Whatever happened to Reba McEntire’s ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’ TV series

Reba McEntire, left, stars in “Happy’s Place,” a new series that also includes Belissa Escobedo of “Hocus Pocus 2” and “Blue Beetle.”(Casey Durkin/NBC)

Reba McEntire has a new TV series in the works, announced this week by NBC. The country star will be front and center in “Happy’s Place,” a sitcom about a woman who inherits her father’s restaurant after his death. Her character, Bobbie, quickly discovers that her new business partner is a half-sister (played by Belissa Escobedo) that Bobbie never knew she had.

McEntire is no stranger to network TV, previously starring in the sitcoms “Reba” (2001-2007 on The WB and The CW) and “Malibu Country” (2012-2013 on ABC). She’s had a recurring role on the CBS series “Young Sheldon” in recent years, and is now a high-profile coach on NBC’s “The Voice.”

And that got us thinking. Whatever happened to the TV series McEntire announced in 2020, based on “Fried Green Tomatoes”? An hourlong drama was in the works that year at NBC, according to a report by Variety. The series was inspired by the “Fried Green Tomatoes” novel and movie written by Birmingham native Fannie Flagg, of course, and McEntire and Flagg were on board as executive producers, along with TV icon Norman Lear.

Variety described the series as a “modernization of the novel and movie that explores the lives of descendants from the original work.” McEntire was set to play an older version of main character Idgie Threadgoode, who returns to Whistle Stop “after a decade away” and finds she “must wrestle with a changed town, estranged daughter, faltering cafe and life-changing secret.”

After the initial announcement, however, no updates were released on the “Fried Green Tomatoes” series. The show, which would be exciting for viewers in Alabama, seemed to simply fade away.

As it turns out, McEntire discussed the fate of her “Fried Green Tomatoes” show during a 2021 appearance on the podcast “Taste of Country Nights, On Demand.” The series was never a done deal, McEntire told host Evan Paul.

“It just kinda went away, unfortunately,” McEntire said. “We were right in there in the running and they passed on it … It was a great idea, it had a great script written for it. That’s showbiz.”

At the time, McEntire said she wasn’t giving up on another series, and had plenty to keep her busy.

“What I’ve learned from ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’ is you’d better have lots of balls in the air and plates spinning, because you never know which one is going to go through,” McEntire said on the podcast. “Yeah, we’re working on a lot of different projects. Hopefully, fingers crossed, one of them will go through.”

Now, four years later, “Happy’s Place” is a go at NBC, with a pilot already filmed and a series order from the network. The cast will include Melissa Peterman, a “Reba” veteran, and Rex Linn, an actor known for his work on “CSI: Miami” and “Better Call Saul.” (He’s also McEntire’s real-life boyfriend, as trumpeted by NBC.) Actors Pablo Castelblanco and Tokala Black Elk are part of the show, as well.

Reba McEntire and Rex Linn, left, are set to appear in a new NBC sitcom, “Happy’s Place.” Here, the two appeared before the NFL Super Bowl 58 football game on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in Las Vegas.(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

McEntire is an executive producer of the new series, along with writer Kevin Abbott, Michael Hanel, Mindy Schultheis and Julie Abbott.

“We have been working on trying to get another show since we were canceled on the ‘Reba’ show,” McEntire said in a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight. “We got to do ‘Malibu Country’ for one season. We’ve got the same producers, same showrunner, same writers and now we’re back with Melissa Peterman and Rex Linn, my boyfriend, and wonderful, wonderful cast and crew.”

A premiere date for “Happy’s Place” hasn’t been announced, but it’s on NBC’s fall lineup for Fridays at 8 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. CT.

 

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