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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/reba_cast.png]]
2[[caption-width-right:300:The cast. Clockwise from top left: Van, Brock, Barbra Jean, Reba, Jake, Cheyenne, and Kyra.]]
3-> ''"My roots are planted in the past\
4Though my life is changin' fast\
5Who I am is who I wanna be\
6A single mom who works too hard\
7Who loves her kids and never stops\
8With gentle hands and the heart of a fighter\
9I'm a survivor!"''
10-->-- The series' version of "I'm a Survivor", sung by Reba [=McEntire=]
11
12A DomCom starring Music/RebaMcEntire set in Houston, Texas, which aired for six seasons on Creator/TheWB (2001–06) and then Creator/TheCW (2006-07).
13
14Reba Hart has to deal with her divorce from a cheating husband, her oldest daughter's teenage pregnancy and hasty marriage, and being a newly single parent to three kids, all the while cracking numerous jokes at the ex's new wife. Despite its slapstick premise, the show exhibited a surprising amount of genuinely touching emotion and edge.
15
16Ignoring your own partiality (or lack thereof) to country music/culture, the show was popular enough to stay on the air for six seasons, even surviving the [[NetworkDecay destruction]] of the network that originally aired it, and has remained in constant syndication for well over a decade.
17
18Now has a [[Characters/{{Reba}} characters page]].
19
20----
21!!This show provides examples of:
22* FiveFiveFive: 555-0165, the number for one of Kyra's one-time boyfriends.
23* AbortedArc: Part of the first season involved the Harts going to court-ordered therapy after a knock-down drag-out fight at divorce court. This all but disappeared after just a few episodes, until much later in the show's run (the fifth season).
24* AbusiveParents:
25** Brock's father John D. was an all-around asshole who kept treating his own son like dirt and showed no support for him, but he was only nice to Reba and other people instead. [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold The problem was that John D. was outright awful at expressing his feelings to his son -- as evidenced by how he confided in Reba -- and failed to admit it after dying from a heart attack]].
26** Van's parents, but especially Dan, Van's father. In their debut appearance, they bribe Van with a new truck in order to convince him to leave Cheyenne and move back in with them. Van is so afraid of his father that he can barely even talk to him. It's not until Dan badmouths Reba that Van finally stands up to his father and [[CallingTheOldManOut calls him out on how he's done nothing but bully Van]]. Later seasons see Van trying to reconcile with his parents, but none of his attempts would last.
27* AccidentalMisnaming: Brock's mother can't seem to learn Barbra Jean's name to the point that she never sticks to one misnaming. Hearing the right name doesn't make her correct it, probably because she hates the woman.
28* AdoptedToTheHouse: Van to the Hart house after his parents disown him following his getting Cheyenne pregnant. Not only does Van state Reba was a better parent than they were, Reba herself later says that she views him as her son.
29* AffairBlameTheBastard: It's become a running occurrence in the show that whenever Barbra Jean runs to Reba for help on raising Henry, Reba has to point out that Henry ''was'' conceived when Reba and Brock were still married and holds it in contempt to Barbra Jean out of anger. Being [[TheDitz Barbra Jean]], [[ComicallyMissingThePoint she doesn't see the point]].
30* AffectionateNickname: Van (usually) calls Reba "Mrs. H" and Brock "Mr. H".
31* TheAlcoholic:
32** Cheyenne constantly is [[DrowningMySorrows drowning herself in alcohol]] after Van's football career was completely stopped due to his spinal condition getting worse, but she moves on after many pep talks and encouragement. She briefly falls into SmokingIsNotCool to [[BrokenAesop distract herself from drinking]], much to Reba's chagrin.
33** Van never had an alcohol problem and initially was covering up for Cheyenne, but when he during a party tried to prevent Reba from drinking a single cup of alcohol all because she had taken a pill from Cheyenne's purse meant to discourage drinking instead of healing stress, Cheyenne asked him why not just toss the wine down the drain if he was feeling tipsy from drinking too much. Van really cannot pass up on drinking too much.
34* AllLesbiansWantKids: It's revealed in one episode as Van argues with Jake over being his soccer coach that one of Jake's friends has two moms.
35-->'''Van''': Which father was it?
36-->'''Jake''': It's not a dad.
37-->'''Van''': Oh, is it one of Jimmy's two moms?!
38-->'''Jake''': It's not a parent.
39* AmicablyDivorced: Reba and Brock slowly settle into this.
40* AMistakeIsBorn:
41** At the start of the series, both couples Brock and Barbara Jean and Van and Cheyenne have unexpected pregnancies. They both get married to rectify their mistakes, but it causes more problems for Brock and Barbara Jean down the line. In season 2, after Barbara Jean confessed she was pregnant with Brock's baby, Brock has a secret vasectomy to prevent any more unplanned pregnancies but this only angers Barbara Jean and Reba more as both women wanted more kids (Barbara Jean in the current marriage and Reba back when she and Brock were still married).
42** In the Season 2 episode "The Vasectomy", during a heated argument with Van and Cheyenne over their recent pregnancy scare, Reba forbids them from having another baby in her house and says she will not let them make the "same mistake" like Elizabeth twice (I.e, teen pregnancy). Cheyenne and Van admit that they didn't plan on getting pregnant at 17 but love their unplanned child Elizabeth regardless and they are hurt by Reba calling their daughter Elizabeth "a mistake" and they call her out on it, though she denies it at first and this prompts them to move out.
43-->'''Reba:''' I will not let you throw your lives and the rest of this family into chaos again! I will not let you make the same mistake twice!\
44'''Cheyenne:''' Wait a minute, ''mistake''?!
45* AnalogyBackfire[=/=]ComplimentBackfire: At the start of the sixth season, Barbra Jean loses a lot of weight, causing Van to gawk at her a lot more, upsetting Cheyenne. Barbra Jean's attempt at making Cheyenne feel better does no favor for the latter.
46-->'''Barbra Jean''': Don't get upset, Cheyenne. You're like a bleached-out... [[Series/TheBradyBunch Jan Brady]].
47-->'''Cheyenne''': Jan? [[FlatWhat Jan Brady.]] I'm Marcia. Marcia, Marcia, MARCIA!!! *storms off*
48* AndStarring: Creator/MelissaPeterman as Barbra Jean, though they only added the actual "and" credit to her name for the final two seasons.
49* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking:
50** Barbra Jean's account of a private investigator she hired to tail Brock during their separation: "He followed you everywhere you went: to your dental office, to the golf course... to that tanning salon you say you don't go to", much to Brock's embarrassment.
51** Also, Reba about Kyra's boyfriend's parents:
52-->'''Reba:''' They could be drunks, or convicts, or telemarketers for all I know!
53** On season 1, after a fight with her daughter Cheyenne, Reba's psychiatrist Dr. Susan Peters asks her what are the things bothering her the most at home. Reba lists off the things: Her daughter Cheyenne blaming her for everything miserable in her life, her ex-husband taking her youngest son to a gynecologist office occupied by his pregnant mistress/girlfriend to spend "father-son time" with him, and nobody in her household remembers to put milk on the shopping list. The milk being the one that bothers her the most.
54* ArmorPiercingResponse: In season 1, when Reba and Cheyenne have a fight over the way Cheyenne allows her husband to live in their house all messy:
55-->'''Reba''': I don't understand why you weren't so honest with him in the first place?
56-->'''Cheyenne''': Well, maybe because I didn't want to drive him away like you drove away Dad!
57* AsTheGoodBookSays:
58** Parodied in the episode "And God Created Van." Van goes through a crisis of faith after an injury derails his lifelong goal of being a pro football player, and he says outright he no longer believes in God. This horrifies his very conservative family, especially Barbra Jean. She brings the Bible to him, saying she found a passage that might help him.
59-->'''Barbra Jean''': If you look here at Matthew 12 Verse 3 "And Jesus says unto his disciples..." ''[closes the book and starts beating him with it]'' What is wrong with you, boy?! Do you want to spend eternity in a fiery damnation?!
60** And a second later, we saw where she got the idea.
61-->'''Reba''': Barbra Jean, you're not gonna get anybody to believe by hitting them with a Bible.
62-->'''Barbra Jean''': Oh, that's how my daddy did it.
63* AttemptedHomewrecker: Barbra Jean has no shame falling for other guys ''even after she married Brock''. ''She even refuses to let Reba get closer to them''.
64* AwfulWeddedLife: Really all over the place:
65** In the last few seasons, Brock and Barbra Jean had their marriage collapse. He moved back out, they were constantly arguing, and Brock felt the only real way to salvage it was to pull TheBabyTrap on Barbra Jean (having his vasectomy reversed without telling her.)
66** Any real mention of Reba and Brock's marriage implied it was pretty bad as well, especially during the end. Alongside Brock's infidelity, Brock frequently skipped out on his and Reba's marriage counseling appointments, Reba was put on anti-depressants, and she talks so badly about the end of their marriage, you almost wonder why she didn't thank Barbra Jean for putting their marriage out of its misery.
67** Back in the first seasons, Brock and BJ go and visit BJ's father, "Big Daddy." He takes a superior attitude with Brock for leaving his first wife, and says that Big Daddy and his wife were married for over 50 years... "mostly because she's too ugly to kiss goodbye." Brock calls him out on this, saying that yes, he's divorced, but he would never talk that way about his wife.
68** In all honesty, the healthiest marriage on this show was Van and Cheyenne, believe it or not, who seemed rather stable under all their arguing.
69* BelligerentSexualTension: Van and Cheyenne. They argue often, but there's no question about the authenticity of their love. One episode during Season 5 has each of them two taking turns complaining about the other in a therapist's office, embracing each other when they finish, and then getting told off for arguing soon after (in the waiting area of said therapist's office ''and'' at the parking lot outside).
70* BerserkButton: PlayedForLaughs, it's not so much "berserk" as "reacting strongly".
71** In one episode, Reba and Van see a therapist named David. It's "David", not "Dave"! Some might say this is more a case of InsistentTerminology.
72** Surprisingly, Brock doesn't put up with overt sexist comments. His chauvinistic father-in-law told one offensive joke too many and it led to Brock telling him off.
73** Reba gets upset if/when she gets compared to Barbra Jean and is told [[NotSoDifferentRemark she's no better]].
74** Don't call Barbra Jean "Blondzilla". [[note]]A name she was called in school due to being taller than the other girls.[[/note]]. Reba made that mistake and Barbra Jean was angry enough to hit her back, when she normally takes Reba's abuse and is intimidated by her.
75* BigEater:
76** Van often mentions food and being hungry whenever he's on-screen.
77** In one episode when Kyra interrupts her mother's date, Van and Cheyenne come home late to find Jake up late watching TV and having eaten ''an entire bag'' of Van's Double Stuffed Oreos.
78-->'''Jake''': ''(through a mouthful of Oreos)'' My stomach hurts.
79-->'''Van''': Well, deal with it, cookie pig.
80* BittersweetEnding: In the pilot episode, Brock and Reba's marriage ends due to Brock's infidelity, but Van and Cheyenne pull off a successful wedding and happy marriage.
81* BlamingTheCuckold: Though Reba rightfully holds Brock and Barbara Jean in contempt for wrecking her first marriage to Brock, Brock points out that his marriage to Reba was falling apart long before Barbara Jean came into the picture.
