The Bobby Bones Show - BOBBYCAST - Melissa Peterman Talks 'Reba' Sitcom Legacy, Why a Reboot Never Happened & Still Dreaming About SNL
Episode Date: April 24, 2026Melissa Peterman joins Bobby to talk about the lasting legacy of Reba, why the show still connects with so many people, and what made that cast and chemistry so special. She also gets into w...hy a reboot never ended up happening, what it was really like working with Reba, and how that chapter of her career still means a lot to her. Plus, Melissa shares why she’s still dreaming about SNL, her love of television, and some of the behind-the-scenes realities of how sitcoms come together. Watch The BobbyCast on Netflix! Follow on Instagram: @TheBobbyCast Follow on TikTok: @TheBobbyCastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Is it about hooker number two?
No.
That was my first job out of college.
That was my first yes.
Dang it.
Everybody, it's Bobby on this Bobby.
I'm talking to Melissa Peterman.
You may know her as Barbara Jean from Reba,
which I think I've seen every episode,
at least twice.
Maybe you know her as Brenda on Young Sheldon.
Now she has reunited with one of her best friends,
Reba McIntyre, on the NBC Comedy Happies Place,
which is really cool.
She's toured with the country legends.
She's hosted game shows.
She's done it all.
She's so funny.
Here's my conversation with Melissa Peterman.
All right, Melissa Peterman's on,
and she's so funny.
And so we almost started talking and then this started.
So we haven't met, but we were at the same place at the same time.
Do you know that place?
We were at the Kennedy Center Awards.
Was it 2017?
Yeah, my years are bad, but yeah, it was when Riva got the award and we were both part of the presentation for Riva.
Yeah, and it was absolutely so out of my, like, box and, like, zone.
And I was so thrilled to be there.
I was one of the shows I would watch every every year because I just love learning more about like artists and watching other artists celebrate them.
And it was the year that Cher was there, Lynn Manuel Miranda.
Who else was there that year?
Oh my gosh.
Was it I recall, not Ira Glass.
What was it?
I remember Lynn Manuel Miranda for sure and Cher because I looked.
So what I remember from that show.
show was, I got a call from Riba going, hey, will you come out and do the very beginning of my
intro? And so I'm like, whatever Riva wants. I love Riba. And so I'm like, yes, I'm in whatever
you want. It's like, go tell a couple jokes and do this lead in. And I didn't know she was first off.
And that, and I do enough stand-up that I'm not so intimidated by people in the crowd,
but there were like Supreme Court judges. Share and Riba were sitting right up there in front.
That, to me, was a heavy room. Oh, yes. And, you know, I'll tell you,
another on my way there, as I landed in Washington or in D.C., I had a email that said,
would you like to do the presentation at the state dinner the night before? You know, when they get,
when they get the necklace and you have to go up and speak. And I was, I thought, oh, all right.
And, you know, you're in, you know, you're in the room. It was like the Martha Washington
bathroom was down the hall, you know, which I probably stole some paper towels from.
There's Cher there.
It's like, you know, you recognize the room you're in.
And I had no notes.
I just made it up and got up there.
And it was so terrifying.
I believe I said something like, and Cher's looking at me.
And if I look at her, it'll be like looking into an eclipse.
And, you know, I just, it was so much, it was just a different room.
And, you know, yeah, we've been in rooms.
I've been in front of a lot of people.
But it is a different thing.
You know, people are like, oh, it's just like, it's just like the people's choice.
No, it's not.
It's not like the people's choice.
Not at all.
There's somebody who just got back from the G7 summit.
So no, it's not the same thing.
So it was this very strange mix of just politics and entertainment.
And then like, I was, do you remember being downstairs before the actual the televised event?
Were you down underneath it all?
I was, yes.
I was there.
And I heard all.
of the Schuller sisters that were coming to sing from the from Hamilton were warming up in like
a room next to me. And I thought, how, why am I here? How am I even in the same room as these
amazing voices? I feel like I should write them a check and just slip it under the door.
Because that was just the price of admission to hear them sing like that. It was just,
it was very intimidating. It was an intimidating audience. But of course, you say yes, because it's
Riba. And, and I wanted to honor her. Because.
she deserved it. And it was a thrill. It was truly a thrill to be there. Yeah, it was a special night.
And then I think, if I were betting money, I think CBS piped in laughter for a couple of my jokes,
because I don't remember getting the laughs that I got in the room. I really don't. And I thought,
man, I'm going to be embarrassed because I went up and I told a couple jokes and I thought,
eh, opening stiff room and also Supreme Court justices. And then they erred it back. I swear to
God, they piped in laughter. And I was so thankful that they did that. Well, you know, I were there and you
were funny and you were great and you were perfect and you were very funny. And you probably don't know
if you got laughs because it was a weird. It's just such an odd. It's just a weird room, but you were
great. You really were. So you and Riba go back to Riba. Is that when you guys first started,
did you know each other pre-Riba, the show in like 2001? No, we did not. The first time I met her
in person was the first day of the table read for the show. And so you did. So you did
audition for her or with her? No, I didn't. I had auditioned. When I auditioned, the show was still
called Sally, I believe, because they didn't know she wasn't attached yet. So at that point,
I was auditioning for this show, Sally. And I believe by the time I got to like that callback where
you're in front of network, at that point she was attached to it. And I thought, oh my gosh,
please let her be attached to it because I just feel like it will she's she's sort of like everything
she does sort of works and turns to goals and like I just wanted her to do it and I just wanted
to meet her and but I never auditioned with her. Nope, I did not.
