EXCLUSIVE: Melissa Peterman is reuniting with Reba McEntire in the latter’s as-yet-untitled NBC multi-cam comedy pilot alongside Blue Beetle star Belissa Escobedo.
Peterman and McEntire co-starred in the country legend’s eponymous TV series from 2001 to 2007 from executive producers Kevin Abbott, Michael Hanel and Mindy Schultheis, who are also back together for the new project alongside new addition, Julie Abbott. The project is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.
The pilot follows Bobbie (McIntyre) who inherits her father’s restaurant and is less than thrilled to discover that she has a new business partner in the half-sister she never knew she had.
Peterman will portray Gabby, a bartender who has worked at the tavern for quite some time. She is a bit needy and dramatic and would have loved to be Bobbie’s sister.
Escobedo stars as Bobbie’s sister Isabella, an enthusiastic 20-something, who has studied psychology and loves to analyze people. She is thrilled to start working at the tavern and is full of “great” ideas about how to bring it to life.
Peterman faced a complicated schedule to make her casting on the NBC comedy pilot work as she completes her commitments working on CBS’ Young Sheldon, currently airing its seventh and final season. She plays Brenda Sparks on the Big Bang Theory spinoff prequel. It’s worth noting, that McEntire has also appeared in Young Sheldon as the character June, however, she and Peterman have never shared the screen due to scheduling issues—at least not yet.
Most recently, Peterman and McIntyre collaborated on the latter’s Lifetime movie Reba McEntire’s The Hammer, inspired by the life of one of the last traveling judges in the U.S., Kim Wheeler. Peterman is also the executive producer and host of the game show, Person, Place or Thing for Fox First Run. The 180-episode second season is set to start shooting in May. Additionally, she co-starred with Lacey Chabert in the movie Haul Out the Holly. Peterman is repped by Darris Hatch Management and Production.
Escobedo’s star continues to rise following two major roles in DC Entertainment/Warner Bros’ Blue Beetle, where he portrayed the titular character’s (played by Xolo Maridueña) sister Milagro, and Disney’s Hocus Pocus 2 where she popped off the screen—no easy task when you’re starring opposite Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy, who returned as the Sanderson sisters.
Additional credits include the ABC dramedy The Baker And The Beauty alongside Carlos Gomez, Lisa Vidal and Victor Rasuk; Ryan Murphy’s FX anthology series American Horror Stories, the Catherine Hardwicke-directed Quibi limited series Don’t Look Deeper and the American High films Sex Appeal (Hulu) and Sid Is Dead. She is represented by Gersh, Anonymous Content and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, et al.