82* BlameTheParamour: Reba and other people blame Brock's mistress Barbara Jean for destroying his 20 year marriage and splitting up from his ex-wife and three kids. Barbra Jean thinks she's the best thing to happen to the Hart family.
83* BlindMistake: Reba in the episode "The Blond Leading the Blind", during which she tries to take care of herself while still recovering from an eye surgery ("tries" being the operative word here, as drinking water out of a potted plant and spreading peanut butter on a sponge don't count as proof of the ability to successfully take care of oneself), with Barbra Jean attempting to help Reba without Reba knowing.
84* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Cheyenne (blond), Jake (brunette), and Kyra (redhead).
85* BoringVacationSlideshow: The episode "Brock's Got Stones" ends with one such slideshow, featuring Barbra Jean's trip to St. Louis that lasts for five ''hours'' (7 to midnight). Reba tries to leave early during the slideshow, before Brock thwarts her attempt by exposing it.
86-->'''Brock''': Reba's trying to leave.
87-->'''Reba''': I am not! I was going to the bathroom.
88-->'''Barbra Jean''': There will be plenty of time for bathroom breaks during the first intermission.
89-->'''Reba''': *through gritted teeth* You are so dead, Brock.
90* BorrowedCatchphrase: When Van claims that Cheyenne is just like Reba late in the episode "Bullets Over Brock", Cheyenne fires back with a retort... [[NotHelpingYourCase that ends with her calling Van a "mo-ron" precisely the same way Reba does]], which Van points out to Cheyenne in return. Cheyenne can only scream "[[OhCrap CRAP!!]]" in response before storming off.
91* BoundAndGagged: Van in "The Stakes Are High".
92* BowChickaWowWow: Spoken as "bow chicka bow bow" as substitute for "sex", but the message still applies.
93* BrainBleach:
94** After the school charity auction held by Reba and Barbra Jean turns out to be a big hit, Brock mentions that tradition dictates a celebration party must be held to commemorate the sponsors, where Reba is obligated to congratulate Barbra Jean and vice versa. Reba tells Brock there's nothing she'd rather do, but waits till Brock leaves before whispering to herself: "[[EyeScream Pencil in the eye]], that's what I'd rather do."
95** Seeing Reba and a man kiss each other had this effect on Jake ("Ah! My eyes!"), though he saw it happen only once.
96* BrattyTeenageDaughter: Cheyenne and Kyra both show shades of it. During the show, Cheyenne pulls herself out of that trope and ends up becoming a good wife and mother.
97* BreakTheHaughty / TookALevelInKindness: It's commented on multiple times that, for all the misery Cheyenne endured- her teen pregnancy, a bout with alcoholism, shouldering massive responsibility when Van's football plans are ruined by injury- she came out on the other side a much better person. Kyra comments how Cheyenne went from being a spoiled, shallow, superficial princess to a caring wife and mother. Later, when Cheyenne considers becoming a dentist, Reba tries hard to talk her out of it, believing she's irresponsible and flaky, only to change her mind when she sees how responsible Cheyenne is in taking care of Elizabeth. Later on, when she ''does'' abandon dentistry to become a drug counselor, it was portrayed in a sympathetic light as having her priorities change from "making a lot money" to "helping people."
98* BrickJoke: "...I got my gum back."
99* ButtMonkey / ChewToy:
100** Van practically is a goofball magnet for this.
101** Barbra Jean is nearly the object of all of Reba's snarky remarks.
102** Brock is hit with this the worst as he's the object of physical and emotional abuse from nearly all the cast members. To add hilarity to his injuries, Reba's parents can only glare his way but are able to warm up to Barbra Jean[[note]]Though technically, Reba's parents quickly decided they couldn't stay ''too'' mad at Brock and that it was actually Barbra Jean who Reba's mother had a problem with...[[/note]], his mother dislikes how he ended up marrying a bimbo, Barbra Jean's father has many implications of wanting to shoot him (even more when Brock stood up to him about misogynist jokes about Big Daddy's own wife), and Barbra Jean's brother Buzzer has such a deep and scary MySisterIsOffLimits attitude that he removed one of Brock's eyebrows and still has that piece in his pocket.
103* CannotKeepASecret: Barbra Jean is very lousy in keeping secrets under wraps from others. And if she barely hears said secret is a surprise, she will do everything to hear about it. Three particular occasions play this up more seriously.
104** When Kyra planned to move out with her and Brock at her new house. Barbra Jean could not stop giggling and laughing like crazy whenever she was questioned about her odder behavior until she broke.
105** When Reba and Brock tried to hide the Cayman incident from the IntimidatingRevenueService, neither of them told on the other. Barbra Jean, completely hysteric about the heavy pressure, nervously revealed the issue when one of the agents came up to her and simply asked if she'll like to have a cup of coffee, outside their private conversations, landing them all in a heavy debt that almost forced Brock to move to Las Vegas.
106** When Jake didn't want Barbra Jean to know about [[spoiler:his very complicated and elaborate Halloween prank on his mother, who considered Halloween pranks as a revered tradition in the family and lost faith in the lack of interest from everyone else]]. Everyone on the plan knew that Barbra Jean would have ruined everything from the start if she had known, so her obliviousness to the whole thing only added to it, albeit in her own exaggerated way.
107* CatchPhrase:
108** Reba:
109*** "Is there anything you WON'T wear?"
110*** A drawn out "CRAP" when she screws up.
111*** She's also prone to calling people "Mo-ron!"
112** Barbra Jean has one, though it only happens in one episode: "Yoo hoo! I'm here! And I'm thin!"
113** Cheyenne, depending on whom she says it to: "Shut up, Van/Kyra."
114** A one-shot character (a cable guy): "[[TitleDrop Surprise]]!"
115* CatchphraseInterruptus: Barbra Jean's announcement upon her entry (though this lasts only one episode) gets cut off by Reba once:
116-->'''Barbra Jean''': Yoo hoo! I'm here! And I'm --\
117'''Reba''': Oh, shut up and grab a doughnut!
118* CensorshipBySpelling:
119** During the first season, while rallying Van to pass his exams so he can keep being a football player, Brock tries to spell "ass" while Jake is around. Unfortunately for him...
120-->'''Jake''' (excitedly): I know what that spells!
121** Later on within the same episode, when Brock asks Van about his history exam:
122-->'''Brock''': How did it go?
123-->'''Van''': I got my A-double-S kicked.
124** At the end of a fifth-season episode, after Van has a bad day at house-brokering after Reba talks Brock out of selling his house:
125-->'''Van''': Well, Mrs. H, I hope you're H-A-P-P-Y.
126-->'''Reba''': No, I'm C-R-A-B-B-Y.
127* CheaterGetsCheatedOn: A case of karma for Brock. After his marriage to Barbara Jean starts to suffer martial problems, he confesses to his ex-wife Reba that he constantly worries his new wife might be cheating on him with someone younger and better looking. Barbara openly lusts after their then-marriage therapist Dr. Jack Morgan, fantasizes about cheating with and even kisses him on the mouth twice. All to Reba's amusement.
128* ChristmasEpisode: During the second season.
129* CloudCuckoolander: Barbra Jean most definitely alongside her family (her brother Buzzer is just strange and violent just like their father being a GunNut), and Van occasionally as well.
130* ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere: In one episode where Barbra Jean goes on a diet. One example involves her making a comment about Jake: "When he runs, he kind of looks like a little chicken, don't you think?"
131* CoolAndUnusualPunishment:
132** Jake once gripes to Cheyenne about having Kyra as babysitter because Kyra makes him watch "The Wiggles" with his niece. Kyra, standing right behind Jake, replies: "Keep complaining. I got Barney tapes here."
133** Kyra spends much of the episode "Go Far" making snarky remarks while strumming her guitar. At the end of the selfsame episode, when she does it once too many for Reba to tolerate any further, Reba threatens to sell Kyra's guitar. Kyra, not wishing to run that risk, puts her guitar away.
134** After Reba wrecks [[CoolCar Rhonda]], Van gets back at her by calling Barbra Jean to tell her of Reba's temporary blind condition, knowing full well that she would rush to Reba's aid despite Reba's dislike of having Barbra Jean around.
135* CoolCar: Van's car Rhonda.
136* CoolDownHug: After hearing him vent, Reba gives the depressed Brock a hug. Unfortunately, Barbra Jean walks in, sees this, and it immediately becomes a NotWhatItLooksLike situation.
137* CordonBleughChef: Barbra Jean is usually good at cooking, but she falls into this in one episode where she bakes a sugar-free bran cake ''with cottage cheese as frosting''. Van's reaction is: "Do you know what would go well with the cake? A hot cup of dirt." Barbra Jean [[DeathGlare isn't pleased by the comment]].
138** Cheyenne is also a bad cook too, as evident in the episode where Barbra Jean attempts to teach her to cook and fails miserably. She burns bread, refuses to cut a chicken out of Squicked nausea and attempts to serve dinner just until after the meat stops boiling. Van even comments she's one of these.
139* CosmeticCatastrophe: During the first season, Reba and Lori Ann have a makeover once. They end up having more makeup on their faces than they'd like.
140-->'''Reba''': Now we know why the makeovers were ''free''.
141-->'''Lori Ann''': My last car didn't have this much paint in it.
142* CoughSnarkCough: Van does it once to Cheyenne by saying "*cough* baloney!", leading to an argument between them.
143* CringeComedy:
144** The whole show can be this. Especially if you've been close to someone with a teen pregnancy or messy divorce and know how much emotional baggage there can be.
145** Not to mention later on, when Van is kicked out and disowned by his parents, then later had his football dreams (which he'd worked on since childhood) ruined by injury, Cheyenne is revealed to be an alcoholic while struggling under the hardship of getting her family on its feet, Brock and Barbra Jean are constantly teetering on the brink of divorce, and everybody starts enduring financial hardships after Brock's tax evasion came to light and left them holding a $75,000 debt.
146* CrisisOfFaith: Van, in the episode "And God Created Van" stops attending church, seemingly to watch sports, but it's soon made clear that the issue is deeper than that. After being constantly pressed by Cheyenne and Barbra Jean, he admits that he no longer believes in God, which pisses Reba off big time, enough for her to threaten his life, even though she likely didn't mean it. It's later revealed that Van is actually angry at God due to spinal stenosis ending his football career. Reba is forced to admit that she went through a similar crisis of faith during the divorce. He's back to being a theist by the end of the episode.
147* CutHimselfShaving: Brock claims this trope regarding a suspicious injury near his right ear in an episode in which Barbra Jean's dog goes missing. It turns out the dog bit him, but he insists he never hurt the dog and is soon cleared of the charge.
148* TheCutie: BJ.
149* DartboardOfHate: At the beginning of the fifth-season episode "Reba the Landlord", Barbra Jean, anticipating herself and Brock losing their home due to Brock's financial hardships, gives Reba a going-away present. Reba's reaction, upon seeing the present Barbra Jean gives her, hints at this trope:
150-->'''Reba''': (holding up a framed portrait of Barbra Jean) Look, kids -- a dartboard.
151-->'''Barbra Jean''': (annoyed) [[SarcasmMode Ha ha]], Carrot Top.
152* DeadpanSnarker:
153** Reba and Kyra.
154** Sometimes Van does this as well. One example takes place during the fifth-season episode "Reba and the One", where Barbra Jeans drops in to check on Reba while she's out on a date (she's not, but her family doesn't know yet) when Van is washing dishes.
155-->'''Barbra Jean''': Is she on a date?
