Reba - General Discussion

[Guest]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from the show's run. Please remember this isn't a complete catch-all topic -- check out the forum for character topics and other places for show-related talk.

[FormerMod-a1]

I do wonder what ever happened to Reverend Yummy Pants.  They brought back the shrink played by James Denton, but did we ever see the Reverend again?

[ButterQueen]

I've been watching the reruns. I love this show.

[FormerMod-a1]

It is so much better than I ever thought it would be.  I watch the reruns all the time.  

[Bastet]

I generally only stop to watch seasons two through four, and didn't discover the show until it was in syndication, but I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed it and wound up watching the series the whole way through and buying the first four seasons on DVD. 

 

It sounds terrible on paper, and I don't think much of McEntire as an actor (hell of a singing voice, though), but the cast works well together, Barbara Jean and Van are terrific characters (when they're the two who read worst to me on paper), the evolving relationship between Barbara Jean and Reba is worth the price of admission, and the writers do a pretty good job of exploring the dynamics of a blended family.

 

It's alarming to watch Scarlett Pomers get so skinny, and it was an interesting choice to never address Kyra's absence.  But I love what they do when she comes back -- "Where have you been?"  It's a ripoff of Roseanne when Lecy Goranson returns as Becky, but it works here too.  Does anyone who watched in real time remember if it was known at the time her absence was due to treatment for anorexia?  Because Kyra's "Getting something to eat" answer seems like a reference, especially since they did it twice.

[CMH1981]

Yes, it wasn't major gossip at the time, but when Scarlett left the show to treat her issue it wasn't a secret.

[candall]

I saw an article about Scarlett appearing at a Star Trek convention.  She's happy and doing very well with jewelry making and photography.  She had been photographing rock bands, but finds more creativity in fashion photography.  (And she was a knockout in the pictures.)

****

I've been watching the reruns in large doses so I've seen Reba lean forward and do her big hyuck-hyuck laugh to cover bad behavior way too many times--and yet the show is oddly compelling, with the characters developing through the seasons.

 

The current arc is about Brock's therapy and anti-depressants.  I love it when comedies work in a message.  (Mom is about 60/40 goofy vs. serious issues.  Big fan.)

[TaxNerd]

I've recently been rewatching and I am amazed how many times this show reruns. You can see almost every episode within about three weeks between CMT and TVLand.

One of the things I like most about the series are the constant references to Houston. I love that the show isn't set in NY or LA and it shows. The house looks fairly real, not all perfectly designed. Upper middle class, but fits since the Dad was a dentist and not a mega mansion.

I also agree about working in a message, but it threads the message though an arc instead of resolving in 30 minutes. Cheyanne's alcoholism was interesting, don't think I've ever seen a comedy touch on that outside of Cheers.

Edited November 25, 2015 by TaxNerd

[Big Mother]

I just started watching this show. was scrounging around on Hulu for another comedy to watch and this came up. I didn't think it would be any good - any show that has a NAME as its title makes me wary bc it tells me nothing about the show - but Im finding myself laughing throughout the pilot...

[Big Mother]

I'm around episode 6 and loving it. Brock and Reba have so much chemistry I'm still scratching my head why he would cheat on her with that ditzy, airhead, empty-brain Barbara Jean. In general, why are so many characters painted as stupid? Van is so dim, I wouldn't marry him even if I was pregnant with his kid. Ugh.

[ExplainItAgain]

I love watching reruns of this. I was so pleasantly surprised when the show was pretty good and not terrible. I thought it was notable that Reba didn't have a lot of love interests. A few dates here and there but they didn't occupy significant time with it. They also didn't go back "there" with Reba and Brock (not in any serious way anyway).

Since I never watched this show in order, I can never tell the timeline - when did Barbara Jean get really skinny? Was that the last season?

They seemed to rip a lot from Roseanne - I recently saw the Halloween episode where they scare Reba and almost the whole thing was similar to the Roseanne Halloween ep where Darlene and David prank Roseanne. Regarding Kyra's line upon her return...it seemed a little insensitive. I wish they hadn't made a food joke there.

