in LA,” the actor explained. “We kinda are cut from the same cloth as far as improv goes. She was at Dudley Riggs in Minneapolis, and I was in Chicago doing improv there. And so it was very rewarding working with people and seeing people that I know and admire. And then just what it was like on the show was incredible. It was euphoric. It was otherworldly as far as just a workplace experience goes.”

“And Reba sets that tone. The producers set that tone. And I mean, it sounds so stupid and cliché to say, everyone’s happy. Everyone was very happy to be there and very appreciative of being there,” he continued. “And I have a dark sort of jaded, sarcastic, cynical sense of humor a lot. And I really felt like I had to be on my absolute best behavior. And because everyone was operating on such a great positive level, I told Melissa, I’m like, ‘I feel like if I cuss, I’m going to get fired.’ And I’m on my absolute best behavior.”

Stonestreet has a wide range of roles under his belt, including Modern Family, Dexter: Resurrection, Sofia the First, The Santa Clauses, and many, many more. It might seem hard going from comedy to drama and back again, having just appeared on Dexter: Resurrection last year, but it’s actually pretty easy.

“It’s just the format of how they shoot it. Obviously, it’s a multi-camera and a traditional sitcom. The hours are completely different than what we experienced on Modern Family,” he explained. “While Modern Family hours were great for that genre as well, you can spend 12, 14, 16 hours a day on a set on Friday for sure.”

“Procedural dramas can go very, very long. I think they’ve done something to kinda curtail that a little bit, because it can just go on and on and on,” Stonestreet shared. “But those hours on multi-cam, they refer to them as banker’s hours. My call time was 9:00, 9:30, sometimes 10:00, and you come in and rehearse. And all of a sudden, you’re having lunch, and then all of a sudden, you’re rehearsing again.”

“And everybody’s like, ‘Oh, you wanna go home?’ It’s like, ‘Okay. Sure. I’ll go home.’ And then you’ll be back tomorrow, you do it again,” he continued. “And then it’s show night, and you get to do what you’re so excited to do, and that’s entertain a group of people that could be from anywhere that are excited to be there. It’s just fun. It’s exhilarating and fun.”

Tune in on Friday for the hour-long Season 2 finale of Happy’s Place beginning at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. Stonestreet’s episode will air at 8:30 p.m. ET. Both episodes will drop on Peacock, where all episodes are streaming, on Saturday.