156-->'''Van''': No, she's back. I'm just prepping for surgery!
157** Lori Ann, too (see MyFriendsAndZoidberg below for one such example).
158* DeathGlare:
159** It is absolutely ''phenomenal'' what Reba can convey with merely a quirk of her eyebrow. Mostly "I hate your living guts."
160** Barbra Jean has her moments as well -- see the CordonBleughChef entry above for one such example, or when Reba was in the hospital for high blood pressure. Reba was trying to relax, and Barbra Jean was pestering her with a video camera. Brock tries to run her off to let Reba relax, and Barbra Jean dons one as she's threatening to rip out his beating heart to give to Reba. Made even more effective since the POV switched to the handheld camera, which was pointing up Barbra Jean's nose, making her look even more terrifying.
161* DelayedOhCrap:
162** Early in the episode "The Blond Leading the Blind", Van initially doesn't find it suspicious about Reba treating him with a plate of homemade cookies... until he gives a recount of him lending his car to Reba and seeing Reba's guilty expression.
163--->'''Van''': We're nice to each other. She made me cookies; I lent her my car. *sees Reba's guilty facial expression* My car! *runs to his car*[[note]] Cue Van [[ScreamsLikeALittleGirl screaming in a high-pitched voice]] upon seeing the wrecked car.[[/note]]
164** After viewing the video footage of Van's outrageous behavior and realizing that [[LikeFatherLikeSon he's turning into his own father regarding coaching sports]] late in "Bullets Over Brock", Van sees nothing wrong until further conversation with Cheyenne clues him in on how bad the circumstance is or will be, especially with regard to their own son.
165--->'''Van''': It's weird. That's my father.
166--->'''Cheyenne''': Nope, nope. I-I had the camera. It was you.
167--->'''Van''': No, I know it was me, but the way I was acting, that was [[AbusiveParents my father]]. [[StageMom That's the way my dad coached me my whole life.]]
168--->'''Cheyenne''': Oh, Van, that's so sad.
169--->'''Van''': That's not sad. That's why I'm so good at sports.
170--->'''Cheyenne''': Yeah, and it was probably why... you know --
171--->'''Van''': Probably why what?
172--->'''Cheyenne''': Well, why you hate your dad.
173--->'''Van''': I don't hate my dad. I just, you know, don't talk to him. Or call him. Or think about him. Oh my gosh, I hate my dad, and I'm turning into him. Cheyenne, I don't want my well-enbrowed son to hate me!
174* DepravedBisexual: The old guy Homeless Joe in the soup kitchen who wouldn't stop hitting on both Van ''and'' Cheyenne in season 5. Telling them that they remind him of his first wife.
175-->'''Homeless Joe''': I'm next with the blonde!
176-->'''Van''': ''(squicked, hugging Cheyenne)'' Don't worry, he hit on me too.
177* DiegeticSoundtrackUsage: We catch Barbra Jean singing the eponymous chorus line of "I'm a Survivor."
178* DieLaughing: At the end of the episode "Grannies Gone Wild", set to be decades in the future, Brock and Van both die this way, after they suffer a fatal heart attack while laughing.
179* DietEpisode: The fifth-season episode "Have Your Cake". The diet is primarily for Barbra Jean, but Cheyenne volunteers herself ''and'' Reba into it to show support for Barbra Jean.
180* TheDitz: Cheyenne, Van, and Barbra Jean. Cheyenne doesn't know what ditzy even means.
181* DistractedByTheSexy: Bridget, a former high school classmate and romantic rival to Cheyenne (before Cheyenne's marriage to Van, of course), causes Van to stutter profusely and unable to speak straight despite him being already married to Cheyenne.
182* DoItYourselfThemeTune: The theme song was a partial rewrite of Reba's 2002 single "I'm a Survivor."
183* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: All of the males in the series are victims of this. Brock by both Reba ''and'' Barbra Jean, Van by Cheyenne and Kyra, Jake by Kyra and Cheyenne (though he's only abused emotionally, not physically like the other two).
184* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: In season 2, after learning that Brock had a secret vasectomy and she wants more kids, Barbra Jean tells Brock she's going to attempt to have another kid with him whether he likes it or not.
185-->'''Brock''': It [the vasectomy] didn't hurt all that bad.
186-->'''Barbra Jean''': Oh, it will when you get it reversed!
187-->'''Brock''': I can't do that.
188-->'''Barbra Jean''': Why not?
189-->'''Brock''': Well, because the one I got was a perma-ectomy.
190-->'''Barbra Jean''': Brock, you have a choice: we can do it at the dentist's office with anesthesia or late at night...while you're asleep.
191-->'''Brock''': ''(later, to Reba)'' And I'm 90% positive she's not going to try anything in the middle of the night...if I don't go to sleep.
192* DramaticPause: Several times throughout the series. Here are some examples:
193** Jake's opinion to Van's poem dedicated to [[CoolCar Rhonda]]: "It's great... For a second grader!"
194** [[LethalChef Cheyenne]]'s announcement of her homemade meal: "Dinner will be ready in 10 minutes... just as soon as the meat stops boiling."
195* TheDreaded:
196** The whole family sans Kyra is deathly afraid of getting on Reba's nerves whenever anyone does something underhanded behind her back, and she is almost always the OnlySaneWoman who knows what's best for everyone (though Kyra, after getting older, takes decisions that Reba thinks are illogical but do contain some respectable challenges). They're so afraid of her that Van and Cheyenne thought that a complete family like Brock and Barbra Jean was a good first option for Elizabeth's guardian instead of Reba because ''[[LoopholeAbuse they would be dead before having to hear another one of Reba's lectures]]''.
197** Kyra was this to Van and Cheyenne on occasion. There was also that geeky high school student (while she was still in junior high) who broke up with her all because she sounded like an intimidating adult.
198* DreadfulMusician:
199** Cheyenne (Reba remarks, after hearing Cheyenne's singing: "No wonder Elizabeth used to cry after Cheyenne sang to her.").
200** Jake, too (in the ChristmasEpisode, Reba convinces Jake to sing loudly knowing Brock and Barbra Jean, who would take Jake to go Christmas caroling with them, would suffer from his singing).
201* DreamSequence: Both the second and sixth seasons start with one of these.
202* DropInCharacter: Brock and Barbra Jean, especially once they purchase a house ''around the corner'' to Reba. One episode even has Barbra Jean open the locked back door to let herself in after Reba tries to avoid her by locking the doors and hiding!
203* DrugsAreBad: An aesop Reba, Brock and Barbra Jean have to deliver to Kyra in Season 3's "Calling the Pot Brock".
204* DumbBlonde:
205** The prime example is Barbra Jean.
206** The serious example is Brock, who constantly does polarizing decisions that are both boneheaded and emotionally harmful to his family.
207** And then there's Cheyenne, who is a perfect match for the equally-dumb Van. For starters, both thought having sex just once every month would ''never make Cheyenne pregnant''.
208* DumbJock:
209** Van, until his stupidity was replaced by insanity and stopped being a jock.
210** His ''entire'' football team ''and'' the manager are this, [[YourMindMakesItReal as they all started feeling sick in their stomachs as soon as they realized Reba had used something else than potato salad to follow the incredibly specific football bible they had]]. Their sick feeling only went away when Reba had brought real potato salad while they were losing too much during a game, rekindling their morale. [[spoiler:[[MagicFeather Turns out the bucket she brought wasn't really potato salad, but it still helped the team to win in the end as she had planned]]]].
211* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: Jake had a bowl cut in the pilot, as apposed to the side part he'd sport for the rest of the series.
212* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first season was noticeably different from the rest of the series in both tone and structure. The fact that it was set in Texas was regularly part of the episodes' plots, with all the actors at least attempting a Southern regional accent. Van was more dumb than crazy. Barbra Jean (frequently referred to by her initials) was also a huge Jesus Freak. Cheyenne was more AlphaBitch than TheDitz, with Kyra even mentioning that she gets good grades. Brock wasn't nearly as vain. Reba was much more the OnlySaneMan instead of a ControlFreak. Though the show never fully abandoned plot and CharacterDevelopment, Cheyenne and Barbara Jean's pregnancies gave the season a strong, contained StoryArc rather than the more episodic nature of the later seasons. Finally, the show was generally much more serious and grounded, as the Hart family tried to navigate through Cheyenne's pregnancy and the Harts' divorce around ultra-conservative neighbors, school principals, etc. Much like ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'', the show kind of [[{{Flanderization}} Flanderized]] into more of a live-action cartoon and chose to emphasize comedy over drama. And it is all the more funny for it.
213* EasilyForgiven: Averted. As Reba points out to Cheyenne after Kyra rejects her apology for bullying her and ruining her 5th birthday party, "you can't just apologize to someone you bullied years ago and expect them to forgive you".
214* EmbarrassingNickname:
215** In season one when Reba's friend Lori Ann meets Brock's pregnant mistress/wife Barbra Jean.
216-->'''Lori Ann''': You must be Barbra Jean.
217-->'''Barbra Jean''': Please, everybody calls me "BJ".
218-->'''Lori Ann''': I wonder why...
219** Probably the reasons they stopped using Barbra Jean's initials. In the first season, any time someone called her [[DoubleEntendre BJ]], there would be a short pause so the untold joke of a woman named BJ having an affair with a married man could land. After the show took a slight turn for the more [[LighterAndSofter lighthearted and goofy]], she wasn't called BJ anymore.
220** Later in season 3, Barbara Jean starts nicknaming Kyra as "snookie" much to her annoyance. Later, Kyra tells people on campus that the tall, blonde woman looking around for her (Barbara Jean) is "Giant Malibu Barbie".
221* EmbarrassingMiddleName / PunnyName: Brock ''Enrol'' Hart.
222* EmbarrassinglyPainfulSunburn: At the end of the fifth-season episode "[[DietEpisode Have Your Cake]]", Reba suffers from this (with TanLines and all) during the trip she and Barbra Jean take to a beach.
223-->'''Cheyenne''': Mom, are you OK?
224-->'''Reba''': Barbra Jean was supposed to wake me up.
225-->'''Barbra Jean''': Well, I was doing a sand sculpture of you, and it's easier to do if you don't move.
226-->'''Reba''': Well, thanks to you, I look ridiculous.
227* ExplainExplainOhCrap:
228** Reba has one in the pilot when Brock tells Reba he has to leave her and marry Barbara Jean:
229--->'''Brock:''' Reba, I ''have'' to marry her.
230--->'''Reba:''' Oh please! Have to? The only reason you'd have to marry her is if you gone off and-- ''(Brock lowers his gaze guilty)'' [[BigOMG Oh my God!]]
231* FanService:
232** Barbra Jean gets skinnier by the Sixth Season.
233** Jordan, Barbra Jean's fitness trainer, who is handsome and unbeknown to Brock and Reba, StraightGay.
234** Cheyenne's Halloween costume as a French maid in the Fifth season Halloween episode.
235** Reba competing in the "Pageant for Grandmas", where she arrives wearing a dress complete with a leg slit.
236* FanDisservice:
237** After losing his football job, Van complains that he's starting to get fat and shows it by lifting his shirt for everyone.
238** Anytime Brock shows off by wearing a flashy outfit or over-tanning. Then there was that one time he didn't bother to wear jeans underneath his chaps.
239** Reba accidentally seeing Brock naked in the shower. Though he's only shown from the neck up, Reba comments later that it's not a pretty sight.
