| Genre: | Sitcom |
| Camera: | Videotape (filmized); Multi-camera |
| Runtime: | 20–22 minutes |
| Creator: | Allison M. Gibson |
| Company: | Acme Productions Bee Caves Road Productions (2001–2002) (season 1) 20th Century Fox Television |
| Executive Producer: | Mindy Schultheis Michael Hanel (entire run) Allison M. Gibson (2001–2002) Kevin Abbott (2002–2007) Matt Berry (2003–2007) Donald Beck Christopher Case Pat Bullard Reba McEntire (all from 2005–2007) |
| Producer: | Jason Shubb |
| Cinematography: | Donald A. Morgan (pilot) Bryan Hays |
| Editor: | Andy Zall |
| Starring: | Reba McEntire Christopher Rich Joanna García Steve Howey Scarlett Pomers Mitch Holleman Melissa Peterman |
| Theme Music Composer: | Shelby Kennedy Phillip White |
| Opentheme: | "I'm a Survivor", performed by Reba McEntire |
| Composer: | Steve Dorff (season 1) Jonathan Wolff (seasons 2–4) Tree Adams (seasons 5–6) |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Network: | The WB |
| Network2: | The CW |
| Num Seasons: | 6 |
| Num Episodes: | 127 |
| List Episodes: | List of Reba episodes |
Reba is an American television sitcom starring Reba McEntire that aired from October 5, 2001 to February 18, 2007. The series premiered on The WB where it aired for 5 seasons, with the sixth season airing on The CW (The WB and UPN merged into The CW in 2006). Most episodes were recorded in front of a live studio audience.
Set in the city of Houston, Texas, middle-aged wisecracking Reba Hart's (Reba McEntire) life is thrown upside down when she faces an unexpected divorce. Her husband of 20 years, Brock (Christopher Rich), has been unfaithful and is expecting a baby with his dental hygienist Barbra Jean (Melissa Peterman) - who is half Reba's age. Furthermore, Reba's 17-year-old daughter Cheyenne (JoAnna Garcia) also gets pregnant, by her high school boyfriend Van Montgomery (Steve Howey). With all of the new chaos and dysfunction in her life, Reba attempts to get through her day with her preteen daughter Kyra (Scarlett Pomers) and 8-year-old son Jake (Mitch Holleman).
See main article: List of Reba characters.
Reba McEntire, Joanna García, and Steve Howey are the only cast members to appear in every episode.
See main article: List of Reba episodes.
The show's theme song, "I'm a Survivor", was written by Shelby Kennedy and Phillip White and performed by Reba McEntire. The song comes from Reba's album . Though the first part of the TV version's lyrics appear elsewhere in the song, the album version has a different chorus: "The baby girl without a chance / a victim of circumstance / the one who ought to give up / but she's just too hard-headed / a single mom who works two jobs / who loves her kids and never stops / with gentle hands and the heart of a fighter / I'm a survivor." The show's lyrics are as follows:
My roots are planted in the past
Though my life is changing fast
Who I am is who I want to be
A single mom who works too hard
Who loves her kids and never stops
With gentle hands and the heart of a fighter
I'm a survivor
In season 1, the opening credits were black-and-white photos of cast members interspersed with clips of each cast member from the show (mostly if not all from the pilot episode), along with color video shots of Reba on a soundstage (which were taken from The WB's promotional campaign from the 2001–02 season). The theme song, "I'm a Survivor", was slower and softer, very similar to the original album version. The first ten episodes of season two featured a truncated opening sequence: Cast and crew names were shown during the first and second segments of the show. The song was re-recorded at a faster, more energetic pace, but only two lines of the chorus ("Who I am is who I want to be / I'm a survivor") were sung. New video inserts of McEntire were shot and played with a color photo of the entire cast at the end.
From the 11th episode of season 2 onwards, a full opening sequence was returned to the show. The fast-paced song played among the new shots of McEntire (which were also taken from The WB's promotional campaign from the 2002–03 season) plus clips of cast members from previous episodes as their names scroll past the screen horizontally. In seasons 5 and 6, the song was re-mixed again, with gentler guitars replacing a harder-edged sax solo.
The series finale of Reba ended with a family photo, similar to the first episode and the season five finale "Reba's Heart".
In the series pilot, McEntire performed her single "Walk On." Two unreleased songs were performed by McEntire throughout the series: "Angel's Lullaby" (in the episode "It Ain't Over Till the Redhead Sings") and a cover of Carole King's "So Far Away" (in "Terry Holliway"). Finally, McEntire and Peterman performed Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" in the episode "Driving Miss Kyra."
Midway through season 6, word began circulating that the CW had ordered "the back nine", or the remaining episodes that would have given Reba a full-season order, but on January 19, 2007, during the network's TCA Press Tour, it was revealed that the series had been canceled, with no "back nine" on order. The series finale was filmed in December 2006.[1]
The series finale garnered 4.44 million viewers in its final half-hour. Rumors continued to float on the CW's message boards and Reba fan sites that the series might still have a chance at renewal, citing the possible removal of programming chief Dawn Ostroff, or that Lifetime expressed interest in a Van/Cheyenne spinoff series.[2] It was soon announced that Garcia and Howey had each been signed to new shows for CBS and FOX respectively.[3]
An interview with Reba McEntire, as part of the press coverage of her then upcoming Duets album, revealed that the show was not being shopped around and that the series was indeed finished. In an interview with Variety on May 29, 2007, 20th Century Fox TV president Gary Newman said that he had regretted The WB's handling of the show in later years, saying that he was sure the series would have been a hit for CBS, ABC, or UPN.[4] The final season of Reba was originally scheduled to debut in the spring of 2007. However, following the cancellation of the drama Runaway, the series returned in November 2006.
