Set in the city of Houston, Texas, middle-aged wisecracking Reba Hart (Reba McEntire) has her life thrown upside down when she learns her husband, Brock Hart (Christopher Rich), had an affair and is expecting a baby with his young dental hygienist Barbra Jean Hart (Melissa Peterman) and that her daughter Cheyenne (JoAnna Garcia Swisher) is pregnant with her boyfriend (later husband), high school cornerback Van Montgomery (Steve Howey).

With all of the new chaos and dysfunction, Reba attempts to get through with pre-teen daughter Kyra (Scarlett Pomers) and son Jake (Mitch Holleman).

The show's theme song, "I'm a Survivor", was written by Shelby Kennedy and Phillip White and performed by Reba McEntire.

The first ten episodes of season two featured a truncated opening sequence: Cast and crew names were shown during the first and second segments of the show.

The fast-paced song played among the new shots of McEntire (which were also taken from The WB's promotional campaign from the 2002–03 season) plus clips of cast members from previous episodes as their names scroll past the screen horizontally.

Two unreleased songs were performed by McEntire throughout the series: "Angel's Lullaby" (in the episode "It Ain't Over Till the Redhead Sings") and a cover of Carole King's "So Far Away" (in "Terry Holliway").

[3] An interview with Reba McEntire, as part of the press coverage of her then upcoming Duets album, revealed that the show was not being shopped around and that the series was indeed finished.

In an interview with Variety on May 29, 2007, 20th Century Fox TV president Gary Newman said that he had regretted The WB's handling of the show in later years, saying that he was sure the series would have been a hit for CBS, ABC, or UPN.

During its five seasons on the Friday night lineup, it often ranked 4th in its timeslot (ahead of both UPN and Fox), with a few episodes bringing in over 5 million viewers.

The new Reba episodes vary as being either sixth or seventh most-watched program on the network, sometimes ranking as high as #3 for the week.

As a result of the lackluster ratings for encores of the summer drama Hidden Palms, repeats of Reba returned to the CW's schedule in June 2007 after being absent for three months, and they immediately became the most-watched program of the night.

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.