240** Kyra and her band lost a competition to another band called The Bikinis, which consisted of being an all female band. Unfortunately they weren't an all female band in bikinis.
241** Barbra Jean's photos from her dark past of "indecent misconduct" which shows her in lingerie, all ripped with muscles in a speed bikini, really obese in a suit and shirtless with her head photoshopped onto a hairy obese man's body.
242* FieryRedhead: Reba and Kyra. Reba's case might actually be a deconstruction, as a common theme in later seasons involved her dealing with high blood pressure.
243* FiveTemperamentEnsemble: Reba (leukine), Barbra Jean (melancholic), Brock (phlegmatic), Cheyenne and Van (sanguine), Kyra (choleric).
244* {{Flanderization}}: The entire cast except for Van, who became less stupid and more mature as the show progressed.
245* {{Foreshadowing}}:
246** In the season two episode "Seeing Red", Reba tells Brock of her worry that Kyra might ask to move in with him and Barbra Jean out of frustration of her not letting Kyra getting her way. Near the end of the season, Kyra does tell Brock of her desire to move in with him and Barbra Jean, though not quite for the precise reason mentioned by Reba.
247** In the season one episode "Labor of Love" Reba mentions that Van may end up getting injured and being forced to give up football. Come Season 4, Van is discovered to be suffering from spinal stenosis and must retire from his arena football career.
248* TheFriendsWhoNeverHang:A family variation. Cheyenne and Jake seldom interact with each other and when they do, it's usually brief and they're often accompanied by the other characters.
249* FriendlessBackground: Barbra Jean doesn't have any friends, which may be the reason why she latches too much to Reba. A reason could be how she was always the target of bullying comments since she is a big AttentionWhore and a CloudCuckoolander rolled into one.
250* FullNameUltimatum:
251** "Kyra Eleanor Hart, out!"
252** "Jacob Mitchell Hart! Are you lying to me?"
253* FunnyBackgroundEvent: In "Issues", while Reba is lecturing Van about how he's a rookie in the business of real estate and she's the experienced one just as the former interrupted the latter in selling a property to some interesting buyers, said buyers end up pilfering the whole living room. It's only more ironic since Reba boasts about how she's a professional and must stay focused.
254* FunWithAcronyms: In the episode "No Good Deed", after Jake takes in a stray dog, Barbra Jean starts up campaign for a lost pet shelter, using her own house as said shelter. The name of the campaign? "Save the Dog", or, as [[CloudCuckoolander Barbra Jean herself]] calls it, "STD".
255* GenerationXerox:
256** In terms of personality, Kyra seems to be more like her snarky mother, while Cheyenne takes after her father's vanity and subtle but dumb personality. Only Jake is the middle ground and behaves nothing like the rest.
257** Van's mother is just as scatterbrained as he is when the focus is only on her. Case in point, she won't eat Reba's food. She'll ''stare'' at it and comment it looks good, while also insulting her when commenting how Reba puts her children before her and doesn't care one bit about her own well-being. They are also very easily ordered around by others with stronger personalities like Van's father.
258** A subversion for Van, who realizes he was starting to become like his overbearing father when he trains Jake to be a good soccer player by constantly being too intense during matches.
259* GilliganCut:
260** Van temporarily becomes a driver in a pizza joint in order to save up enough money to buy a car. Having no vehicle of his own, he requests Reba to drive him for deliveries. Reba refuses and refuses... and cut to the next scene where she drives him for deliveries, much to her chagrin.
261** In an earlier episode, Brock begs her to come with him to help him spread his father's ashes on a golf course. She declares, "Uh-uh! Those [[PuppyDogEyes puppy-dog eyes]] aren't gonna work on me anymore!" Cut to the golf course, where she stands next to him holding a rake.
262* GirlOnGirlIsHot: Van suggests the high school enemies Cheyenne and Bridgette to "hug and make up". A long LaughTrack and the women staring at his perverted look heavily implied this.
263%%* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: Cheyenne and Kyra.
264* GoneHorriblyRight:
265** Despite Terry being unsuccessful to woo Reba, the two became really good friends the moment Terry starts telling her the ironic story of how his ex-wife ran off with a dumb blond, which immediately makes both have fun and laugh at their exes. Barbra Jean tries real hard to be part of the conversation while ignoring all the jokes being hurled her way.
266** During the episode "Go Far", after some encouragement from Van, Jake, who's usually portrayed to be [[InTouchWithHisFeminineSide not very proficient in most sports]], [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass turns out to be an excellent tackle football player]]. So good, in fact, that he gets banned from playing for a year because he hurt too many boys.
267* GoshDangItToHeck: Reba didn't do this at first, resulting Barbra Jean, who was present at the time, to try to "correct" Reba toward this. In latter seasons Reba is actually doing this rather involuntarily. There isn't much swearing in the series as a whole.
268* GotMeDoingIt: The third-season episode "Regarding Henry" has Barbra Jean's RhymesOnADime phrases (most notably "okey-dokey, Smokey") having this effect InUniverse.
269** Early in the episode, Barbra Jean catches Kyra at it. Barbra Jean is happy, whereas Kyra mutters to Reba in a sad tone: "Remember me."
270** At the end of the episode, Reba blurts out such a sentence accidentally, causing her to have an OhCrap moment upon realizing what she just said, before she becomes visibly annoyed when Barbra Jean turns out to have heard it and proceeds to cheer for it ("YEAH! She likes me!").
271* GreenEyedMonster:
272** Van is always overprotective of Cheyenne dating other guys that he's willing to kill them (one occasion was PlayedForLaughs but still). It gets a little worse when he's overprotective of Reba dating other guys that it looks like he's married to her.
273** Cheyenne has a very ridiculous level of this that Van isn't allowed to even ''write'' reports of already famous-but-''deceased'' women. Her response to Van writing about one is, "Why don't you have a baby with her?"
274** Brock has some implications of being this when Reba has a chance of scoring out with guys. Oddly, he's not this way towards Barbra Jean despite her openly fawning over other guys, because he's not worried about her cheating on him.
275** Barbra Jean has suspected Brock of cheating on her on at least two occasions. Also, when Reba starts dating again, Barbra Jean gets very jealous and tries to find out who is Reba's mystery man because she believes she's the only one important to her.
276* GrowingUpSucks: The constant fear of becoming a responsible adult after high school continuously scares both Van and Cheyenne even after having a baby, always tempted to take the easy way out. Reba always puts them on the right direction and they manage to become responsible, if not a little too wacky.
277* HairTodayGoneTomorrow:
278** A mild example: Brock, in a [[FlashBack flash back]] scene, sported a long mustache prior to his marriage with Reba.
279** At the end of the episode "Grannies Gone Wild", Van, Brock, and Cheyenne turn up in a future scene (six decades or so into the future), in which this trope is played straight with Van (balding) and Brock (completely bald with a wig on top) but subverted in Cheyenne's case (she still has her hair, just not blonde any longer).
280** In a slight crossover with ActorAllusion, any flashbacks with Reba would frequently having her sport some of Reba [=McEntire=]'s more infamous hairdos (CountryMusic + TheEighties = [[http://jimfalkenstein.com/Pirate%20Reba/WebPagePhotos/Reba/80s_Reba2.JPG Hair that must be seen to be believed.]])
281* HairTriggerTemper: Cheyenne being referred as the smart one in high school and having lost the chance of being a homecoming queen.
282-->'''Cheyenne''': '''''I WAS ROBBED!!!'''''
283* HalloweenEpisode: The one time Reba ''wants'' her offspring to pull pranks.
284* HannibalLecture: Reba is an expert on these that terrify Van and Cheyenne to the core. She's very good at it that the two actively try to avoid triggering her lectures and keep their childlike-decisions under cover.
285* HeliumSpeech: Brock talks this way in the episode "Sweet Child O' Mine" when he happens to be in charge of balloons for a party Cheyenne throws for Kyra.
286* HideAndNoSeek: Played for laughs when Barbra Jean plays hide and seek with Henry so she can be alone.
287* HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: According to Barbra Jean, her father didn't have qualms beating her with the Bible to make her a disciple of Jesus.
288* HoistByHisOwnPetard: A non-violent version of this, PlayedForLaughs, takes place at the start of the episode "The Great Race": Jake is not enthused about getting people to sign up for a 5K race as a school fundraiser, so Reba teaches him a new sales strategy -- only to become the first target of said strategy and roped into signing up.
289-->'''Jake''': What am I supposed to say to people to get them to sign up for this dumb race?
290-->'''Reba''': Just tell them how fun it is.
291-->'''Jake''': They won't believe me.
292-->'''Reba''': Sure they will. You've got an honest face. Just smile when you say it.
293-->'''Jake''': OK. (smiles) Mom, will you sign up for my ''fun'' race?
294-->*Cheyenne casts a look of dawning realization*
295-->'''Van''': Oh, you are so busted.
296* HollywoodAtheist: Brock could possibly be a subversion. An early throwaway line in Season 1 after his father died has Brock mention that he's "not a religious man" [[note]]"not religious" doesn't necessarily mean "I don't believe in God"[[/note]], mentions God and religion far less often than the rest of the family, usually only in passing when he does, suffers from clinical depression, is conceited and also avoids going to church and seemed irritated when Barbra Jean forced him to go. However, if he is an atheist he doesn't seem too bothered his family's beliefs.
297* HollywoodGenetics: Jake's black hair is...[[ImplausibleHairColor unlikely]] at best, considering that his parents and siblings only consist of blondes and redheads.
298* HollywoodMidLifeCrisis: The many bonehead decisions Brock does come from this: his cheating on Reba and having a baby from his mistress, his change from a promising dentist to a pro golfer, his not-so subtle desire to move to Las Vegas instead of anywhere else when being faced by huge debts, his brief outrageous change to a biker...
299* {{Homage}}: At the end of the episode with the character played by Kelly Clarkson, said character is demonstrating her knowledge about weather forecasting to Barbra Jean (who acts like a host) while Brock, Cheyenne, and Van act as a panel of judges. [[Series/AmericanIdol Does this depiction ring a bell?]]
300* HypocriticalHeartwarming: Subverted in the episode "Sister Act". Kyra punches a girl who called Cheyenne a slut even though Kyra pokes fun at Cheyenne's teen pregnancy quite often. But when it turns out Kyra will be suspended for it, Reba is offended that the school would suspend Kyra for defending her sister's honor and goes down to the school to contest it. Kyra admits that she wasn't defending Cheyenne nor is it her place to do so and just wanted an excuse to get out of school for a while since she is tired of being bullied for Cheyenne's mistakes.
301* HypocriticalHumor:
302** When Barbra Jean claims to be an excellent parent, count on her to have or make some parenting mistake for Reba to call her out on next (for example, if Henry isn't present, Reba would ask "Where's Henry?" and Barbra Jean would realize she left him alone at home and rush back to him).
303** Whenever Brock points out the tendency of Barbra Jean and/or Reba hitting him, expect the very one(s) he criticizes to hit him to make him shut up.
304** Barbra Jean suspects Brock of cheating on her several times, even as she flirts with other men.
305** Every time Brock criticizes men that Reba (tries to) date without success, resulting in either Reba making a snarky comment back at him and/or Brock trying to defend himself.