[Maharincess]

I thought Kira saying she was getting something to eat when they asked where she'd been was funny, I thought it was weird that her first episode back is all about Barbara Jean being thin. 

I love this show, it's one of those shows that I've seen so many times that I can name the episode within ten seconds. Van is one of my all time favorite TV characters.  He and Sue Heck. 

[Steff]

My brother had kept telling me how funny the show was and I kept saying I'd watch it and then never did.   Then at his house once, it was on & I realized that Sandy Cory (one of my teenage summer crushes from Another World soap) was Brock & I was hooked.  Didn't talk long to realize it a really funny show & they all fit well into their characters. 

I also grew up in the area of Houston they are supposed to be in, so I love seeing things that are accurate.  Westchester High School closed my senior year & was merged into the other high schools.  We had Westchester graduates in their orange gowns mixed in with us.  I'm weird about the little details when it comes to a show talking about a place I grew up in.  Hearing Brock bitch about traffic & name the correct freeways, seeing them reading the Houston Chronicle, the Westchester colors & references to be right...made me like the show even more.

[FormerMod-a1]

One of my favorite episodes is on right now, Date of Mirth, where we first meet Dr Morgan (played by James Denton) and find out Barbara Jean has a crush on him, and he and Reba go on a date, and Barbara Jean follows them, etc.  

[ButterQueen]

On 7/18/2016 at 2:59 AM, Maharincess said:

I thought Kira saying she was getting something to eat when they asked where she'd been was funny, I thought it was weird that her first episode back is all about Barbara Jean being thin. 

I love this show, it's one of those shows that I've seen so many times that I can name the episode within ten seconds. Van is one of my all time favorite TV characters.  He and Sue Heck. 

I love Van too.  He has great comedic timing.

In episode one, when we find out Cheyenne is pregnant, Reba asks Van if he's told his parents.  He replies, "About what?"  Kills me!!!

[ButterQueen]

I just watched the episode where Brock's mom comes to visit.  OMG, she cracked me up.  

She called Barbara Jean :

Barbara Lynn

Barbara Jim

Barbara Ellen 

Barbara John

[Maharincess]

I love that Reba's mom was Naomi Harper from Mama's Family.  

[ButterQueen]

On 7/27/2017 at 2:20 AM, Maharincess said:

I love that Reba's mom was Naomi Harper from Mama's Family.  

That is a great episode, and Reba's dad was Brenda Leigh Johnson's dad on The Closer.

[FormerMod-a1]

I knew Reba's dad from Northern Exposure. (Maurice)

[Bastet]

Whenever you need an emotionally reserved, cantankerous, guy of that age with a twang, you cast Barry Corbin.  If you want him more polished, you cast John Collum.

Edited August 2, 2017 by Bastet

[Maharincess]

I know Barry Corbin as Uncle Bob from Urban Cowboy. 

[Barlowe]

On 2016-07-17 at 4:14 PM, ExplainItAgain said:

I love watching reruns of this. I was so pleasantly surprised when the show was pretty good and not terrible. I thought it was notable that Reba didn't have a lot of love interests. A few dates here and there but they didn't occupy significant time with it. They also didn't go back "there" with Reba and Brock (not in any serious way anyway).

Since I never watched this show in order, I can never tell the timeline - when did Barbara Jean get really skinny? Was that the last season?

They seemed to rip a lot from Roseanne - I recently saw the Halloween episode where they scare Reba and almost the whole thing was similar to the Roseanne Halloween ep where Darlene and David prank Roseanne. Regarding Kyra's line upon her return...it seemed a little insensitive. I wish they hadn't made a food joke there.

I've been catching up on re-runs and Barbara Jean's weight fluctuated throughout the series, in the beginning, she was larger and the character was pregnant and then from 2/3 she started losing weight and by the time it got to s4, she was only marginally larger than Reba (the grandma pageant episode is a good example to look at). I think during season 5, she was pregnant irl and they had that weight loss storyline before she returned to the show  in s6 as "really skinny" 

[CocoaGoddess]

So I'm not sure how it happened, but I've started binge watching this show every Sunday afternoon on (I think) Hallmark--the Golden Girls/Reba block. I'm a little annoyed that I missed the original run of this series, I'm enjoying it so much and I think it was an interesting way to show a blended family. Still, Reba is really, really, REALLY a better person than most people would be.