What was your process like even auditioning for Sally? Because she's told that story before
about how it wasn't about her until, you know, she accepted it. So was that initially just a large
casting where you went in with a bunch of other people that look like you and, you know, had
had your characteristics?
Yeah, I mean, you know, I went in and to me, it sticks in my mind because it was one of those auditions where the script was really funny.
I love the idea of this character that they were creating of the other woman, the new wife.
And I just, but I didn't quite know how to attack it.
You know, I was like, gosh, I usually, you know, when you know this, when you have, when you get it, you're like, oh, I see who this person is.
And it wasn't until I was, I remember sitting in the parking lot about to go in.
And I just went, I got it.
I got it.
I have to play her that she has no idea that they are not best friends.
I have to play that I have no idea that whatever insult or anything she throws is like I don't, I wouldn't.
It doesn't register with her because I have to think that of course we're going to be best friends.
We have so much in common.
You know, we like the same guys or whatever it was.
But I just go, she has to be, she can't fight back.
has to just know like, oh, she, we're going to be best friends.
Anyway, so I just remember having that click and go, oh, that's what it is.
And then going into the audition, I leave.
And one of the producers came out after me, which never happens unless they're like,
oh, you know, we don't validate.
That's usually what it is.
But he came out and said, you know, he knew I was going out of town.
I said, he's like, where are you going?
I said, I'm just going out of town for the weekend.
And I'll be back in L.A. on Monday.
And again, that doesn't happen.
And by the time I landed in Seattle, I'd gotten a call back.
So I go back to, I think, a network callback, and then it was studio.
But if I'm remembering correctly, and I feel like, again, it's clear to the people that we didn't, you know, research this before we talked,
because otherwise we'd have better idea of when the Kennedy Center honors was we were at.
And I would remember this.
But I believe that the three at the final was Rachel Harris, who is a brilliant, a funny comedian actress who's very successful.
And I think Suki, who's married to Kevin Neeland, and I'm going to butcher her last thing,
Suki, it was the three of us.
I think we were the three women that were last up for Barbara Jean.
And very, very funny and sort of just different flavors of that character.
And by the time I went in, I did the final test, which is nerve-wracking.
And when I was driving out, I got a call from my agent that I booked.
it, which I didn't think I would because I was standing next to two other actresses who I
knew were hilarious and very funny. At what point can you feel a shift in a sitcom where you know
it's being taken by the audience and that there's probably a good chance that it gets renewed?
I don't think you, I don't, I don't think as an actor you really know that because you sort of do
your thing and then you put it out there and it's sort of up to the other, the other things that
you're out of your control. And also at the time we did that show, there wasn't a ton of
like that initials feedback we can get now on social media.
It was there, but it wasn't quite like it was today.
So, you know, you're doing this show and you kind of put it out there.
It felt right while we were doing it.
You know, it felt like there was this chemistry there.
And specifically for season two, I remember there was this click with the cast and with
the characters of Barbara Deidina Reeve, we were like, oh, okay, this is the show.
But for me, anyway, I don't think I even understood.
what it was until we were off the air for how many years.
And it was in being syndicated and the love that it got there,
that's when I sort of went, oh, you know,
I truly sort of felt the audience love for it and how people were taking it.
So I think during the actual shooting and running of it,
those first six seasons,
I don't know if I ever really had a grasp of what it was going to be
or what it was to audience.
I mean, obviously, any people liked it.
They loved meeting you in person and talking about Reba.
I felt the chemistry of the cast, and it felt like we were doing really good work.
But I don't know.
I was also just sort of, it was my first series regular.
I felt like my job was just to come in and do my work.
And, you know, I didn't know a lot either.
I was really young and naive, too.
For me, I would watch the show, but I never watched every episode until it was syndicated.
And that's when I really felt like I had a relationship with the show.
on USA, it was on CMT, because it was on a lot so you can catch all the episodes. Did you feel that
when it went into syndication, that you could feel the show's popularity and even your star rise
because it was just so present? Yeah. I mean, when something's on every day and people are consuming it,
yes, I definitely felt that. And it was, it was, you know, it was where you got recognized a lot more.
I felt like in that syndication, there was so much more love and consumption of the show just because it was there all the time.
And then people really loved it.
It was fun to see that.
And then TikTok, when they now cut to, you know, even years later where there's this other resurgence of it.
And ultimately, I do think that all of those things, if the writing wasn't great, if they hadn't created these characters that people wanted to be around, that wouldn't have mattered.
But they did.
And I can watch it.
I hate watching things that I'm in unless I have distance from it.
You know, distance is a lot easier for me.
And I can watch those episodes now of that show and just think it's really funny.
And it a lot of it holds up.
And it was, we did do some really fun and great things.
And I love watching the chemistry between everybody.
So yeah, it's, it's been, it's, it's sort of it's, it's, I feel very grateful that, you know, I'm in one of those shows that people still kind of
watch today. Can you educate me and us on especially that show because there's an audience,
what a week is like of doing that show and what would happen on a Monday versus a Saturday and what
day it actually was recorded? It's a multicam is a five day. It's one episode is in five days.
And what we're doing right now in Happy Place is the exact same sort of schedule we did on the
original Reba show, which is we're a Wednesday to Tuesday show, which means Wednesday is our
table read.
We come in, that's our day one of our five days.