306** In season 2's episode "The Wall", Reba has this with Barbara Jean while returning Elizabeth's blanket:
307-->'''Barbara Jean''': They're Elizabeth's real grandparents, right next to you and Brock. I'm just a young attractive woman that married her grandfather.
308-->'''Reba''': How can you be so selfish?! This isn't about you! This is about ''me''! ''(hits Barbara Jean on the arm)''
309** During the episode "Sweet Child O' Mine", Barbra Jean claims that she was an AttentionWhore but outgrew it over time... before doing a handless HairFlip and saying "stop looking at me" with a smiley face upon seeing Reba staring at her (more out of annoyance and/or exasperation than appreciation on Reba's part).
310** Early in the episode "Bullets Over Brock", after Van and Jake have a loud argument over Jake's performance in his soccer team and Van's treatment of said team, the following dialogue involving Cheyenne and Van comes across as such:
311-->'''Cheyenne''': ''(quietly)'' Van, Mom just came back from the doctor's office and her blood pressure is off the charts, so keep your voice down.
312-->'''Van''': ''(loudly)'' But that kid [Jake] is such an embarrass--
313-->'''Cheyenne''': ''(more loudly)'' '''''VAN, DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID?! STOP YELLING!!'''''
314-->'''Reba''': *emerges from behind the shelf space* Cheyenne, didn't I tell you I need peace and quiet?!
315-->'''Van''': Yeah, Cheyenne, what's the matter with you?
316* IAteWhat: In the sixth-season episode "Trading Spaces", when Kyra informs Barbra Jean of her decision to move back to Reba's residence, Barbra Jean, shocked by the news, reacts by wiping the kitchen counter in an attempt to distract herself and appear calm, unaware that she's using her rice cake to do so (with cleaning solution applied to it). While the rice cake itself is fine for human consumption, the same can NOT be said about the cleaning solution, so her action of taking a bite into her rice cake, the cleaning solution and all, after Kyra leaves, results in her [[SpitTake ejecting said rice cake out of her mouth]] solely due to the cleaning solution in it.
317* IdiosyncraticWipes: Second season on.
318* IfItsYouItsOkay: Barbra Jean seems to have this for Reba as their unusual friendship has plenty of homoerotic tendencies and Barbra Jean hopes that Reba will break her out of prison if she gets arrested. Then, admiring how tough she is, expresses desire that Reba be her "prison girlfriend". Reba is squicked out by this and leaves. Barbra Jean then says even if they didn't end up in prison, she'd still want to be Reba's girlfriend.
319-->'''Reba''': Calm down! ''(Puts a hand on Barbra Jean's shoulder)''\
320'''Barbra Jean''': Oh I love how tough you are. When we do go to prison, I am so gonna be your girlfriend!\
321'''Reba''': ''(beat)'' I'm getting out of here!\
322'''Barbra Jean''': Even if we didn't go to prison, I'd still so be your girlfriend!
323** One of the running gags in the show is both Reba and Barbara Jean explaining to people how they have a "special relationship" when it comes to taking playful jabs at each other.
324* ImportantHaircut: Played with. Van gets one once in an effort to blend in with his football teammates. Too bad for him it turns out to be a trick from his teammates.
325* INeedAFreakingDrink:
326** The fifth-season episode "Reba and the One": Late in the episode, Reba is enjoying some alone time at a restaurant when Brock and Barbra Jean show up there as well. Desperate to keep the masquerade going, Reba drags another patron to be her pretend date, at one point making an off-hand disparate remark about musicians. After the dust settles, Reba asks him about his occupation. His response: "I'm a musician." Remembering what she said earlier regarding musicians, Reba finishes the glass of wine in her hand in one gulp without a word.
327** Early on during the DietEpisode, Cheyenne volunteers herself ''and'' Reba into a diet to show support for Barbra Jean, who worries about being overweight, going so far as to tell Barbra Jean she could visit anytime she wants to, 24/7. Then this exchange takes place after Barbra Jean leaves:
328-->'''Reba''': Cheyenne, did you just tell Barbra Jean she could come over here 24/7?!
329-->'''Cheyenne''': Now, mom, I know you don't like her, but it's important to let her know she has support. Having a support system is how I got over my alcohol addiction.
330-->'''Reba''': [[LampshadeHanging Alcohol. Good idea.]]
331-->'''Barbra Jean''': (Entering the house) Reba, I've got an idea -- matching sweatshirts. (Leaves)
332-->'''Reba''': [[LampshadeHanging Alcohol. And a LOT of it.]]
333** During the sixth-season episode "The Housewarming", Reba meets Brock at a bar as his confidant and DesignatedDriver, albeit unwillingly. Too bad for Reba, Brock spends most of their time at the bar [[TooMuchInformation talking about himself and Barbra Jean "getting it on"]], resulting in Reba taking shots, followed by her asking the bartender to "leave the bottle". In a twist of comedic irony, Brock leaves the bar without needing a ride, whereas Reba calls for one.
334-->'''Reba''': *talking through the phone* Kyra, can you come and pick up your mama?
335* InformedAbility:
336** The show frequently talked up Van as an incredibly talented football player. Due to the nature of the show, we never saw him play a single game.
337** Kyra's musical talent as well. The only time we see her doing something musical was strumming her guitar and making snarky comments.
338* InnocentlyInsensitive: More than half the stuff Barbra Jean says to everyone else, much more so during the first season.
339* InsatiableNewlyweds: Alluded to with Van and Cheyenne, even when newly married and pregnant at 17. And again during the sixth and final season. Averted with Reba and her than marriage to Brock as she sarcastically notes "trust me, married people don't act like that".
340* InsistentTerminology: Any time someone called Cheyenne a cheerleader, she was quick to point out that she was actually on the drill team, although they did wear similar uniforms and did similar routines. It was justified, however, since any time someone did refer to her as a cheerleader, it was almost always intended as an insult, carrying the "slutty bimbo" connotation.
341* IntergenerationalFriendship:
342** Reba and Barbra Jean. (15-year age difference)
343** Brock and Van. (27-year age difference)
344* {{Irony}}:
345** In "Fight or Flight", Van and Cheyenne are invited to a sports channel interview, which has Cheyenne all nervous while Van is thrilled to be on TV. Right before the show goes live, the roles switch. Now Van is absurdly nervous (and even runs away and pukes) while Cheyenne handles it with joy.
346** In "The Blond Leading the Blind", Reba wrecks Van's car in an accident while driving it. The place where said accident took place is at the parking lot of an eye doctor's office.
347* IronicEcho:
348** Reba is a big fan of doing these to others. Though occasionally she also finds herself on the receiving end.
349** Brock and Van spends latter part of the episode "Parenting With Puppets" in a day spa for their "guy time", as Brock calls it. Said "guy time" gets marred (on top of Brock and Van being MistakenForGay) when the male masseuse, who is gay himself, reflects on him being with his boyfriend, which he calls as their "guy time", much to Brock's discomfort and Van's chagrin, especially since the whole "two guys spending time at a day spa" premise was entirely Brock's idea in the first place.
350* JerkAss: Barbra Jean's sister Katie-Ann, who does nothing but make fun of her by telling everyone cruel jokes and embarrassing stories about her for the entire family reunion. It really says something when even Kyra (who normally makes fun of BJ) is put off by how mean and nasty she is to BJ (to the point where [[PrecisionFStrike Kyra outright calls her a bitch]]).
351* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Kyra. Snarky, judgemental, and ill-tempered, but willing to sacrifice her time and dignity to help Barbra Jean through her depression after she and Brock separated.
352** She also does care about Cheyenne despite making fun of her, in an early episode when Cheyenne isn't sure if she wants to return to high school, Kyra gives her a pep talk and convinces her that going back is the right thing to do with how much she's done for the school. In a later episode she also calms Cheyenne down about the prospect of her giving birth.
353* LaxativePrank: In the last scene of the episode "The Blonde Leading The Blind", Reba bakes cookies for Van to show him that she forgives him for telling Barbra Jean to check up on her after her her laser eye surgery left her temporarily blind, despite her making it very clear that she wants to be left alone. Jake walks through the front door and a suspicious Van insist that he have a cookie, which he does, convincing Van that they're safe. Jake arrives in the kitchen where he tells Reba that he took the cookie she told him to. Van is then shown holding his stomach and walking quickly out of the living room.
354* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Between "Don't Mess With Taxes" and "The Goodbye Guy", Creator/SteveHowey got a hair cut. When Van and Cheyenne head down stairs during the night (thinking someone broke in), this gets [[LampshadeHanging pointed out]]:
355-->'''Cheyenne''': Wait a minute, Van... When I went to sleep last night, didn't you have hair?
356-->'''Van''': Yeah, I know... You know how I like to go to bed [[TooDumbToLive with gum in my mouth]]? (rubs head) ''Well, I'm not doing that anymore!''
357* LethalChef:
358** Cheyenne. Barbra Jean tries to teach her in one episode, and it backfires horribly; while [[DrowningMySorrows drowning her sorrows]] at her complete failure, she mentions how she taught her niece how to cook lasagna when she was ''six years old'' and worked at a church summer camp where she taught blind kids to cook, and she still couldn't make any progress with Cheyenne. She could have been lying while drunk and was only fed up with Cheyenne's progress, though when Reba comes home and Barbra Jean explains it, Reba simply agrees and says she's been there.
359** Barbra Jean herself became one in an episode where she made a sugar-free bran cake with cottage cheese as frosting.
360* LikeFatherLikeSon:
361** Kyra is just as much of a DeadpanSnarker as Reba, while Cheyenne is as prone to making impulsive, questionable decisions as Brock.
362** Also, Reba's parents. From how they act, it's no question at all that Reba is truly their daughter.
363** Cheyenne also obviously gets her vanity from Brock.
364* LipstickLesbian: A minor character, Sadie Owens (portrayed by Wendie Malick) appears as such.
365* LooseLips: Barbra Jean has this reputation because she CannotKeepASecret (see above).
366* MiddleChildSyndrome: Kyra. The statement she gave to Brock below could serve as proof of how painfully aware she is of being left out.
367-->'''Kyra''': In mom's family, it goes Elizabeth, Jake, Van, Cheyenne, and then me. When Jake got a turtle, I moved down 1 spot.
368** Of course, it wasn't without merit. She mentioned that after some money that was raised to send her on a school trip to England had to be given to Cheyenne instead because she had dropped so many classes, she ran the risk of losing Elizabeth's spot in the school day care if she didn't enroll in summer school. Interestingly, in a rare case of this, Reba is painfully aware of it (most cases of this trope will have the parents be oblivious), as Reba told both Cheyenne and Kyra in a couple of gut-wrenching speeches. It was just that Reba only had so many hours in the day and Cheyenne and Van were such screw-ups, they required most of them, outright telling Brock "I have no other choice, she's the only other adult in the house."
369* MissingChild: In an episode of Season 3, Kyra gets fed up with her father and stepmother's constant arguing and runs away. They confront her mother Reba on her rebellious behavior and Reba tells them that Kyra's not in her house either. All three parental guardians start to panic on where else could Kyra have disappeared to... Until she's revealed to have been taking refuge in Reba's house all that time.
370* MissConception: In the pilot episode, Van and Cheyenne thought she couldn't get pregnant if they only had sex one day a month. Van believes one could have sex 30 times in a month and only get pregnant once. Justified due to their stupidity. Reba decides to spell it out for them.