Can't wait to see how it ends, I hope the network gave them a proper send off. 

[FormerMod-a1]

54 minutes ago, CocoaGoddess said:

I'm a little annoyed that I missed the original run of this series,

I felt the same way when I "discovered" the show the same way, via syndication, a couple of years ago.

[Barlowe]

On 2017-09-17 at 8:23 PM, CocoaGoddess said:

So I'm not sure how it happened, but I've started binge watching this show every Sunday afternoon on (I think) Hallmark--the Golden Girls/Reba block. I'm a little annoyed that I missed the original run of this series, I'm enjoying it so much and I think it was an interesting way to show a blended family. Still, Reba is really, really, REALLY a better person than most people would be.

Can't wait to see how it ends, I hope the network gave them a proper send off. 

You can watch all the episodes on Dailymotion as well but they have a pattern border around the video screen which may be distracting. 

[Barlowe]

My only complaints about the show were the dramatic Van episodes that had the least amount of humor and that no matter how far he fell he always managed to luck into another prime job he was perfect for, Reba's ever changing one-off jobs and how she could never catch a break romantically.  

[Maharincess]

I've seen each episode a hundred times and I only remember Reba having a couple of different jobs. She worked at the dental office with Brock,  then another dentist and then she worked in real estate until the show ended. She was a substitute teacher in one episode but that's it. 

I have no complaints about Van. I loved that character. 

[Gam2]

I loved all of these characters. I thought the actors were perfect in their parts. Barbara Jean gained weight each season (in the grandma beauty pageant, she was quite a bit heavier than Reba who was always small) until she had some kind of surgery (gastric by pass or one of the others). That was the season she showed up yelling “I’m here and I’m thin!” every time she entered an episode. I didn’t expect much from this show although I really liked Reba’s singing so I was very pleasantly surprised at how funny it was. We also get this in reruns and my husband and I still laugh at it. The most disturbing part was when the actress who played Kira had anorexia and had to go away for treatment. When she finally returned to the show, she walked through the front door, Van asked “where have you been?” and she answered “I went out for something to eat.” She’d been gone from the show for over a year and thought that was a clever re-introduction but still made me sad that she’d had to suffer through that horrible disability at such a young age. And Reba wisely decided to stop the show when it was still interesting and funny rather than go on and on until it was just embarrassing and not funny anymore. 

[Bastet]

4 hours ago, Gam2 said:

And Reba wisely decided to stop the show when it was still interesting and funny rather than go on and on until it was just embarrassing and not funny anymore. 

I thought it was canceled, brought back, and then canceled again.

[ShortyMac]

19 hours ago, Bastet said:

I thought it was canceled, brought back, and then canceled again.

Maybe you're thinking of Reba's short-lived sitcom, Malibu Country. It was a few years back and only lasted one season.

[Bastet]

No, it was this show; something with the WB/CW and a syndication deal.  I'll stop being lazy and Google it.  It was canceled, but maybe only once; what I was remembering as cancellation, being brought back, and then canceled again, may have actually been planned cancellation, but not, and then cancellation. 

Wikipedia says this:

Quote

The show was cancelled when The WB Television Network and UPN merged into The CW Television Network. 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. ... 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.

But TV Series Finales said this at the time:
 

Quote

 

The CW sitcom Reba, starring country-singing star Reba McEntire, is currently in its sixth season — though barely. The show was reportedly going to be cancelled last Spring but was saved at the 11th hour because the network didn’t want to pay a “kill fee” for not following through on a previous agreement.

Because of this, the popular sitcom was picked up for its sixth season but for just 13 episodes. Basically, the network feels that the show doesn’t fit their “desired demographic.” As a result, the new episodes of Reba didn’t debut until other CW shows had failed. When Reba finally did start it’s sixth season on November 19, 2006, it gave the network some great numbers. The sitcom even helped to boost the viewership of Seventh Heaven.

Ever since then, fans of Reba have been hopeful that the CW would realize the value of the show and order nine additional episodes (to complete the season) and to renew the series for a seventh year. It now looks like that’s not going to happen.