So we come in and we do our table read in front of the studio and network.
And we read it out loud for everybody in the writers.
And then we would go away and maybe go to a costume fitting or hang out in or dressing for a while.
Well, they get notes from the studio and network.
And then we would come back in after they all give their notes.
And our director would usually say, all right, this is going to change.
This is going to change.
some changes here, but we're going to put it on its feet,
and we'd have a light day of rehearsal on that first table read day.
So, you know, we got in there at 10 o'clock for table read.
We were probably done by two, so it's a great schedule that way.
And then the next day is coming.
They probably got a new script overnight.
They addressed the changes from a studio network.
We get there probably nine, and if we need to, we might read it again just for the
writers or maybe just for the cast,
if there was a lot of changes.
And then we'd start rehearsing it.
We'd start blocking it with our director
and we'd rehearse the whole show,
have a lunch and a break maybe,
have fittings during that day.
And then you do a studio, which is first,
network or studio.
Oh my gosh, I've been doing this how many years.
I think it would be a studio run through that day.
So then the writers come down in the studio
and we do the whole show as we rehearsed it that day.
and then we would get notes.
And Kevin Abbott, who was our showrunner, him and Matt Berry,
were the two leaders in the first Reba show.
And Kevin Abbott's our showrunner, this one,
and Matt Barry has been there since the original Reba show.
And what's great about Kevin is that a lot of times you don't get to, like,
sit in with the producers or have an opportunity to ask questions.
So after that first run through, we sit with the,
after this network would leave, we'd sit and Kevin would say these are some of the changes
and maybe ask us if we had any ideas or anything that was bumping us and blah, blah,
and then we would go home, get a new script that night, coming on Friday, read it,
rehearse it, and then do a network studio run through with the writers.
And then they would give maybe even more notes.
And then over the weekend, the writers might address those.
Coming on Monday, you camera block the whole show in front of the cameras,
so they know exactly what we're going to do.
and then you might do some pre-shoots if there's a set that's way far away from the studio audience
or a set that's only there for a few days or an outdoor scene.
You would do a pre-shoot that day that you would plug in in front of the studio audience.
Is this boring?
This is so long.
No, I won't cut it down at all.
I'm super interested in all the nuance of it.
So I'm paying attention here.
Okay.
And then so Mondays is camera blocking, maybe some pre-shoot days.
And then you go home and then Tuesday is your show day.
We're in a Tuesday night show.
You come in maybe later than the other days.
You come in and camera block refresh.
They call it camera refreshed.
So you refresh all the scenes that you're going to do that night in front of the audience with your camera guys.
So you know where we're going to be where you need to get for your camera or how this is going to go.
Then you would, Cass would be sent away to hair and makeup.
We'd get ourselves glammed up and have dinner.
And then we would meet in the makeup room for touchups.
And we'd usually do a quick spread through of the script, which is we just,
quick, do it as fast as we can, off book, and just do it as a cast. And then we have a little
cast and our director, we have a little prayer, hands together, hands in pray. We go out, have cast
intros, and we tape that show in front of a live studio audience. And usually for us, Kevin Abbott's
pretty, he keeps things running. We usually do maybe two, three takes per scene, sometimes more
if there's just a different, something we need to pick up. And we're usually, we start at six o'clock in
front of the audience. We're usually done, we're usually done by 8.30 or 9. And then maybe
you have a little glass of wine with the cast and then you go home and then you show up the
next day for your table read of next week's episode. You just start all over again.
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In the moment, it felt like it was going on forever. I didn't think I was going to live.
I was terrified.
There was no anything inside those eyes.
They turned black.
It scared the hell out of me.
That was your first murder case?
Yes, sir.
Fear to say this was the biggest case of your career?
Yes, sir.
Rape a murder for a child.
Just as bad as it gets.
I would think so.
Evil, wake up.
I'm the one that saw the murder take place by Crevette and DePippo.
Anthony DePippo showed no signs of remorse.
unfazed after being sentenced to the maximum.
I said, I'm not guilty. I'll take it to the grief.
Listen to the devil's quarry on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your
podcasts. And to hear the devil's quarry ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to LaVa
for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.
Hey, I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby.
Together, we're going to have meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating.
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We've here since everyone has a podcast, we want it to as well. And we've had some incredible
guest so far. And now our good friend
Nile Horn is joining the show. How's it going, boys?
Hey, Niall. It's the same thing with Slow Hands.
Slow Hands is not about anything else, really, is it?
You know, or taste so good
can't be about food. You do the same, Nick,
with some of the stuff that you've done.
You too, Joe.
Drop what you're doing and listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart
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you listen to your podcast.
And we're back on the Bobbycast.
Is there ever a moment where
you're in front of the studio audience and a joke
really doesn't hit and then you just you rewrite the joke or do you just repair it in like post?
Oh yeah. You find out right away. That's the beauty of this medium, which is why I love
multicam so much. It's the closest thing to live theater you've got. So they'll tell you,
oh, that didn't work. And our writers usually will have a line for you. Sometimes the actors will have
a pitch. And that's again, what's so great about Kevin is that he lets us pitch stuff or try stuff.
I love it when that happens.
I mean, I don't love it when a joke doesn't land,
but I do love it when you get to try five different jokes
in front of that same audience and see which one lands.
But yeah, they let you know if something works
and they'll let you know if it doesn't either.
And I love that part.
But yeah, the writers are usually there with another blow ready to go.