371--> '''Reba:''' "You can get pregnant the first time you have sex, most days of the month, standing up, sitting down, and in a hotel hot tub." *glances at Brock*
372** At the end of the episode, she decides to ensure Kyra and Jake don't suffer from any similar misconceptions. Jake demonstrates a beautiful look of terror when he realizes it's his turn for TheTalk.
373* MistakenForGay: The series must love this trope, because it's been used at least thrice.
374** In the season 2 episode titled "For Sale, Cheap," Van auctions off football lessons to for Jake's school charity, most of the signees end up being single moms due to the fact that Van included a shirtless photo of himself making suggestive poses (which Cheyenne is not pleased about). A person named Terry is the top bidder. It turns out that Terry is a man. A very effeminate man who mentions having a "partner". When Van confronts Terry about the issue, Terry becomes offended and tells Van that he's not gay, with the partner he was referring to being a business partner and that he was married to a former Miss Houston. He then tells Van that he thought ''Van'' was gay. Phew.
375** Reba herself gets stuck with this trope in Season four episode "Van's Agent". Van makes an offensive joke about gay people in front of his lesbian sports agent, Sadie Owens, and to cover it up, he tells her that Reba is "super gay". When Sadie meets the family, Reba asks the agent if they can "hang out" which Sadie thinks is Reba asking her out, especially since Reba said she was lonely because her (platonic) girlfriend moved away.
376** This happens in yet another episode called "Parenting With Puppets" with Brock and Van, during which a male masseuse at a day spa mistakenly perceives them as a gay couple because Brock says that Henry and Elizabeth have "two great dads who love them".
377* MistakenForRacist: In "No Good Deed," Barbra Jean dressing and talking like a stereotypical black person comes across as racist to the 20 black people she invited without permission to Reba's house. No one calls her out on it, but they all just stare at her for being crazy (and later because people who never met her ''can't believe she exists'').
378* MistakenForRomance: In the episode "Van's Agent", but Reba and Sadie come clean about their secrets and agree to go to dinner as friends. However, Van, Cheyenne and Barbara Jean don't know about that and gleefully believe that Elizabeth will "have two grandmas".
379* MultipleChoicePast: How did Reba and Brock begin dating? DependingOnTheWriter, they either started dating him in college while they were both dating each other's best friends ''or'' they started dating while they were all working in a bar and Reba was dating ''another'' of Brock's best friends.
380* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: Brock, upon walking into Cheyenne's baby shower:
381--> '''Brock''': Look at all these beautiful women. (Looks at Lori Ann) You must be security.
382** Lori Ann retorted in return with:
383--> '''Lori Ann''': [[VolleyingInsults I thought we agreed not to hire a clown.]]
384** In a separate episode, Reba walks into the kitchen, sees Cheyenne, Van, and Barbra Jean, and says:
385-->'''Reba''': Hello, loved ones. Barbra Jean.
386* MySisterIsOffLimits: Barbra Jean's brother Buzzer shares the same views as their father regarding Brock: he took her away from their hometown. He is prone in having such a scary TranquilFury bouts whenever he talks to Brock, who is deathly afraid of him. For proof, he cut Brock's eyebrow off and still keeps the piece with him.
387* NoodleIncident:
388** Lori Ann and Brock's brief relationship with each other. Brock never bothers to mention it, and Lori Ann...
389-->'''Lori Ann, when Reba touches upon their dating''': Must we bring up all our past sins?
390** A little earlier in the episode, when Lori Ann is going through her contacts to find a guy for Reba.
391-->'''Lori Ann''': Let's see. Married... married... dead... gay... gay... gay.
392-->'''Reba''': Three of them were gay?
393-->'''Lori Ann''': No, just the one, but he came out in a ''big'' way.
394** And then there's this exchange between Reba and Jake when both are at the front porch talking about Reba "going out":
395-->'''Jake''': Mom, am I going to have a new daddy?
396-->'''Reba''': Jake, can you keep a secret?
397-->'''Jake''': Sure, what is it?
398-->'''Reba''': I'm not even seeing anybody. I just pretended to go out on dates to get away from the loony bin.
399-->'''Jake''': I hear ya. Dad and I didn't really join the scouts.
400-->'''Reba''': So what have you two been doing all these Saturday afternoons?
401-->'''Jake''': Hey, are we keeping secrets or not? (walks into the house)
402** Ask Cheyenne about her experience in competing for Homecoming Queen, and all you'd get to hear would be "I was robbed!!" for your trouble.
403** Barbra Jean has committed '''way too many''' incidents in the past, including one too many ReallyGetsAround with doctors until she found Brock, felonies that stained her public record, and not to mention the scandalous things she did before she became an adult.
404* NoPreggerSex:
405** In one episode where Van and Cheyenne argue about abstaining from things during pregnancy (television, chocolate, sex, etc.).
406-->'''Van''': But only at night when the baby's sleeping, and you have to be very quiet.
407-->'''Cheyenne''': Hey, I'm not the one screaming "Go, Van!".
408** Being pregnant certainly didn't stop Brock and Barbara Jean from getting intimate with one another, much to Reba's disgust when she stopped by their place and interrupted them to discuss Barbara Jean going on a shopping spree with her card.
409* NoSparks: In one episode, Reba is trying to get back into the dating game and goes out with her old college boyfriend. She enjoys the date up until the goodbye kiss, in which she feels nothing (because he was a lousy kisser). This causes her to remember why she left him for Brock.
410* NotWhatItLooksLike: Many situations fall into this, particularly the cool-down hug towards the end of Season 3.
411* ObnoxiousInLaws: All over the place. But to avoid listing a lot of examples, let's just say [[ButtMonkey Brock]] exclusively holds that honor towards any old and new in-laws (though they are more demeaning than obnoxious to him).
412* OhCrap: Just as likely to be shortened as "crap" as its fuller version. Reba uses it most often, but Brock, Van, Cheyenne, and Barbra Jean each have also used it at least once.
413* OldShame: InUniverse, Lori Ann considers her brief dating history with Brock as this, as evidenced when Reba mentions it:
414-->'''Lori Ann''': Must we bring up all our past sins?
415* OnceDoneNeverForgotten:
416** Brock's adultery and Reba's divorce both become this as time wears on.
417** Once, when Reba is considering selling her engagement ring to pay for a costly car repair, she's initially reluctant, asking Kyra "what if one of you kids wants it." Kyra points out that an engagement ring from a failed marriage would be like wearing the clothes of a dead person.
418** Any time Reba tried to give Van and Cheyenne marriage advice, they would retort about how marriage advice from a divorced woman wasn't too reassuring. Reba would occasionally turn this around, basically saying, "Yes, I'm divorced, [[CareerBuildingBlunder learn from my mistakes]]."
419** One time it definitely wasn't played for laughs was when Cheyenne became absolutely '''furious''' with Van for catching a ride from the airport and having dinner with a female coworker, calling him a cheater and a liar the whole episode. When Van asks why Cheyenne thinks he's going to cheat on her, she quickly snaps back, "Because my dad did," saying that since infidelity came out of nowhere and ruined her parent's marriage, she's always afraid the same thing could happen to hers.
420** Whenever the parents are arguing and they bring up Cheyenne's teen pregnancy:
421-->'''Reba''': One time! One time our daughter gets pregnant and I never hear the end of it!
422** Anytime Barbara Jean's past as an extramarital mistress is brought up. Reba and Lori Ann were shocked to learn that Brock wasn't the first married man she had been involved with and that she had been with seven other married doctors prior to meeting Brock. Barbara Jean admits 'she would just die' if Brock ever found out about her past.
423* OneSteveLimit: There are two minor characters named Terry. Terry Holloway, an old friend of Brock and Reba's former boyfriend [[spoiler:who died off-screen of an unknown illness]] and Terry (last name unknown), the jeweler who is MistakenForGay by Van and also ends up dating Reba briefly.
424* OneWordTitle: ProtagonistTitle, because its the first name of the protagonist.
425* OnlyInItForTheMoney:
426-->'''Reba, after watching a recorded clip of Barbra Jean with her dog''': I feel bad for the poor sap who had to tape through all of this.
427-->'''Kyra''': Eighty bucks is eighty bucks.
428* OnlySaneMan:
429** Reba, who is SurroundedByIdiots in her family: Brock keeps screwing up in parenting advice for his children, Cheyenne and Van may as well be ''suicidal'' with their ''own'' parental skills and life choices, and Barbra Jean is...herself. The only ones not really insane are Kyra and Jake.
430** Kyra also comes off this way as she often seems like the most well-adjusted person in the family (she's the one who convinces Cheyenne to go back to high school and calms her down about the prospect of giving birth). Reba may not be an idiot, but she is however at times prone to being extremely petty (usually because of Barbra Jean and Brock), a control freak (when it comes to Van and Cheyenne and Elizabeth) and downright manipulative (bribing Kyra with fake money to tell her about Barbra Jean and Brock's house rules). Also for all of her lectures about doing the right thing, she isn't above bending the rules to get her own way (I.E. using Van's handicapped parking pass to find a parking spot so she won't be late for her job interview, which ironically ends up costing her the job due to the boss being handicapped himself).
431* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
432** During the first season, Van is down after failing a history test and being unable to play football as a result. Cheyenne offers some pizza for Van, only for Van to decline. As Van's TrademarkFavoriteFood is pizza, this alarms Cheyenne enough to yell for Reba's help.
433** One example has this played for heartwarming effect. Reba spends about the entire series acting annoyed with Barbra Jean or poking fun of her whenever she shows up, so it's notable when she claims Barbra Jean as her best friend late in the GrandFinale, much to the shock of nearly everyone else.
434-->'''Reba''': Well I'm not going to stand here and let [[VitriolicBestBuds my best friend]] just go and ruin her life!
435* OutOfFocus: Kyra in season 5 only appeared in six episodes out of 22 due to Scarlett Pomers going to rehab as a result of having anorexia, and the few episodes where she did show up she didn't have her own subplot. Some however have speculated that execs used her anorexia as a convenient excuse to not include Kyra for most of the season so that they could spend more time focusing on other characters like Jake.
436* PapaWolf / MamaBear:
437** Both Brock and Reba readily frighten a high school student for asking the then-middle school Kyra to the high school prom...until they hear from him he dumped her because she sounded like an intimidating adult.
438** Barbra Jean's father Big Daddy. No matter how you look at it, he will by default hate any unlucky man marrying his daughters the moment they decide to take them away from their hometown and will make their lives miserable during family reunions. Unfortunately for Brock, Big Daddy knows he is the newest step-son who remarried and shifts the attention away from his oldest daughter's husband.
439* PerverseSexualLust: Discussed. In season 2, Reba and her guy of the week Brian discuss their first loves growing which happened to be cartoon characters: his was Wilma Flintstone and hers was Jughead.
440* PickyEater: In season 1, Brock fails to get his son Jake to eat his grilled cheese sandwich and thinks Jake hates him. Turns out...
441-->'''Jake''': I'm not. Your bread has stuff in it.
442-->'''Brock''': That's what's wrong? The seven-grain bread?
443-->'''Jake''': It's like eating sand!
444* PlayingSick: Both Kyra and Jake try to do this once, and this trick fails for them both.
445* PlotIncitingInfidelity: What Brock's midlife crisis made him do with Barbra Jean, kick-starting the series.
446* PoorPredictableRock: Van's "system" when he plays RockPaperScissors. Though it's scissors that he always picks.
