Reba’s still juggling an overloaded life

Long ago, Reba McEntire received some astute maternal analysis.
“Momma always said I had the attention span of a 2-year-old,” she told the Television Critics Association.
That hasn’t changed much, now that she’s 69. It will be evident Tuesday (Oct. 22), when NBC displays her as:
— A comedy actress. At 8 p.m., it reruns the opener of “Happy’s Place” (shown here with Belissa Escobeda and McEntire) following its debut at 8 p.m. Friday (Oct. 18).
— A music judge. At 8:30 is a 90-minute version of “The Voice.”
Both are still overshadowed by her main job: She’s a singer who’s had 25 singles reach No. 1 on the country charts.
Fortunately, her fans have tolerated the detours. “They follow me wherever, whatever genre I want to attempt,” she said.
There were other skills she tried first. She worked the family ranch, trained to be a barrel racer in rodeos, graduated from college with a teaching degree.
But after someone heard her sing at a rodeo, she had a music career that sputtered, then soared. Busy with records and tours, she still tackled acting, starting with the 1990 “Tremors.”
There were movies with Kenny Rogers, Burt Reynolds and director Rob Reiner. There were ones based on her songs, “Forever Love” and “Is There Life Out There?” There was Broadway, starring in “Annie Get Your Gun.”
Then she did “Reba,” her first situation comedy.
“I didn’t meet her until the table read,” said Melissa Peterman, who played her enemy (Reba’s husband’s mistress) turned friend.
The two strangers – from Oklahoma and Minnesota – soon bonded. “We’ve been friends ever since,” Peterman said. “I got to go on tour with her and open the show and do stand-up. We vacation together; we hang out.”
Both were in “Young Sheldon” – Peterman as the neighbor, McEntire as Dale’s temporary girlfriend – but rarely in the same scene.
“We have been looking for another project to do together, because we had fun,” McEntire said. They took one from Kevin Abbott, who had produced “Last Man Standing”and McEntire’s one-season “Malibu Country.”
McEntire plays Bobbie, running the bar her late father started. She’s surrounded by Peterman, as an employee and needy friend; Rex Linn (McEntire’s real-life love interest) as the cook; Pablo Castelblanco as a compulsive accountant; and Tokala Black Elk as an all-around helper.
“I have had a career of playing a villain,” Black Elk said, “being a really scary guy …. In reality I’m kind of a fun person.”
Then arrives Isabella, a half-sister Bobbie didn’t know about – and now half-owner of the bar. She’s played by relative newcomer Belissa Escobedo.
“I went in there, gave her a hug,” Escobedo said. “She smelled like warm, fuzzy bears and I was just immediately comforted.”
It was another meeting of opposites – a world-famous singer and a young actress who doesn’t yet know how to drive. “I took the Metro (bus) every day when were were filming the pilot,” Escobedo said. “I love the Metro. I have a taser; I have bear spray. I’m set.”
And yes, McEntire has already volunteered to teach her to drive. Like any 2-year-old would, she seems to savor new adventures.