With Reba and with Happy's Place,
those are shot very similarly,
but young Sheldon was not.
Is that just a different mindset going into a show like that?
Are you prepared differently?
Yeah, because that's a different.
single camera so that shot like a movie you know so it's and often you're not you know if you don't
have a scene with an actor that day you might never see them you know like the difference between
multi-cam is you're with your cast all day usually rehearsing and playing and playing around so in single
cam it's a completely different mindset where you know you either you know the writing is funny and there's a
laugh there but you're not going to get that feedback from the studio audience um i don't know my read is if you see a
one of the gaffers or a camera guy, if somebody maybe, if you get a tiny little something,
you're like, all right, that worked.
But yeah, it's as much smaller.
It's, you know, everything's just a little bit smaller, a little quieter.
And you don't have to, it's just a different mind.
It is a different mindset, yeah.
With Happy's Place and with Reba coming back and you guys are all together again,
how long ago did this bubble up as an idea?
And did you think it would manifest itself into like version,
two of you guys? You know, after the Reba show ended, immediately, I feel like we knew we wanted
to do something together again. You know, she, I think she made up jobs for me sometimes just so we
could hang out. You know, she took me on the road and I did stand up. I opened for her and for her
and Kelly Clarkson, then her and George Strait when they were on the road, which was such a wonderful
experience. But, you know, we were sort of always looking. It was sort of out in the world. We'd love to,
you know, some time would pass.
we'd love to do a project together.
And some came and went.
Some were like, you know, and the reboot was always sort of in that world too.
Like, could we get a reboot?
And, you know, that never seemed to come to fruition, whether it was like, who owned the rights,
who was going to do this.
So that didn't come.
And, you know, Reba.
And I always trust her because she's so great about this business.
And she has such a great perspective of, you know, when the time is right, it'll happen.
when the project's right, it's yours.
You don't, if you don't lose a job that wasn't yours to have, you know, so she was very,
I just sort of trusted her that, you know, it will come when it's supposed to.
I mean, I had no idea it would be this many years later, but there were some ideas that were
floated.
They weren't the right ones.
Anyway, so Julie Abbott, Kevin Abbott's wife, who is our original showrunner in the first show
and this showrunner on Happy's Place, came to Kevin with this idea about sisters,
someone finding out they didn't have a sister.
So Kevin took that and ran.
and brought it to Reba and I, and we loved it.
I mean, I don't know how much sway my love happened, but I loved it too.
And, you know, we sort of, that's where it was born.
It was Julie Abbott, Kevin's, Kevin's wife, who has been, you know, part of, we've all
known each other for since the original Reba show.
And yeah, I had no idea.
And then even when that happens, you know, even when that happens, yes, Kevin's going
to write this idea.
Okay, great.
Well, that doesn't mean anything.
thing, well, he's going to go pitch it.
Great. That doesn't mean anything until someone buys it.
Then someone does. And then you make the pilot and then, you know, you don't know if that's
going to get picked up. So, you know, another good thing that Reeves was great about is saying,
you know, I'm excited, but I won't get excited yet. I'll get as excited as need be as every
level is past. So you sort of go, well, that was great. That's one hurdle. And now we have to get
to that one. And here we are. You know, here we are just in the middle of season two airing.
and a pickup for season three, which is a crazy sentence to say in this in this day and age of,
you know, where the industry is at and to be working.
And we are very grateful to be working and doing what we love.
Your background is an improv.
When did you start doing stand-up?
Like, what were you doing in high school?
High school, I was doing theater and some improv.
Then I went on to college and got a theater degree.
And improv was part of my life there.
And when I graduated from college with a theater degree, I went to Minneapolis, which is a great theater town.
And I did improv at Brave New Workshop, Dely Riggs, which is very similar to Second City where you write five shows, original shows a year.
And every night you do improv with your cast.
And then I did Tony and Tina's wedding, which was all improv, which I did for, I don't know how many performances in Minneapolis.
And then stand-up, where am I on a tangent?
So many, after college was doing improv, doing theater.
And then it was, stand-up really didn't come into place until Reba sort of gave me that chance to do it.
You know, I feel like, you know, I would emcee a lot of stuff.
And in improv, you learn to think on your feet.
I was always writing stuff, too.
Part of what we did where I was doing improv was you had to write stuff all the time.
And so she sort of said after the reber show, I said, what you want to do it?
And I'm like, I say yes.
And then you hang up and you go, oh, my God.
What did I?
I know, I have to have 25 minutes.
And I have, you know, be ready to go and sort of got the luxury of a learning curve on the road with her.
And frankly, and I know you're so good at it and you do it.
And you have to do it all the time.
But there's nothing scarier to me.
Improv does not terrify me.
stand-up is to me the most terrifying of all mediums at all, any sort of form of,
the most terrifying form of entertaining ever is stand-up.
When did you decide then from Minneapolis to move to Los Angeles?
What was it that triggered that?
I always knew I was going to do it.
I mean, I felt I needed to try.
I wanted to, I knew I was going to do, I sort of had a New York or L.A., but ultimately it was
L.A. I loved TV.
I wanted to be on a sitcom.
I wanted to make people laugh, and I thought L.A. was a place to do it.
So I knew as I was doing improv and theater in Minneapolis, I was trying to save money to move to L.A.
And within the form of that improv troupe, we came out to Los Angeles to do a showcase at the HBO workspace.
And our improv troupe did this showcase.