447* PrecisionFStrike: Kyra calls Barbra Jean's sister Katie Ann, a "bitch", which Barbra Jean scolds her for. She's right, though.
448* ProductDisplacement:
449** Reba exercises to an old Jane Fonda tape, and Cheyenne asks if she's "that old lady in the [[Film/MonsterInLaw Jennifer Lopez movie.]]"
450** Cheyenne teases Van for being a wuss by saying how whenever they watch "[[Series/TwentyFour that show with Keifer Sutherland,]]" Van says he wants to be Jack Bauer, but isn't.
451* ProtagonistTitle: First name of protagonist, so also a OneWordTitle.
452* PutOnABus:
453** Lori Ann (Reba's friend) and [[Creator/DanCastellaneta Eugene]] (a rival dentist to Brock). Eugene's was justified, since Brock decided to sell his dental practice to play professional golf (thereby deflating their rivalry.) Lori Ann simply had to go because Barbra Jean was slowly sliding into her role as Reba's best friend.
454** Much earlier, Van's parents. After seemingly patching things up for the second time (though his mother certainly looked like she wanted to support him, unlike his overbearing dad), they practically stop bothering to appear. Van's dialogue and his family events suggest that they once again ditched him for good.
455* RealAfterAll / OrWasItADream: Zigzagged in the sixth-season premier episode "Let's Get Physical", which starts with a DreamSequence, during which Reba is shown to have become obese, whereas Barbra Jean, who makes her entry after stating "[[CatchPhrase Yoo hoo! I'm here! And I'm thin!]]", is shown to be quite slender (Van remarks with "Do you see that, Cheyenne? They look just like the number 10.") When Reba wakes up, she checks her body and is glad she's not as obese as she appeared to be in the dream -- then cue Barbra Jean using the same CatchPhrase she had during the DreamSequence, coming into the house, and looking as thin as she appeared to be during the DreamSequence.
456-->'''Reba''': And the nightmare continues. *pulls her blanket over her face*
457* ReallyGetsAround:
458** Barbra Jean, before her affair with Brock resulted in pregnancy and marriage. She has no shame in romancing the guys that try to date Reba, either.
459--->'''Lori Ann, upon learning of Barbra Jean's past''': The woman's a tooth tart!
460** The many romances Reba has after her divorce indirectly has her look like one.
461* RightBehindMe:
462** After Reba hits Brock with the plastic baby during the birthing class they were attending, she describes to Lori Ann about how she did it with excitement (Lori Ann, who's no fan of Brock, reacts with equal glee). Her excitement vanishes the moment Jake, who has been standing behind Reba long enough to overhear her words without her knowing, makes his presence known.
463--->'''Jake''': YOU HIT DAD?!
464** At the end of the fifth-season episode "The Money Blues", Reba, after discovering Jake's act of selling soda (a banned substance in his school) to his classmates and his reason for doing so (it's his attempt at helping to make money due to the family's financial struggle), talks him out of it and suggests that he tells Barbra Jean about it, only for Jake to respond with "I already did." Cue Barbra Jean hauling a pushcart full of boxes of soda into the house and loudly stating how far Jake would be able to branch out his "business" with the newly-stocked supplies, unaware Reba is standing behind her until she turns around and sees Reba casting a DeathGlare at her. Realizing that the jig is up, Barbra Jean mutters "[[OhCrap crap]]" and hauls the pushcart back out.
465** During the sixth-season episode "The Break-Up", Van and Cheyenne sneak into the garage to take the real estate client list when Reba refuses to give it to Van. Reba quietly enters the garage during the stunt and Van and Cheyenne don't realize it due to having their backs to the door, at which point they start badmouthing Reba, unaware of Reba's presence, until Van requests for the light switch to be turned on so he can see better -- and Reba obliges. Cue OhCrap for Van and Cheyenne both.
466* RightInFrontOfMe: Late in the episode "The Blond Leading the Blind", Barbra Jean reads to Reba while Reba is still recovering from her eye surgery. Reba doesn't enjoy it much, especially when Barbra Jean tries to imitate speaking in British accent while reading a Charles Dickens novel ("Were you still reading or did you just pass gas?", asks Reba). When Cheyenne arrives to take over care for Reba, Reba, thinking she's talking to Cheyenne (when, in truth, Cheyenne is going back to her car to retrieve things and Barbra Jean pretends to be Cheyenne), promptly badmouths Barbra Jean -- especially on her attempt at accent -- without realizing whom she's talking to ([[BlindMistake Reba is still recovering from her eye surgery at the moment, so her eyes are covered]]) until Barbra Jean runs off crying just as Cheyenne walks in.
467-->'''Cheyenne''': Mom, what did you say to make Barbra Jean cry?
468-->'''Reba''': [[FeeFiFauxPas Barbra Jean?!]] OhCrap
469* RightThroughTheWall: In a season one episode "Is The Honeymoon Over Or Now What?", Kyra makes a lewd remark about hearing Van and Cheyenne's honeymoon.
470-->'''Kyra''': Well I don't. I had to listen to Van and Cheyenne [[UnusualEuphemism "making a van-wich"]] last night.\
471'''Reba''': ''[shocked]'' I beg your pardon?!
472* RunningGag: "Have I told you you're my favorite?"
473* SassyBlackWoman: Dr. Susan Peters, the Hart family therapist. She is black and never misses an opportunity to snark at the Harts' hilarious dysfunction.
474* ScreamingBirth: How 'bout two of 'em? (Barbara Jean and Cheyenne).
475** PunctuatedForEmphasis: ''"I... need... DRUGS!"''
476** And in the season 1 finale: "I WANT MY MOTHER!!!"
477* ScrewThisImOuttaHere:
478** PlayedForLaughs early on in the episode "Switch". Jake tries to entertain Lori Ann with card tricks while she waits for Reba to get ready for a girls' night out, but, unfortunately, Jake is lousy at it. Once Reba comes downstairs, ready to go, so is Lori Ann, especially when he announces that he's fetching his magic hat for more magic tricks.
479-->'''Lori Ann''': Oh, dear Lord, Reba, we gotta go! He's getting his magic hat!
480** After Brock and Barbra Jean buy a house near Reba's near the end of the second season, Kyra decides to move in with them. This is PlayedForDrama, as everyone in the family is left feeling emotionally charged by her decision, with Jake being the sole exception.[[note]]Jake's lack of concern stems from him remembering how much Kyra loves tormenting him and the knowledge that she can still visit as frequently as she likes with Brock and Barbra Jean living nearby.[[/note]]
481** PlayedForLaughs near the end of the episode "The Great Race", where Brock insists on claiming [[ILetYouWin he let Reba win]] and Reba accuses Brock of being a SoreLoser in return. Just as Reba and Brock are on the verge of a 5k race rematch, [[LethalChef Cheyenne]] makes an announcement about her homemade dinner. This prompts Reba to suggest that they change the content of the rematch to a race to the nearest pizza place instead, with the loser footing the bill. Brock agrees to the terms at once, and the episode ends with them starting the race and running away from the house.
482** PlayedForLaughs again late in the episode "Issues". After viewing the video footage of Brock and Barbra Jean sleeping, discovering Barbra Jean hitting Brock repeatedly during the sequence (which turns out to be the reason Brock is sleep-deprived at the start of the episode) and that the reason Barbra Jean hitting Brock amounts solely to her resentment regarding Brock's treatment towards a pet hamster Barbra Jean won in a county faire, the doctor they see suggests for them to see a marriage counselor instead. Barbra Jean's statement that the first thing she'd say to the marriage counselor is how her "big, strong man can take a punch" does nothing to ease Brock's mood, as indicated when Brock checks to see Barbra Jean going down the hall for the marriage counselor before hightailing out of the building.
483** Twice in the sixth-season episode "She's with the Band":
484*** PlayedForDrama when Kyra decides to postpone college in order to perform and tour with her band, Reba decides to forbid her from doing so. Kyra promptly decides to move out of Reba's house and into the residence of "Stitches", one of her band-mates.
485*** PlayedForLaughs at the end of the selfsame episode. After Reba and Kyra talk things over and Kyra agrees to move back with Reba, they enter Reba's house, where they witness Brock teaching Jake the dance moves Brock himself learned when he was in the production of a musical. This time, Kyra ''and'' Reba both decide to leave.
486-->'''Kyra''': I think I'll go back to Stitches'.
487-->'''Reba''': I'm right behind you.
488* SexEqualsLove: Why Cheyenne ended up pregnant at 17. In the pilot, Cheyenne defends her having sex with Van and getting pregnant at 17 all as being out of love. Reba scoffs at this, causing Cheyenne to angrily remind her mom that ''she'' was the one who told her not to have sex unless she was in love.
489-->'''Cheyenne''': You know, at least we're in love!
490-->'''Reba''': Oh please!
491-->'''Cheyenne''': How can you say that? You know, you were the one who told me not to have sex unless I was in love.
492-->'''Brock''': Oh what'd you tell her that for?!
493* SerialHomeWrecker: Barbara Jean. In season one's "Every Picture Tells A Story", when Reba finds a picture of Barbara Jean in a group photo with Brock implying he was cheating on Reba years earlier, Barbara Jean admits she was in the photo but not with Brock -- she was with somebody else's husband. She admits before she found God, she found many taken doctors including Dr. Turner, Dr. Baker, Dr. Martino, Dr. Simpson, Dr. Schneider, Dr. Gomez, Dr. Fisher and Dr. Hart.
494* ShipperOnDeck: Van, Cheyenne and Barbara Jean ship Reba and Van's agent Sadie Owens together in "Van's Agent".
495* ShoutOut: In "Driving Miss Kyra", Barbara Jean, Reba and Cheyenne song along to "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton at a karaoke bar.
496* ShowerOfAwkward: Poor Reba goes through this once when she accidentally walks into Brock taking a shower -- which doesn't help her to relax, as her next sentence makes clear: "What is that orange manatee doing in my shower?!"
497* ShrinkingViolet: Before the last seasons, Van is so easily driven into a corner by people with higher authority that he starts spouting nonsense to save his hide. It's only after the last seasons that he starts growing a little bit of a backbone, especially when it comes to Kyra's bullying of him.
498* SillyPrayer:
499** In one episode Van jokingly slips in a request for a convertible when praying for something. He later finds a toy convertible in a box of cereal, which he takes as a good omen.
500** During the episode "Issues", Brock and Barbra Jean videotape themselves in bed, per the suggestion of a doctor, to find out why Brock has been sleep-deprived lately. The footage starts with a ''long'' prayer session from Barbra Jean.[[note]]Brock fast-forwards through the prayer session, during which he gets up and practices on his golf swing briefly.[[/note]]
501* SitcomArchNemesis: Both Lori Ann and Eugene are this towards Brock.
502* SkewedPriorities:
503** Cheyenne thought having her mom teach at her school was somehow more embarrassing than her being pregnant. Reba is not even a kind of parent that overly loves her children to embarrass them in front of others.
504** When Barbra Jean, sitting on Reba's purse without meaning to or being aware of that, while they were inside a hospital, mentions her water just broke...
505-->'''Reba''': Your sitting on my purse!
506** Van thought getting off from food stamp services was more embarrassing than signing up for it (and being so proud of it for not ''trying'' to work at all). He also thought that his whole family was practically a bunch of circus people when presenting them to her sports agent and is embarrassed of them all, forgetting the fact he's pretty much the biggest source of embarrassment himself (which didn't help when out of panic he told his lesbian agent that Reba was super gay).
