‘Reba’ Alum Sets Reunion Appearance With Reba McEntire on ‘Happy’s Place’

Reba McEntire’s new NBC sitcom Happy’s Place is setting the stage for another Reba reunion. TVLine reports that Steve Howey, who starred as McEntire’s son-in-law Van Montgomery on the early 2000s WB/CW sitcom, will be appearing on the new series. Creator and former Reba executive producer Kevin Abbott told the outlet that the actor will be appearing in the Christmas episode titled “Ho-Ho-Howey.”

“One of the arcs for [Peterman’s] character Gabby is that she thinks she wants to have a baby… and the Steve Howey character [Danny] becomes a potential sperm donor,” Abbott shared. “We’re hoping that Steve’s character can come back. It’s a lot of fun. We absolutely want to bring some of the old cast members on — and in very different roles than what they played on Reba. Steve’s our first one up, and we’re trying to figure out how to bring JoAnna [Garcia-Swisher] in. We only want to have the old cast in if we can really utilize them in a fun, impactful way.”

It was announced in January that McEntire was reuniting with Reba executive producers Abbott, Michael Hanel, and Mindy Schultheis for a new sitcom on NBC. Not long after, it was revealed that Reba star Melissa Peterman would also be joining the cast, so it was expected that more Reba veterans would be coming along for the ride, no matter the capacity. Whether or not Howey will be returning for more episodes remains to be seen, but if his storyline with Peterman grows into something more, it’s always possible.

Per NBC, Happy’s Place follows McEntire’s Bobbie, who “inherits her father’s tavern (Happy’s Place) and is surprised to discover that she has a new business partner, Isabella (Belissa Escobedo), a twentysomething half-sister that she never knew she had.” Pablo Castelblanco, Tokala Black Elk, and Rex Linn also star in the series, which is executive produced by Abbott, McEntire, Hanel, Schultheis, Matt Berry, and Pamela Fryman.

Happy’s Place is premiering on Friday, Oct. 18 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC’s 2024 fall schedule but as of now, there isn’t a premiere date for the Christmas episode that Steve Howey will be appearing in. It is going to be a very merry Christmas with him reuniting with his former Reba co-stars and colleagues, though, so the wait will be worth it. More details surrounding the episodes should be released in the coming weeks.