And I got some interest in me there, and some meetings were set up.
And I was like, great, I have to go back to Minnesota.
I'm getting married.
So I did that.
Married John Brady, who I did, was doing improv with, who's the funniest human, and got married to him and put off those meetings, went to do Tony and Tina's wedding in Baltimore to save up more money.
So we could go to L.A.
So we saved it money and then went to L.A.
And then followed up on the people that wanted to have some meetings with me there.
And then just started hitting the ground and auditioning and trying to.
become an actor.
What was your first yes?
In L.A.
Or in...
Yeah, in L.A.
When you get to L.A., what is your first yes?
I think it was a sketch show for oxygen that I don't think it ever aired, but it was really funny
and really funny people.
Maya Rudolph, Seth Rogen, I'm trying to remember all of these.
It was a sketch show.
And I made me confusing two sketch shows that I was cast and called Running with Scissors.
And that was my first yes.
And I knew that it was, it was really funny people that are all working now.
And that was my first yes.
And then it never aired.
I don't know why.
I don't even know what happened to it.
But I know that it was really fun.
And yeah, that was, I guess.
And then I got a Kia commercial.
That was another first yes.
Oh, my gosh.
Guest spot on Just Shoot Me.
Oh, nice.
I love that show.
And I was living.
I was subletting at an apartment right across the street called the Starlet.
And if you're ever in LA, you'll see it.
It's still there.
And I was at, we were, where were you still subletting at this tiny apartment right across
was Warner Brothers Studio.
And, you know, you could look out your little window and you'd see like, you know,
that's where they're shooting friends.
And I booked this guest spot on Just Shoot Me.
And it was like one funny scene.
I think it was like the check and girl for some.
somebody's high school reunion. And I was terrified. I was so excited to drive onto that lot.
And George Siegel, who was so kind to me. And he was kind to me twice in my career. And it's such a way that I will never forget. And I hope it's what I bring, I bring to every show I'm on. I didn't even have a scene with him. I didn't have a scene with him. I'm trying to remember who my scene was with. I don't think it was David Spade.
who was it? Anyway, everyone was very lovely, but he made a point of walking up to me. He said,
is this your first, like, thing in L.A., like in front of an audience? And they said, yes. And he says,
you're really funny. Go out there and have fun tonight. It's supposed to be fun. And he shook
money. And he was so, and I'll never forget that. And then years later, I did another show called
Retired at 35. And he was on that show. And I went up to thank him. And I said, I was so terrified.
I was so nervous and you were so nice to me and you reminded me that what we do is really fun.
And I was doing what I dreamed of doing as a kid in Minnesota.
And it was happening tonight.
And it may have been a couple lines, but to have fun.
And I, so I went up and thanked him and he couldn't, and I just said, I'll never forget it.
You just made that such a wonderful experience.
And he did the same thing for me on this show.
He just said, you were so funny.
You're just, and he, I don't know, it was, I'll never forget it.
The Bobbycast, we'll be right back.
Pride Month, Toronto.
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We have a ton to celebrate Toronto.
Happy Pride.
In the moment, it felt like it was going on forever.
I didn't think I was going to live.
I was terrified.
There was no anything inside those eyes.
They turned black.
It scared the hell out of me.
That was your first murder case?
Yes, sir.
Fair to say this was the biggest case of your career?
Yes, sir.
Rape a murder for a child.
Just as bad as it gets.
I would think so.
People wake up.
I'm the one that saw the murder.
take place by crevette and de pippo.
Anthony DePippo showed no signs of remorse,
appearing unfazed after being sentenced to the maximum.
I said, I'm not guilty. I'll take it to the grief.
Listen to the devil's quarry on the Iheart radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
And to hear the Devil's Quarry ad free with exclusive content,
subscribe to Love for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.
Hey, I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast.
Podcast Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby.
Together, we're going to have meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people.
Like when actress Olivia Munn shared how she overcame fierce health challenges.
I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer, and that was more difficult.
There's a lot of people who understand postpartner depression.
I was not prepared for postpartum anxiety.
Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
All right, listen up.
The Jonas Brothers here.
Our podcast is called Hey Jonas.
We're here, since everyone has a podcast, we want it to as well.
And we've had some incredible guests so far.
And now our good friend, Nile Horn, is joining the show.
How's it going, boys?
Hey, Niall.
It's the same thing with Slow Hands.
Slow Hands is not about anything else, really, is it?
You know, or taste so good can be about food.
You do the same, Nick, with some of the stuff that you've done.
You too, Joe.
Drop what you're doing and listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
This is the Bobbycast.
When you were a kid, who did you look at and either mimic or think, I want to do something like they do because they do it so well?
Carol Burnett, Gilda Radner, Catherine O'Hara, Andrea Martin.
Those were my, like, kid ones that I just, I would watch SCTV.
I would watch that.
I believe it was on PBS is when it aired for me.
and I'd watch it on the phone with my friend Jenny Howell,
because we both would laugh together watching SEC,
our Second City TV, SETV, which is where I saw Catherine O'Hara and Andrew Martin.
And then I would stay over at my aunt's house on Saturday nights
when my parents were like gone and they would let me stay up and watch Saturday Night Live.
And I loved Gilda Radner.
I loved Jane Curtin.
I just knew, but Carol Burnett was one that I could watch all the time
and just knew that I wanted, I didn't know what I just wanted to do that.
and wanted to do that.
