Country-music queen conquers TV

NEW YORK -- Reba is in a jam.

Not Reba McEntire, the Reba who reigns as queen of Nashville, toast of Broadway and instant sitcom star.

No, it's Reba Hart -- the Dallas soccer mom of McEntire's new WB comedy -- who's the Reba with a mess of problems.

Besides two rambunctious younger kids, this newly minted Reba has a teen-age daughter who's pregnant and sharing her room at the Hart homestead with her boyfriend-turned-husband.

Meanwhile, Reba's soon-to-be-ex-husband, a dentist, has dumped his wife of 20 years for his giggly hygienist, who happens to be carrying his child.

Broken family, accidental families -- a summary of "Reba" (airing at 8 p.m. Fridays) makes it seem more like a prime-time soap than a sitcom.

A bit extreme for a family comedy? Nope, says McEntire.

"That's life," she declares in her "i"-stretching Oklahoma twang. "That's a country song. I've sung about it all, from AIDS to child abuse to wife abuse. My fans sure weren't surprised by the show."

Fair enough. But "Reba" caught everyone else by surprise, doubling the WB audience in that time slot from last year and quickly winning a full-season order. "Reba" proved funny and honest. It also proved that a TV-series newcomer could carry a sitcom like an old hand.

But why would she bother?

Right time, right place

At 46, this full-throated singer with the penetrating stare has long been country's top-selling female artist (now boasting more than 45 million records sold).

She already had acted in TV films including the 1995 miniseries "Buffalo Girls" (co-starring Melanie Griffith and Anjelica Huston) and in feature films including "The Little Rascals" and the recent "One Night at McCool's."

Then, last January, she took to heart a lyric from "Annie Get Your Gun" -- "anything you can do, I can do better" -- and followed such Broadway divas as Bernadette Peters into the revival of this classic musical, scoring a bull's-eye as Wild West sharpshooter Annie Oakley.

As if that weren't enough, during her run, McEntire was jetting to Los Angeles to audition for a new sitcom, then, later on, to tape its pilot episode.

"What's that saying: 'Ignorance is bliss'?" she chuckles, flexing her impish smile. Then she offers a more serious reason for a series. "It just was at the right time, the right place, and I loved the script."

In May, "Reba" was chosen for the WB's fall schedule. Then, in August, production began. McEntire shakes her head in wonderment. "It was going to be a really slow year until all this happened."

She says she loves the TV-making process. But to find her way, she has taken cues from those around her, especially the actor playing her husband.