At last week’s Television Critics Association tour in Pasadena, CW President Dawn Ostroff reportedly declined to comment on Reba’s future. Later, it was quietly stated that the sitcom was done. Today, sources at TV Guide and MediaWeek are confirming that Reba has indeed been cancelled. There are four episodes left to air and word is that the CW will air the final two together on Sunday, February 18th.

 

At any rate, it was the network's decision, not the producers', and I only remember that because of fan grumbling at the time (I never watched it until it was in syndication).  I don't think that final season is good, so on the one hand I'm not surprised, but on the other it was still bringing in the numbers so it would have made sense to order the back nine.  It looks like another example of where a popular show didn't fit new executives' vision of a network's brand and was thus canceled despite the ratings.

[msani19]

This was a show that I oddly found myself enjoying when it was on. I remember that the show was canceled, not that Reba decided to end it. It was still funny and probably had another year in it. If it wasn't for the network change from the WB to the CW, I think that they might have had another year. The way it happened seemed to take the cast by surprise.

I really thought the show was fun and pretty well acted. I don't remember if this was Reba's first acting job, but she did well in this role (but not so much in the subsequent role she had – that was rough!)

I did find it fascinating that Reba really never got to have a long-lasting relationship or even a friend outside of the family. I remember the woman from the 1st season who was her best friend, but I didn't like the character. I'm disappointed that they just didn't find another real friend for Reba. I will say that despite it being a funny plot point, I was always annoyed with Barbara Jean wanting to be Reba's BFF. I know they got a lot of laughs from "you stole my husband!" but come one, Reba had to have been a freaking saint to put up with her and Brock the way she did. All Barbara Jean would have gotten from me is “bitch, get out of my house before I drag your extra tall behind outta here and don’t you dare walk back in here”. But that’s just me :-)

[Bastet]

21 minutes ago, msani19 said:

I don't remember if this was Reba's first acting job

No, her hilarious role in Tremors was well before this, and she was in the TV movie version of her song Is There Life Out There.  (Probably some other things; that's just what I remember.)  I think it was the reviews and ticket sales for her Annie Oakley performance on Broadway that led to her getting her own show.

[Barlowe]

On 2017-10-15 at 8:19 PM, Gam2 said:

I loved all of these characters. I thought the actors were perfect in their parts. Barbara Jean gained weight each season (in the grandma beauty pageant, she was quite a bit heavier than Reba who was always small) until she had some kind of surgery (gastric by pass or one of the others). That was the season she showed up yelling “I’m here and I’m thin!” every time she entered an episode. I didn’t expect much from this show although I really liked Reba’s singing so I was very pleasantly surprised at how funny it was. We also get this in reruns and my husband and I still laugh at it. The most disturbing part was when the actress who played Kira had anorexia and had to go away for treatment. When she finally returned to the show, she walked through the front door, Van asked “where have you been?” and she answered “I went out for something to eat.” She’d been gone from the show for over a year and thought that was a clever re-introduction but still made me sad that she’d had to suffer through that horrible disability at such a young age. And Reba wisely decided to stop the show when it was still interesting and funny rather than go on and on until it was just embarrassing and not funny anymore. 

Melissa Peterman gave birth to her son in October 2005 according to Wikipedia which was during the airing of season 5.

[Barlowe]

On 2017-10-17 at 10:19 PM, msani19 said:

This was a show that I oddly found myself enjoying when it was on. I remember that the show was canceled, not that Reba decided to end it. It was still funny and probably had another year in it. If it wasn't for the network change from the WB to the CW, I think that they might have had another year. The way it happened seemed to take the cast by surprise.

I really thought the show was fun and pretty well acted. I don't remember if this was Reba's first acting job, but she did well in this role (but not so much in the subsequent role she had – that was rough!)