You know, so much of what we turned into
is because of things that were exposed to.
And I think I grew up in the South,
so I didn't get to watch anything Canadian.
And there were so many funny things
that as I got older,
I was like, man, I really missed out
because I had no influence on me was Canadian.
However, you lived in Minnesota
where you actually got the best of America
and you got the Canadian, like the SCTV.
Like, that feels pretty fortunate looking back, right?
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
And by the way, how many people,
how most of the funny people we know are Canadian.
Martin Short,
John Candy,
I think about that entire SETV cast was just geniusly funny.
And then Mike Myers,
like I think about it,
but I feel very grateful that I don't even know how I found it.
I just remember finding this is the funniest thing I've ever seen.
And I love it so much.
And I'm really grateful that I saw that.
And I'm grateful that my parents let me sleep over at my aunt's,
Susan Kathy's and be unsupervised and watch, we stay up way too late to watch. And listen,
and my aunts too, by the way, were very instrumental because they had Steve Martin comedy
album. And I would listen to that. And I, they expose me to a lot of things that I would
probably not have found on my own, you know? And yeah, we are a product of that. So I feel really
lucky about that. Did you ever have dreams or did you ever audition for S&L?
no but I will say that when I was doing this sketch show that we were shooting and Maya Rudolph,
I remember we were doing a sketch and I think this was at the time that she was maybe about to fly out for her an audition or maybe it was her call.
But I'm not sure, but I remember that that was in the process.
I remember sitting across from her and just thinking how funny she was.
And she had said something like, well, you're going to be honest.
auditioning soon, aren't you? And I just like, I don't know. I thought, who knew? And so no, I never did.
And then I remember about the time that I had gotten maybe a few, I believe my manager had said,
you should get a tape together for SNL that we can start sending in. And at that point where
we started thinking about that I was maybe in that sort of that window of time that that
would have been appropriate, I booked the sitcom. And once you book a sitcom, you're no longer really,
they don't really want to see you, I guess, at that time.
But yeah, it was one of those, who knows,
and I ended up where I was supposed to.
But yeah, I dreamed of S&L is, I mean,
I don't know if you can see behind me that's still like,
oh, that didn't turn off.
I still have that, the album,
and I still listen to my Guild of Raddner, like, live in New York album.
But, you know, I'm not dead.
Maybe someday to let me do a walk on.
I work for NBC Universal.
I mean, I'd be happy if they let me just sit, you know,
I do anything.
That show is huge to me.
And I still fight with people who go,
oh, it's not good anymore or this wasn't good.
Or now this cast, I'm like, no, no, no, no.
It is always, it's always good because what they are doing,
yes, there's ebbs and flows, there's casts that you might connect with more.
And there's maybe years that there was more sketches that you remember.
But the reality is it's always good because what they're doing is they're doing a live show
and they're creating like this amazing, this amazing variety show every week.
And real fans, you don't, you don't leave them in any year.
You watch it every year all the time.
And I love it because I love watching just how things change, but yet they stay the same.
And I'm loving like Ashley Padilla and this new cast, I think is brilliant.
So I still dream of S&L, even though I realize that train has probably left the building.
I often will do a thing where I'll go through and try to,
try to guess what the most asked question is to the people that I talk to. And I never really want to
jump into the most asked questions, but can I try to predict your most asked question? Yeah.
Is it about hooker number two? No. It isn't? No. Okay. So then I don't feel guilty asking it.
So I love Fargo. I do too. I mean, again, that was my first job out of college. That was my first yes.
Dang it.
I need to walk around with my mom or dad behind me who actually keep track of my career.
Like I have no idea.
I am so bad at it.
Tell me that story.
Oh my gosh.
I was a kid.
I was working at TGI Fridays.
I'd finished.
I got my theater degree.
And Jane Brody, an amazing casting agent, who I believe is still based in Chicago,
came and taught a semester at my college.
And I took her class.
I think she was teaching, auditioning for film or maybe cold readings.
She was amazing.
I took her classes.
She liked me.
I graduate.
She's in town in Minneapolis casting for Fargo.
And at first she hired me to run camera for her, too, to earn some extra money,
which was a lovely skill to learn.
I run camera for a few days, but then she calls me into audition for the Coen Brothers.
True story.
I'm in the lobby.
I want to get a mountain due.
before my audition.
I don't have change.
I ask who I think is, I don't know, somebody works there.
I ask for change for a dollar so I can get a mountain do.
By the way, all of those are poor decisions before an audition, drinking a
mountain do.
I don't know, all of it.
And I get in the room and I had asked Joel Cohen for change for the vending machine
to get a mountain to because I, again, this is pre-social media.
I had seen, you know, raising Arizona.
I knew who the Coen Brothers were, but it wasn't like they had like this, you know, hot instant.
Like, you know, I didn't know what they actually looked like.
So I go in, I audition.
I don't hear anything for quite some time.
And I think it's done and it's over because it's a small town.
You hear people that have been going in for this big Coen Brothers movie.
I get called back in maybe like a, I feel like it was a month later.
But again, don't trust me.
in any timeline because clearly I have no idea what I've done in my life.
I go back in and this is for hooker number,
this is for when the pair of hookers and they start to match us up with other girls.
So I go in and I read and I read with a couple different people.
And then when they put Larissa and I together,
I felt like, oh, this works.
It's that thing you know, we're like, oh, where this is supposed to be.
So once they paired us together and we read this scene,
I felt like, oh, that felt pretty good.