Reba set a new all-time viewership record for any program on the WB's Friday night (best-ever Friday in women 18–49). During its five seasons on the Friday night lineup, it often ranked 4th in its timeslot (ahead of both UPN and Fox), with a few episodes bringing in over 5 million viewers.
Rebas premiere on The CW Sunday averaged 4.02 million viewers, including 1.64 million viewers and 40 percent among adults 18–49 more than when Everybody Hates Chris and All of Us premiered in the same time slot, thus making Reba the highest rated sitcom on the network. With Reba as a lead in, 7th Heaven saw a season high of 4.51 million viewers.
Reba was averaging 3.63 million viewers since the beginning of its sixth season, making it the seventh most-watched show and the most-watched sitcom on The CW throughout the 2006–07 television season. The new Reba episodes vary as being either sixth or seventh most-watched program on the network, sometimes ranking as high as #3 for the week.
Throughout The CW's inaugural season (2006–07), no other program had higher viewer turnout for repeat airings than Reba. As a result of the lackluster ratings for encores of the summer drama Hidden Palms, repeats of Reba returned to the CW's schedule in June 2007 after being absent for three months, and they immediately became the most-watched program of the night. Later in the summer, repeats of Reba were the most-viewed program on The CW.
| Season | U.S. ratings | Network | Rank | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2001–2002 | 4.2 million[5] | The WB |
| |
| 2 | 2002–2003 | 4.5 million[6] |
| ||
| 3 | 2003–2004 | 4.2 million[7] |
| ||
| 4 | 2004–2005 | 4.3 million[8] |
| ||
| 5 | 2005–2006 | 3.4 million[9] |
| ||
| 6 | 2006–2007 | 3.6 million[10] | The CW |
| |
The series was originally cancelled when The WB's rival network UPN merged with them to transform into The CW. However, in an 11th hour move on May 17, 2006, The CW renewed Reba with a 13-episode order, reportedly to fulfill a syndication contract worth $20 million.[11] [12] In November 2006, The CW announced that the show would be paired with 7th Heaven, Sundays at 7:00 p.m., beginning later that month.[13] Reba encores were scheduled for Sundays at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT, with a new episode at 7:30 p.m. Reba became the top-rated sitcom on the CW, also surpassing the dramas Supernatural, One Tree Hill, and Veronica Mars.[14] The final episode aired on February 18, 2007.
Reba has aired in syndication on Lifetime, Ion Television, Peachtree TV, The CW Plus, and Hallmark Channel. In September 2006, Reba began airing on the new CW Daytime block, and remained there until September 2008. It began airing on CMT on Wednesday August 1, 2012, in high definition, and also began airing on ABC Family (now Freeform) on August 6, 2012. It began airing on TV Land in 2015. As of August 2019, however, the series was pulled from both TV Land and Freeform. The show made its network premiere on UPtv on August 2, 2019.[15] On April 5, 2021, the series began airing again on the Hallmark Channel.[16]
Reba was broadcast worldwide in over 30 countries. The series was successful in the Czech Republic (under the name "The Diary of a Seasoned Mother") where the season premiere on September 29, 2007 garnered over 1 million viewers. It was also successful in Canada, Mexico, and Croatia.
Reba is currently available to stream on Hulu and Amazon Freevee. On May 6, 2024, the series became available for streaming on Netflix.[17]
20th Century Fox has released the entire series run, seasons 1–6, of Reba on DVD in Region 1. All discs are double-sided in an effort to reduce the economics of producing the sets. In 2010, seasons 1-4 were re-released in standard, more compact DVD cases to match the fifth and sixth season releases.
| Title | Season One | Season Two | Season Three | Season Four | Season Five | Season Six | Complete Series | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Release date | December 14, 2004 | December 13, 2005 | April 25, 2006 | November 14, 2006 | January 13, 2009 | June 23, 2009 | October 2, 2018 | |
| Ep# | 22 Episodes | 24 Episodes | 22 Episodes | 22 Episodes | 22 Episodes | 13 Episodes | 125 episodes | |
| Disc # | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 18 | |
| Format | NTSC | NTSC | NTSC | NTSC | NTSC | NTSC | NTSC |
| Year | Award | Result | Category | Recipient | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Favorite Female Performer in a New Television Series | Reba McEntire | |||
| Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series – Supporting Young Actress | Scarlett Pomers | ||||
| Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series – Supporting Young Actor | Mitch Holleman | ||||
| Best Family TV Comedy Series | Reba McEntire | ||||
| Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series – Guest Starring Young Actor | Shawn Pyfrom | ||||
| 2002 | Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) – Supporting Young Actor | Mitch Holleman | |||
| Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) – Leading Young Actress | Scarlett Pomers | ||||
| 2003 | Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) – Leading Young Actress | ||||
| Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy | Reba McEntire | ||||
| 2004 | Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) – Young Actor Age Ten or Younger | Mitch Holleman | |||
| Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) – Leading Young Actress | Scarlett Pomers | ||||
| Best Family Television Series (Comedy) | |||||
| 2006 | Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Series | Bryan Hays (For episode: "Flowers For Van") | |||
| 2007 | Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Series | Bryan Hays (For episode: "The Goodbye Guy") | |||
| 2008 | Choice TV Actress: Comedy | Joanna García |