I did find it fascinating that Reba really never got to have a long-lasting relationship or even a friend outside of the family. I remember the woman from the 1st season who was her best friend, but I didn't like the character. I'm disappointed that they just didn't find another real friend for Reba. I will say that despite it being a funny plot point, I was always annoyed with Barbara Jean wanting to be Reba's BFF. I know they got a lot of laughs from "you stole my husband!" but come one, Reba had to have been a freaking saint to put up with her and Brock the way she did. All Barbara Jean would have gotten from me is “bitch, get out of my house before I drag your extra tall behind outta here and don’t you dare walk back in here”. But that’s just me :-)

I didn't like that Reba never got a long lasting relationship  or friend but I can see why they chose that for a number of reasons, it brought Reba and Barbra Jean closer, allowed her to tell Sadie the gay sports agent she was missing her "girlfriend who moved away"  and become co-dependent on her kids so that she could easily insert herself into their lives (generally problem solving for Van & Cheyenne) and also still show her struggling with moving on from Brock. I don;t think the character would've been open to long term dating until the back nine episodes if they had structured the show in that way where Van and Cheyenne had already moved out, Kyra was soon to move out and Brock and Barbra Jean had recommitted to their marriage, leaving Reba to have to dive back into dating or bringing back one of her suitors.

Edited October 19, 2017 by Lilacly

[Bastet]

I liked that Reba had plenty going on in her life, was quite happy, and felt no need to go man-hunting; if she happened to meet an interesting man, she was happy to date him, but she wasn't out looking (other than when Park Overall's character talked her into it).  But the way they backed away from intimacy with her boyfriend played by the Mark & Brian guy made me think they were purposely avoiding the sexual aspect of Reba's life for fear of offending McEntire's crazy conservative fans.  In that light, the fact any time she she spent more than five minutes with a potential love interest something happened to mess it up bugged me a lot more than it otherwise would have. 

I did like that there was a line in the finale where someone - Cheyenne, probably - said it was sad that Reba was the only one not coupled up and Reba was like, "Um, look around - I'm very happy with my life."

Edited October 19, 2017 by Bastet

[Barlowe]

12 hours ago, Bastet said:

I liked that Reba had plenty going on in her life, was quite happy, and felt no need to go man-hunting; if she happened to meet an interesting man, she was happy to date him, but she wasn't out looking (other than when Park Overall's character talked her into it).  But the way they backed away from intimacy with her boyfriend played by the Mark & Brian guy made me think they were purposely avoiding the sexual aspect of Reba's life for fear of offending McEntire's crazy conservative fans.  In that light, the fact any time she she spent more than five minutes with a potential love interest something happened to mess it up bugged me a lot more than it otherwise would have. 

I did like that there was a line in the finale where someone - Cheyenne, probably - said it was sad that Reba was the only one coupled up and Reba was like, "Um, look around - I'm very happy with my life."

Reba was fairly content but she had a habit of always rescuing Van and Cheyenne to the point that Kyra moved out because she felt neglected and even after that made herself their personal problem solver (remember the time she was recovering from a heart attack and was more worried about solving their fight or the when they finally moved out and Van called her Barbra Jean because she wouldn't stop inserting herself into their lives. Reba also had trouble getting too involved in Kyra's personal life. 
I think the show might've ended with Reba meeting a love interest if they would've had a full final season and still saying the line about being happy with her life. 

[Dee]

I wonder how much of Reba, the character's, lack of intimacy stemmed from not wanting to anger Reba, the singer/actress, core fanbase.

[readster]

On 10/19/2017 at 3:53 AM, Dee said:

I wonder how much of Reba, the character's, lack of intimacy stemmed from not wanting to anger Reba, the singer/actress, core fanbase.

Good question, especially when the main plot was around how her husband of so many years left her for his assistant and had a baby with her right afterwards. Something that bothered me, when we met Barbara Jean's father, how he hated Brock. But, oh blinded that his daughter had a hand in the affair and then had a baby with him. No, why would she have any fault in that. I hated how Kira was written as the series went along. Her jealous that her niece was getting all the attention, feeling she get more attention moving in with Brock and BJ, then being teased and bullied by classmates about her sister having a baby as a senior in high school. Because you know, teen pregnancies are a 4 letter word. As they had the principal say: "In our world, sex doesn't exist." Over the course of the series, they treated people as brainless rednecks if it they were in the education or political system in the world of Reba. I remember one school writing letters going: "I'm sorry, but we are not like that, we still love the show, but stop acting like we live on another planet here in Texas." I think Reba deserved to have a more serious adult relationship, but barely lasted 2 episodes. 