That felt right.
And then I leave.
And I think I still don't think I hear for maybe another week that I got it.
And then I got it.
And I went in and my first day, the first scene we shot was, I believe, the scene where it's the, oh, yeah, we're at the scene with Francis McDormid, which she's so, was so, even only in hindsight would I realize how.
generous she was as an actor. I just remember she treated Larissa and I both like we were peers,
which she, we were, but in my head, I was just, I was going, I had a shift at T.J. Fridays the next day,
you know, and this was Francis McDormid, who was well into her career, but also just such a
brilliant actress, but she was so, um, kind and just I remember she, I felt like we were, we were
equals. We were equals in a scene, which was just, in hindsight,
a lovely gift to give a really young new person who had no idea what she was doing.
And who at the rat party at the bowling alley asked William H. Macy what party was in the movie
because I didn't know the whole script.
I mean, I just, I asked so many questions and that in hindsight, I never would have
asked.
I would have been too nervous.
Like if I was doing a Kohn Brothers movie today, I would be a nervous.
but back then I'm like hey Steve Wushemi do you remember when you were mr. pink I was like
Chris Farley in that sketch I was like remember when you were in you're awesome. It was so cool.
I was such an idiot and Ethan Cohen people have heard this story but true story I just graduated so
I was living with my parents while I saved money for my apartment and Ethan Cohen called my
house to talk about a scene or something and my mother answered and was screaming upstairs going
missy calling me missy by the way which I'm like I'm
Melissa, I'm an actress.
And Missy, the phone's for you.
And I'm like, who is it?
And she said, Ethan Cohen.
And I was mortified.
Mortified.
So that was your first yes.
That was my first yes.
What was your last yes?
My last yes.
Well, getting a saying yes to a third season of Happy's place, I guess.
That's a giant yes.
And in today's world where, you know, TV's changed.
And I know so many people are not working.
That feels like a really, really big yes that we get to do a season three.
Do you still cook?
Oh, yeah.
Oh, so you, with your reaction, you must still cook a lot.
Yeah.
I mean, I'm just my reactions.
Why?
Do you think I have someone cook for me?
Well, I know you from cooking on television a bit.
Okay.
And so I didn't know if you really did that a lot or if you're just good at it and you kind of
break it out occasionally front camera.
No, I like to cook.
I mean, I don't cook is, I mean, my husband actually cooks a lot of the stuff, but I do like to cook.
I love to like be able.
And our, my son is 20.
And so he's moved out of the house.
He's actually going to culinary school.
So hopefully he'll cook for me.
But yeah, I love to cook.
I like to, I'd rather, you know, stay in and eat at home than I, I don't want to.
I guess it's not true.
I like both.
But I do like to cook.
Yeah.
I like it when I don't have to.
I like it when I can putter around and go, oh, I'm going to make soup.
I love making things where I can just throw whatever I have and see if it works.
And it usually does, actually.
What is your signature dish?
Hmm.
Oh, wow.
I make really good.
This sounds like a dumb one, but I make really good, like, I can do, like, I make really good homemade, like black bean dip.
I make really good soups.
I make a really good garden vegetable soup.
I don't know if I have a signature anymore.
Oh, you know what?
This is going to make me very Midwestern.
I can do a really good hot dish.
I can do a really good tater tot hot dish.
I'm really good at it.
But as far as like this, I don't know if I have a signature.
I mean, roast chicken, that's easy.
But no, I don't have a signature.
You got to talk me through a tater tot hot dish.
I'm from the South.
I don't know what that means.
I know what tater tots are, but what's a hot dish tater tatertot.
You'd call it a casserole, right?
Yeah.
You know, it's the same thing.
It's where you take ground meat of any kind, maybe a cream of mushroom.
soup, some green beans, some onions, whatever.
You mix that up.
Maybe you put some cheese in it.
There's a debate between the cheese and a hot dish sometimes.
And then you would layer tater tots on top.
So ours would be ground beef, browned ground beef, cream of mushroom soup, green beans.
I like to go.
I like to sass it up with some onions, maybe some real mushrooms in it.
Then you put that line tater tops on time, build it, bake it, and you've got a hot dish.
So hot dishes is Midwestern.
It's a casserole.
Do people often think you're from the South?
Yeah.
I did until I started researching you.
I just met somebody actually yesterday somewhere that was like, so wait, you weren't from Texas.
I'm like, no, I just did my barbacheen.
I just did it.
So I think there's something like vibe-wise that's very similar.
I think Midwest and South has a similar vibe that I think connects people in a way where we like to
hang out with our friends and family.
We like to eat.
We like to, you know, we like our neighbors.
We, you know, I don't know.
I think there's a little more of a laid back vibe that I connect with with people from
the cell, maybe.
Well, congratulations on getting renewed for a third season.
Again, that is such a big deal.
I bet it's so fun to do Happy's Place because it's new.
You need to come out to a lot.
You need to come to a taping or be on it.
Yeah, I guess.
That was not the reaction.
hope we'd for. Well, I just have been
Hollywood is so,
and I'm not comparing you to this,
but everybody in, anytime I do
any meetings, and I was talking to someone about this recently,
I was talking to Tom Bergeron, who I love as a host,
right, and he's the greatest guy.
And I was like, every time I come and do any meeting
in Los Angeles, they promise me the world,
they tell me they're going to make me the biggest thing ever,
they're going to give me millions of dollars right there in the room,
and then I walk out, and I never hear from anybody.
