Together again: Why Reba is reuniting with Barbra Jean for Sunday's 54th ACM Awards

m_rebamcentireacmcbspicpurple040119-2

Cliff Lipson/CBS

Given TV’s current reboot craze, Reba McEntire‘s hit self-titled sitcom is one of the shows that’s often mentioned as a candidate for a second act, especially among country music fans.

Though a Reba reboot hasn’t happened, two of the show’s stars will be back together working on TV this Sunday. Melissa Peterman, who played the fictional Reba’s nemesis-turned-friend Barbra Jean, returns as a writer as the real Reba hosts the 54th Academy of Country Music Awards.

Since Reba ended in 2007, the two have kept in touch and remain close friends. 

“Melissa knows me very well,” Reba explains, “and I get her humor, she gets me.  And when they asked me if I would host it again, I said, ‘Yes. Can Melissa Peterman be one of the writers?'”

In fact, it was Melissa who came up with one of 2018’s most talked-about jokes, making light of the fact that Reba replaced both Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley as host.

“She was the one that wrote the line last year about ‘It takes one woman to do the job of two men,'” Reba points out. “So I said, ‘Get her back in here! We need Melissa.'”

You can check out Melissa and Reba’s collaborative comedy on Sunday, as the ACM Awards air live from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, starting at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.

Copyright © 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.