[Bastet]

On 10/19/2017 at 1:53 AM, Dee said:

I wonder how much of Reba, the character's, lack of intimacy stemmed from not wanting to anger Reba, the singer/actress, core fanbase.

As I said, I think that was the reason behind ending things with Brian before they ever even slept together, and that made me view the quick demise of all subsequent potential love interests with suspicion.

6 hours ago, readster said:

Her jealous that her niece was getting all the attention, feeling she get more attention moving in with Brock and BJ

I loved when she moved in with them, because at their house she could be the kid she's entitled to be, while at Reba's she was expected to be another adult.  But I also appreciated Reba's rock and a hard place frustration, where she knew she should let Cheyenne and Van fall on their asses and figure it out for themselves, and would if it not for Elizabeth, but couldn't precisely because of Elizabeth. 

[TheGreenKnight]

I think this show is similar to Roseanne with the way that the first and final seasons are the worst out of the series (and much more so those final seasons--although Reba's last season was still nowhere near the level of steaming dumpster fire that Roseanne's was). And in both cases the first seasons were only "bad" because the characters were being worked out more than anything else. It's amazing how different Barbra Jean is especially. Van also changes quite a lot over time, some for good and some for bad. At the end of the series, he was the only character I really found unlikable. If I had to say, I'd probably pick Barbra Jean as my favorite character, then Kyra. But I loved all the characters on this show except for Brock. He was definitely the weak link of the cast. Not because he broke up the family, but he was always so self-centered, caused problems for everyone constantly, and in general was an ass to both Reba and Barbra Jean more than I liked.

Hard to say right off, but I think my favorite episode is the one where Reba and Barbra Jean end up fighting in a self-defense class. "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT TINY GIRL??!!!"

[ButterQueen]

Season 1 is my fave.  I love how the characters developed.

[readster]

I felt Brock never learned from all the crap he did over the years, especially in the flashbacks of him early on. How he "fell" for Barbra Jean made little sense. They could have gone some good places when they introduced that he was clinically depressed that lasted for several episodes. Even BJ's reaction thinking that someone shouldn't be depressed if they have a wife and family at home. Then learning that depression doesn't work that way. However, by the time we got to the final season, Brock had really taken off to super ass, of course the actor was also starting to moonlight on Boston Legal at the time. For Van, when they had him start realizing how he had to work hard for things and be a good role model, he was great in the role. When they wanted to keep back peddling on him being stupid or more naive than Barbra Jean, it made him look horrible. Reason why I got tired of Kira's character after the move out. You got why she wanted to move out, she wanted to be a regular teen, but then she hated being a regular teen. I also know that the actresses eating disorder was playing a role in things too, but Kira started becoming an entitled brat more than her sister later on. 

[Barlowe]

On 2017-11-04 at 9:05 AM, readster said:

I felt Brock never learned from all the crap he did over the years, especially in the flashbacks of him early on. How he "fell" for Barbra Jean made little sense. They could have gone some good places when they introduced that he was clinically depressed that lasted for several episodes. Even BJ's reaction thinking that someone shouldn't be depressed if they have a wife and family at home. Then learning that depression doesn't work that way. However, by the time we got to the final season, Brock had really taken off to super ass, of course the actor was also starting to moonlight on Boston Legal at the time. For Van, when they had him start realizing how he had to work hard for things and be a good role model, he was great in the role. When they wanted to keep back peddling on him being stupid or more naive than Barbra Jean, it made him look horrible. Reason why I got tired of Kira's character after the move out. You got why she wanted to move out, she wanted to be a regular teen, but then she hated being a regular teen. I also know that the actresses eating disorder was playing a role in things too, but Kira started becoming an entitled brat more than her sister later on. 

I never liked when they had Van as incompetent or when they made him selfish and arrogant like the time he makes Cheyenne ask for money or when he buys a new car out of their new savings account without telling her or drops out of school/residence without telling her or the vow renewal where he dissuades her from inviting her alcohol support group but invites all his potential and current real estate clients. Pretty much anytime he convinced himself that Cheyenne's opinion didn't matter, I disliked the story. I think he was at his best around the first two seasons because he wasn't playing the character as broad which tends to happen a lot in sitcoms.