And so, you know, I just
have that association with anyone in Hollywood
that's like, you should do this, and I just should react
like this. Oh, thank you. That's so nice of you. But I have this reaction. Yeah, you know,
right? I get it. I mean, I remember there's so many times like, oh, my gosh, you are,
you are the funniest, you know, the funniest person we've ever seen today for this. And I'm like,
great, we'll hire me because that doesn't pay my rent. Or like, I get it. I hear that all the time.
People say that all the time. They say, um, I get it. I believe it. That was a, you know what?
That was a proper reaction.
But no, but no bullshit aside.
Okay.
You are beloved by Reba.
I would, I would like us to like, I think, you know, I don't know, you know what,
don't believe me, but you should.
Fair enough.
But I get it.
I know what?
I bet you hear that all the time because you are so good at what you do.
You have this massive following.
You can do many things.
You wear a lot of different hats.
People say things.
And it never comes true.
I should have reacted better to that, though.
I remember I had that thing, too, of like when people that all of these things,
don't pay my rent.
I should have reacted to that better.
I apologize.
No, I love that.
This is the best, most perfect reaction you should get to anybody in Hollywood who says,
you should or, you know what, come out here.
I've got something for you.
Don't, don't believe them.
Because you know what?
I didn't come until I'd saved up a lot of money on my own to pay my own rent.
And I knew I could try to make it here.
Well, congratulations again.
I really love it for you guys.
I love it for Riba.
I love Riba, obviously.
she's been so kind to me over the years.
And it's so cool that you guys are real-life friends.
I think that's cool because a lot of people are work friends or we've done stuff together.
But you guys are like real-life friends.
And I love to work with my real-life friends.
So that's got to be super cool to be able to do that.
It is.
And people can tell.
It translates into the final product, you know.
People, they maybe don't know what it is or able to put their finger on it.
But they can tell when there's chemistry and there's real friendship there.
And yeah.
And we have a shorthand.
We don't have to explain stuff to each other because we already know.
What does Reba like to work with professionally?
She's a great example.
You know, she is prepared.
She treats everybody with respect and she likes to have fun.
You know, she doesn't need to do this right now.
And she wants to do it because she really, she loves it.
She has so much fun.
You know, Reba, she's lovely.
And she makes sure, like my favorite, my, the goal is that anybody who leaves that set,
they walk away.
saying, I had a great time.
People treated me great, and I want to come back.
And she does that.
And it's, you know, it's really fun watching her and Rex together.
You would think that you would get tired of, you know, seeing how much in love they are and how cute they are.
But I'm not yet.
And they really are quite fun together.
And he's great because I don't know how much time you've spent with Rex Lynn, but he is such an actor's actor.
And he loves what he does so much.
and he loves to rehearse.
And he makes us all better, I think,
because he really respects that process.
So, and he's, he's got stories.
You need to, he's, he's fun to talk to.
He's been doing this for a long time.
Melissa, thank you so much for the time.
And thanks for the generosity with your stories.
I really appreciate it.
And much, much success.
And hopefully someday we'll be in the same room
and we'll actually talk to each other.
That was a busy day.
We were together.
We were running all over the place.
I know.
And I was really hoping to do this in person.
And so I hope that you'll let me do it in person.
I'd love to.
I like to come out there and my folks are around there, so I'll do it.
Please do.
Next time you're in town, please.
Hey, hey, come on by.
Next time you're in town.
I hit her with that.
Can't wait to see it.
We got something for you.
I got a show.
Here's my reaction.
Okay.
You bet.
I'll be there.
Thank you.
Hey, great to see you.
Thank you so much.
Hope you have a great rest of the day.
Thanks, you too.
All right.
Bye, Melissa.
Thanks for listening to a Bobbycast production.
Joy is a.
essential and it's also elusive. But now, there's a new and exciting way to start your journey
toward a more joyful existence, Joy 101. It's a new podcast hosted by me, Hoda Kotby. If you're
craving inspiration to maximize your joy, tune into these candid, uplifting, and moving on-air chats.
Open your free IHeart Radio app. Search Joy 101 and listen now. Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby is presented
by CBS.
There was no
anything inside those eyes.
They turned black.
It scared the hell out of me.
Evil, wake up. I'm the one
that saw the murder take place
by Crevette and DePippo.
Anthony DePippo showed no
signs of remorse, appearing
unfazed after being sentenced to the
maximum. I said I'm not guilty. I'll take
it to the grave.
Listen to the devil's quarry
in the Bone Valley Feed
on the IHeart Radio app.
Apple Podcasts,
wherever you get your podcasts.
All right, listen up.
The Jonas Brothers here.
Our podcast is called,
Hey Jonas.
We've here, since everyone has a podcast,
we want it to as well.
And we've had some incredible guests so far.
And now our good friend,
Nile Horn, is joining the show.
How's it going, boys?
Hey, Niall.
It was the same thing with Slow Hands.
Slow Hands is not about anything else, really, is it?
You know, or taste so good can't be about food.
You do the same, Nick,
with some of the stuff that you've done.
You too, Joe.
Drop what you're doing and listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Last night, a blown call changed a game.
This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.
That's where Sports Slice comes in.
I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headlines.
And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves.
their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment,
and the stuff nobody gets to hear.
Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcast.
And for more, follow Timbo Slicalife-Life 12
in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.
This is an I-Heart podcast.
Guaranteed human.
