(Exclusive) Justina Machado Faces Off with Reba McEntire, Melissa Peterman on Happy’s Place

Justina Machado Faces the ‘Heat’ from Reba McEntire and Melissa Peterman in Hilarious Harpy’s Place Cameo: Watch (Exclusive)

Machado is set to make a guest appearance on ‘Harpy’s Place’ on Feb. 7, playing Maritza, the woman who had a secret affair with Bobbie’s father

Melissa Peterman is standing by Reba McEntire on Harpy’s Place no matter the cost — even if it means a joke at her expense!

In PEOPLE’s exclusive look at the Feb. 7 episode of Harpy’s Place, One Day at a Time alum Justina Machado makes a special guest appearance as Maritza, the woman who had a secret affair with Bobbie’s (McEntire) father.

In the scene, Bobbie’s half-sister Isabella (Belissa Escobedo) introduces her mom to Bobbie and Gabby (Melissa Peterman).

“Here they come,” Bobbie says before warning bartender Gabby, “Be on your best behavior!”

Gabby then quips, “Like Child Protective Services is coming for a visit!”

From left: Justina Machado as Maritza, Melissa Peterman as Gabby, and Reba McEntire as Bobbie in ‘Harpy’s Place’. Casey Durkin/NBC

After Isabella and Maritza enter the bar, the foursome are quickly introduced. “Mom, this is Bobbie. Bobbie, this is my mom, Maritza,” Isabella says.

Maritza warmly greets Bobbie, telling her: “It’s so nice to meet you. I hear wonderful things about you.”

“I heard a lot about you too,” McEntire responds nervously. “It’s okay if I say that? I mean, I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just being polite.”

Reba McEntire as Bobbie (left) and Justina Machado as Maritza in ‘Happy’s Place’.Casey Durkin/NBC

The awkward moment continues as Bobbie turns to Gabby and says, “Oh, and this is Gabby!” But Gabby cannot hide her true emotions and quickly blurts out, “For shame! For shame!”

Clearly frustrated by the rude exchange, Isabella asks Gabby, “What the heck?”

But Gabby maintains her stance, expressing just how mad she is that Bobbie’s father had an affair with Maritza. “I’m sorry, but if she can’t handle the heat, she shouldn’t have done the Happy,” she quips.

Bobbie quickly apologizes for Gabby’s actions, but Maritza is not bothered and requests to speak privately with Gabby instead. “Gabby, what’s your current profession?” she asks as they step aside.

Gabby snaps back: “Lion tamer.”

“So I see I’m dealing with someone who’s obviously intelligent,” Maritza says, to which Gabby asks, “Am I?”

“If you’re trying to butter me up, you can stop,” she adds. “My mother told me never to believe anyone who thought I was smart.”

Justina Machado as Maritza in ‘Happy’s Place’.Casey Durkin/NBC

Happy’s Place follows Bobbie, who inherits her father’s titular tavern and is surprised to find out she has a half-sister, played by Escobedo, 26, who is also her business partner. The show also stars McEntire’s real-life boyfriend Rex Linn, 68, as the tavern’s chef.

Speaking with PEOPLE in October 2024, Kevin Abbott — the creator of both Reba and Happy’s Place — revealed that he and McEntire wanted to create a show that captured the energy and heartfelt comedy of the country star’s original sitcom, which aired from 2001 to 2007.

“Just in general, Reba and I gelled and clicked on the old Reba show I think because we both like to tell the same kind of stories, and we have a very similar sense of humor, and thematically, we like positivity,” he told PEOPLE. “When people get done watching our shows, we want them to feel good. We want them to walk away having really enjoyed themselves and maybe gotten half an hour out of the tension of life.”

Pablo Castelblanco, Tokala Black Elk, Belissa Escobedo, Melissa Peterman, Reba McEntire and Rex Linn in ‘Happy’s Place.’.Trae Patton/NBC

According to Abbott, themes of family, forgiveness and “responsibility to other people” were incredibly important in the story of Happy’s Place.

“Just the times we’re in, and when you’re seeing different viewpoints on life, to be able to capture some of those and see how they kind of bounce off each other, and see where we can find commonalities that you wouldn’t necessarily think are there,” Abbott said. “I mean, we tend to want to bring people together and find the things that people share rather than the things that people apart. And that’s why we brought in Belissa [Escobedo] and Pablo [Castel Blanco] and Tokala [Black Elk].”

“We wanted to get some different perspectives on life so that we could honor those and show how, yeah, we might be different, but we’re also more similar than you think,” he finished.

Harpy’s Place airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.