[readster]

On 11/5/2017 at 4:27 PM, Lilacly said:

I never liked when they had Van as incompetent or when they made him selfish and arrogant like the time he makes Cheyenne ask for money or when he buys a new car out of their new savings account without telling her or drops out of school/residence without telling her or the vow renewal where he dissuades her from inviting her alcohol support group but invites all his potential and current real estate clients. Pretty much anytime he convinced himself that Cheyenne's opinion didn't matter, I disliked the story. I think he was at his best around the first two seasons because he wasn't playing the character as broad which tends to happen a lot in sitcoms.

It also worked with Van's character considering his age and everything. Even his swing to Real estate made sense because he said it best: "They'll be a second baby and there won't be any money, I'm not letting that happen." However, when they broaden it or tried to have it where Van acted like he knew better than Cheyenne, that went out the door. 

[Miss Ruth]

On ‎7‎/‎17‎/‎2016 at 11:24 AM, Big Mother said:

Van is so dim, I wouldn't marry him even if I was pregnant with his kid. Ugh.

He married an equally dim person, though.

[readster]

On 12/18/2017 at 11:55 PM, Miss Ruth said:

He married an equally dim person, though.

Then you add in Barabra Jean who was not only dim but lacked common sense. Seem to be the theme of the series to not have common sense or oblivious to things that were staring you in the face. 

[WhitneyWhit]

Quote

I hated how Kira was written as the series went along. Her jealous that her niece was getting all the attention, feeling she get more attention moving in with Brock and BJ, then being teased and bullied by classmates about her sister having a baby as a senior in high school. Because you know, teen pregnancies are a 4 letter word.

I actually found all of this believable. I didn't see it as so much jealousy as just frustration. Kyra's life was disrupted in a major way due to the irresponsibility of other people. First her father then her sister and brother-in-law. She thought things would get back to normal then a dumb decision by Van causes them to move right back in, then their poor decision making causes her to miss out on an  opportunity that she earned. I think she had every right to feel the way she did.

And I also believed the bullying story. Kids can be vicious. It was shown during season one that Cheyenne took a tumble from the social ladder due to her pregnancy, I could see it being used against Kyra, as well.

[Barlowe]

On 2/2/2018 at 9:36 AM, WhitneyWhit said:

I actually found all of this believable. I didn't see it as so much jealousy as just frustration. Kyra's life was disrupted in a major way due to the irresponsibility of other people. First her father then her sister and brother-in-law. She thought things would get back to normal then a dumb decision by Van causes them to move right back in, then their poor decision making causes her to miss out on an  opportunity that she earned. I think she had every right to feel the way she did.

And I also believed the bullying story. Kids can be vicious. It was shown during season one that Cheyenne took a tumble from the social ladder due to her pregnancy, I could see it being used against Kyra, as well.

I agree . She had to lose out on a trip she'd earned because Cheyenne had failed in college and needed to take extra courses. ANd then He rmom had to raincheck the roller skating because Van didn't tell anyone he was dropping out of housing. She always came last because Reba always had to bail those two out.

[Bastet]

58 minutes ago, Lilacly said:

She always came last

And when Jake got a turtle, she moved down a spot.

That line made me laugh in the midst of feeling sorry for her. 

As Brock said, at his house she could be the kid she's entitled to be, instead of being regarded as the second adult (ahead of her sister and brother-in-law who actually were adults) in the household as she was at Reba's.

I appreciated the position that Reba was in, in that she knew she shouldn't be bailing Cheyenne and Van out all the time but feeling like she couldn't let them fall on their asses because of Elizabeth.  And I understand her being sad and even hurt that one of her kids no longer wanted to live with her.  But I thought she was out of line in her reaction to Kyra requesting it and Brock saying yes.  That's her father, it's a better home for Kyra, and they're just around the damn corner -- don't treat it as a betrayal.  I loved Kyra sticking to her guns and handing over her key.

Reba came around, obviously, and she may even have apologized to Kyra (in that family therapy episode with Martin Mull?), but I don't think she ever did to Brock.