Reba: Difference between revisions

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Reba has to deal with her divorce from a cheating husband, the new (pregnant) wife he left her for, her oldest daughter's teenage pregnancy and hasty marriage, and being a newly single parent to three kids, all the while cracking numerous jokes at the ex's new wife. Despite its slapstick premise, the show exhibited a surprising amount of genuinely touching emotion.

Ignoring your own partiality (or lack thereof) to country music/culture, the show was popular enough to stay on the air for six seasons, even surviving the [[Network Decay|destruction]] of the network that originally aired it.

 

* [[Aborted Arc]]: Part of the first season involved the Harts going to court-ordered therapy after a knock-down drag-out fight at divorce court. This all but disappeared after the first season, until much later in the show's run (the fifth season).

* [[Absentee Actor]] / [[Written in Infirmity]]: Kyra was nowhere to be seen for the last half of season five thanks to Scarlett Pomers' anorexia battle.

'''Kyra:''' Just going to get something to eat.<br />

'''Van:''' OK, see you next year. }}

** An even bigger one: "I always thought I'd be a singer." Hi there, Queen of Country...

** Yet another example:

* [[American Accents]]: Reba's trademark Oklahoma drawl, naturally.

* [[Amicably Divorced]]: Reba and Brock slowly settle into this.

** Also, Reba about Kyra's boyfriend's parents:

{{quote| '''Reba:''' They could be drunks, or convicts, or telemarketers for all I know!}}

* [[The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry]]: Cheyenne and Kyra.

* [[Gosh Dang It to Heck]]: Reba didn't do this at first, resulting Barbra Jean, who was present at the time, to try to "correct" Reba toward this. In latter seasons Reba is actually doing this rather involuntarily.

* [[Hair Today Gone Tomorrow]]: A mild example: Brock, in a [[Flash Back|flash back]] scene, sported a long mustache prior to his marriage with Reba. In a separate episode, Van, Brock, and Cheyenne turn up in a future scene (six decades or so into the future), in which this trope is played straight with Van (balding) and Brock (completely bald with a wig on top) but subverted in Cheyenne's case (she still has her hair, just not blonde any longer).

* [[Halloween Episode]]: The one time Reba ''wants'' her offspring to pull pranks.

* [[Helium Speech]]: Brock talks this way when he happens to be in charge of balloons for a party Cheyenne throws for Kyra.

* [[Homage]]: At the end of the episode with the character played by Kelly Clarkson, said character is demonstrating her knowledge about weather forecasting to Barbra Jean (who acts like a host) while Brock, Cheyenne, and Van act as a panel of judges. [[American Idol|Does this depiction ring a bell?]]

* [[Hypocritical Humor]]: When Barbra Jean claims to be an excellent parent, count on her to have or make some parenting mistake for Reba to call her out on next (for example, if Henry isn't present, Reba would ask "Where's Henry?" and Barbra Jean would realize she left him alone at home and rush back to him).

* [[Idiosyncratic Wipes]]: Second season on.

'''Kyra''': Eighty bucks is eighty bucks. }}

* [[Playing Sick]]: Both Kyra and Jake try to do this once, and this trick fails for them both.

* [[Put On a Bus]]: Lori Ann (Reba's friend) and Eugene (a rival dentist to Brock).

* [[Reality Subtext]]: Melissa Peterman's weight loss and Scarlett Pomers' eating disorder are both written into the script.

** And when Reba actually refrains from insulting Barbra Jean, she ''takes offense'', and mentions how, as "The Other Woman," she's always victim to gossiping and false friendliness from everyone else, and prefers Reba's rather harsh (but honest) jokes and teasing instead of the false sincerity from everyone else.

* [[Volleying Insults]]: This is how Brock and Lori Ann communicate with each other. The [[My Friends and Zoidberg]] entry, listed above, has one such example.

* [[Why Waste a Wedding]]: Subverted. Brock and Barbara Jean decide to renew their vows at Cheyenne and Van's vow renewal to stall for time while said young couple is having a fight (and then Brock quickly tries to backpedal when Van mentions splitting the cost with them,) but an extremely stressed Reba faints from high blood pressure before that happens.

* [[You Look Familiar]]: The minor character who was [[Mistaken for Gay]] by Van and a sales clerk in a jewelry store are played by the same guy.