BWWTVWorld Exclusive: Reba McEntire Chats New ABC Series MALIBU COUNTRY

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One of the most successful entertainers, Reba McEntire has sold over 56 million albums worldwide. As a leading lady in her genre, the multi-platinum recording artist for The Valory Music Co. has been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, earned an ACM Career Achievement honor and was recently inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame. She has also won 15 American Music Awards, 13 ACM Awards, nine People's Choice Awards, six CMA Awards and two Grammy Awards, in addition to hosting the ACM Awards 14 times.

The Oklahoma native is also an acclaimed film, TV and Broadway actress. On television she starred for six seasons in the hit series "Reba," as well as the television movies such as "The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw," opposite Kenny Rogers and "The Man from Left Field," with Burt Reynolds. On Broadway she starred in the musical "Annie Get Your Gun" and as Ensign Nellie Forbush in the musical "South Pacific," which was filmed and aired as an episode of "Great Performances." On the big screen she starred in such films as "Tremors," "North," "The Little Rascals" and "One Night at McCools."

Reba returns to network television in the new ABC comedy series, MALIBU COUNTRY, premiering FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2 (8:31-9:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network. The country music superstar spoke to BWWTVWorld the day after Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast and expressed her concerns right off the bat.

How's everything there? I've got so many friends in New York that I've been praying for as many times as I can a day.

It was tough going for a while, but we'll get by. And on a much more positive note, we are really looking forward to your new series Malibu Country. Can you tell us about your character on the show?

My character is Reba Gallagher. I am a country singer, married to a country singer who is a little more popular than I am because after a couple of albums, I had decided to kind of back off the music business and the touring to raise my children. And so I come to find out that he's been cheating on me with his back-up singer. I file for divorce and find out during the divorce proceedings that he has bought a Malibu party pad so I take my kids out there. We take over that house and that way I can get my kids away from all the gossip in Nashville and also I can restart my music career.

Will there be much opportunity for you to perform your own music in the series?

Yeah, matter of fact, that's one of the fun parts about getting to do this sitcom. I am incorporating music, being a country singer, along with the acting and the storyline. And we have one song that's already in the pilot that Dave Stewart, who wrote the concept for Malibu Country, and myself and Narvel Blackstock, my husband and manager, we co-wrote, and that's called "The New Me.' And then in another episode we do the theme song, that's called 'Goodbye Looks Good On Me.' And also I'll be doing "Goodbye Looks Good On Me' on Good Morning America on Thursday morning, the day of the CMA Awards Show.

Do you anticipate having guest appearances by some of your musical friends?

Oh absolutely. We've already gotten Travie McCoy in on one and I've already asked Blake Shelton and Kelly Clarkson. Martina McBride said she'd love to do the show, so yeah. But what we're trying to do first is find everybody's voice of our main characters, get everybody settled in and then start bringing in our guest stars. I think that would be so much fun.

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