507* SlapSlapKiss: In Season 6, during their recent separation and impending divorce, Brock and Barbra Jean try to "act" on their status as a soon-to-be divorced couple in public and they end up having a loud argument over it. Barbra Jean almost punches Brock and it ends up with them making out in a diner booth (in front of several shocked people), which continues into intercourse in the parking lot before finally ending up at her bed.
508* SlasherSmile: Van's "winning smile" is incredibly creepy, and he's completely oblivious to that fact. Reba even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it, telling him "Van, that's not a killer smile, that's the smile of a killer."
509* SmallNameBigEgo: In order to feel more important, Brock rudely tries to get a certified handy man (vaguely hitting on Reba) to refer him as Dr. Hart just because he was fixing all the poor handiwork Brock did to the kitchen appliances. Later on, Brock repairs (wrecks) the ice maker ''which wasn't even broken in the first place''.
510* SmokingIsNotCool:
511** A whole episode was dedicated to this in order for all three adults to convince an all-knowing Kyra not to fall for smoking. This only ends up revealing the fact Brock was (and still is) an avid smoker, and he used to smoke pot in his younger days. Barbra Jean is the only one completely shocked from this revelation.
512-->'''Barbra Jean''': Were you ''high'' when you married me?!
513-->''({{Beat}})''
514-->'''Reba''': [[DeadpanSnarker A lot of people ask that.]]
515** Cheyenne so casually fell for smoking while she dealt with her alcohol addiction.
516* SomethingWeForgot: In season one episode "Labor Of Love", when Cheyenne thinks she's going into early labor and everyone rushes to the hospital, momentarily it seems like they left 7-year-old Jake behind in the house. Only for Reba to immediately come running back into the house yelling for him.
517* SpeedDating: In the second season episode "Switch", Cheyenne sends Reba to a speed dating event to help her get back on the horse after her divorce. Lori Ann comes along because it's "like little bite-sized man samples!" Reba ends up getting a date out of it, while Lori Ann doesn't.
518* SpoiledBrat:
519** Cheyenne was like this at first but, thankfully, [[CharacterDevelopment develops]] out of this as the series goes on.
520** Henry. The fifth-season episode "Parenting with Puppets" deals with how Barbra Jean fails to punish his bad behavior. Unlike Cheyenne, however, he doesn't have enough time to develop out of this (on the other hand, he gets little focus throughout the series, [[ADayInTheLimelight with said episode being the exception]]).
521* SportsDad: Brock is one as he coached the football team at his children's school and is obsessed with his football team winning the big game. He even to kick his son-in-law Van off the football unless he played the big game instead of being on his honeymoon on the same night. Van complains in the series that his father always bullied him growing up, especially when it came to playing football. Van eventually becomes one himself when he coaches his brother-in-law Jake's team and fails miserably. It takes his wife Cheyenne to point out, to Van's horror, that he is becoming like his father.
522* StandardizedSitcomHousing: Twice around: Barbra Jean and Brock's house is a mirror to Reba's.
523* SteppingStoneSpouse: Following Brock's divorce from Reba so that he could marry his pregnant mistress Barbara Jean, Reba angrily points out that she sacrificed financially for him by putting him through dental school and because of that, they should've stayed together.
524* StealingTheHandicappedSpot: Van uses a fake handicapped parking pass to park his car illegally. Reba tries to get him to stop, but then she's lured to use it when experiencing a bad time parking to get to her job interview. Unlike Van, she's caught red-handed by the owner of the company she's trying to apply for because it turns out he's paraplegic...and she took his parking spot. Van proceeds to grill her for it.
525* StopBeingStereotypical: During the Hurricane Katrina episode, Barbra Jean tries to connect with the dozens of black people she let Reba look after at home by seriously acting and looking like a stereotypical gangsta person, giving an extremely racist feel to the homeless. Once they leave and time passes, a letter is sent to Reba saying that she should bring Barbra Jean to the restoration efforts because no one believes she even exists.
526* StopCopyingMe: One of the men Reba and Lori Ann meet in the SpeedDating session during the episode "Switch" claims to "like making people laugh"... by copying what the woman he meets says in a mocking tone. Reba and Lori Ann, whom he meets separately, are NOT amused.
527* StrayingBaby: In Season 5, Van's playing hide-and-seek with his daughter Elizabeth. He loses her and immediately begins to panic. Until she pops out from hiding in the tree house and Van is relieved. Just goes as a reminder what happens when we lose track of our kids during hide-and-seek...
528* SurroundedByIdiots:
529** Reba's default expression.
530** Kyra as well, with her being a straight-A student on the honor roll, she tends to show annoyance towards the ignorance of the adults by snarking. One example is when she's watching PBS, both Cheyenne and Brock ask her why she's watching it, Kyra asks them both to say what PBS stands for before just giving up and leaving.
531* TeenPregnancy: This happened to Cheyenne shortly prior to the series' start.
532* TemptingFate:
533** Towards the end of the episode "The Ghost and Mrs. Hart", Barbra Jean suggests to Reba about asking the Ouija board whether Brock has been well-mannered while he was in Las Vegas, but Reba asks dismissively: "You don't think that thing really works, do you?" Cue its planchette starting to move on its own, causing both Reba and Barbra Jean to freak out in panic.
534** Early in the episode "The Blond Leading the Blind", Cheyenne states that Van writes poetry when he's upset after Van sees his car being wrecked, at which point Jake anticipates using one of Van's poems for his own use in class, only to change his mind after hearing Van recite a poem he wrote, as his response to Cheyenne asking him about his opinion towards Van's poem makes it clear.
535--->'''Jake''': [[DramaticPause It's great... to a second grader!]] *leaves*[[note]] [[DontExplainTheJoke Jake is approaching middle school by this point.]][[/note]]
536** A positive version of this occurs at the end of the sixth-season episode "Bullets Over Brock", where Reba, dismayed at the prospect of Brock and Barbra Jean getting a divorce, claims "I'll never be able to relax now." Then she sits down and turns on the TV, sees the video clip of Van at Jake's soccer practice that Cheyenne filmed, and promptly bursts into hearty laughter. By the time the video clip sequence ends, Reba is calmly sipping tea, grinning and giggling happily, before muttering to herself: "[[IronicEcho I'm definitely relaxed now.]]"
537* ThanksgivingEpisode: Two episodes are related to this holiday.
538* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Brock delivers one to Kyra when she disobeys her mother and attends a unsupervised boy-girl party in Season 3.
539-->'''Reba:''' You don't even check in with me!
540-->'''Kyra:''' Because I live with Dad now, and I don't have to do all that stuff!
541-->'''Brock:''' Oh yes, you do.
542-->'''Kyra:''' What?
543-->'''Brock:''' From now on, you have to check in with both me and your mother. ''(Reba looks at Kyra; Kyra sighs in disbelief)'' Look, maybe you'd thought you'd have it easy living with me, because Dad's a pushover. Well, let me tell you something. Living with me isn't going to be a free ride, and it isn't a license to cut your mother out of your life either!
544-->'''Kyra:''' Well, that's not fair!
545-->'''Brock:''' Well, good. Then I must be doing something "right". Now go say goodnight to your friends.
546-->'''Kyra:''' I can't believe this! ''(Walks away)''
547* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave:
548** Reba saw almost everybody like this, notably Brock and '''especially''' Barbra Jean, who seemed to have no concept of personal boundaries (Barbra Jean has NoSenseOfPersonalSpace that she just gets inside the house at nighttime hours when she sees so much as a light and even entered once ''through the window''). There were the occasional whispers that she felt this way about Van and Cheyenne as well. While she loved them dearly and cared for them unconditionally, she occasionally mentioned how she hoped that they would get their situation straightened out (and therefore move) sooner rather than later.
549** Reba herself starts to become this towards Van and Cheyenne when they finally settle in their own house. It was partly justified since they were weirdos.
550* [[TitleDrop Theme Tune Title Drop]]:
551** The last line of the series is "Cause we're survivors."
552** During the fifth-season finale, Reba is faced with the prospect of a surgery. Van consoles the worried Cheyenne with: "She'll be all right. She's a survivor."
553** Playing the trope straight, Brock drops the title of the episode "Lock and Loaded" [[spoiler:regarding having his vasectomy reversed.]]
554* ThisIsReality: Lampshaded by Van in one episode ("That speech Cheyenne gave was great, but we don't live in a speech. We live in Houston.") and Brock in another ("We don't live in a utopia. We live in suburbia, where life is cheap!").
555* TomboyishName: Van has an aunt whose name is ''Floyd''.
556* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: Kyra shows shades of this, as while she is tougher then Cheyenne, she also has some of the same interests like shopping.
557* TookALevelInJerkass: Jake in the later seasons as he grew up and got more episodes focused on him, doing things such as lying to get Kyra in trouble, stealing charity money from his mom, selling sodas at school even though they're banned (though he has a good excuse for this one, as he's trying to help out with the family's financial woes), and pretending to be disabled in order to play on a wheelchair basketball team because he sucks at regular basketball.
558* TooDumbToLive:
559** Van, who is so terrified about becoming an adult that he canceled a very beneficial scholarship because of it. That's not to say how he thought having sex once a month prevents him from making someone pregnant.
560** Cheyenne, much to Reba's dismay. In the latest seasons, her reason for changing studies from dentistry to elderly caretaker (which then makes her want to become a drug counselor later on) stern from the fact an old lady came rushing at her while driving...right before Cheyenne casually mentions, "so I hung up the phone and..."
561** During the first season, Reba, acting as a respectable substitute teacher, counseled a young couple of friends to Cheyenne and Van about how extremely difficult it is to raise a child while still being in high school as they saw it very fun and manageable seeing Van and Cheyenne making it (all because Reba decided to support them). Despite all the warnings (and Van and Cheyenne's utter lack of common sense), the young couple ends up being caught about to have sex that same night.
562* TrademarkFavoriteFood:
563** Based on various dialogue, Van loves pizza.
564** Mac and cheese wheels for Kyra.
565* TrickedIntoSigning: Barbra Jean was fooled into signing excused absence slips by Kyra, who pretended she wanted her autograph. The ruse wasn't discovered until the school informed Reba about how much school the daughter had been missing.
566* TurnOutLikeHisFather: Later in the series, as Cheyenne shows her husband Van videotaped evidence that he has a short temper when it comes to coaching kids soccer games, Van watches the video and realizes that his father used to act all intense and mean just like he is doing and realizes that he has become just like the father he hated and worries about doing the same one day to his and Cheyenne's unborn son.
567* TWordEuphemism: In the episode "Sweet Child O' Mine", "bitch" is addressed as "the B(-word)" instead.
568* TwoWordsICantCount: In the episode "Reba the Landlord", Van says "let it go" and "paper plates" quickly and insists on claiming each phrase as one word. Reba tries to correct Van once before doing it herself (using the phrase "let it go") late in the episode.
569* TheUnfavorite: In season 2, despite Reba's constant assurance that all three of her children are her favorite, Kyra becomes this after Van and Cheyenne welcomed their baby and moved in, taking all the attention and concern away from Kyra. It comes to a head in season 3 when Kyra moves in with her father Brock and stepmother Barbara Jean to get away from being the one in Reba's house that nobody thought about.
570* VitriolicBestBuds: Reba and B.J. Poor B.J. tries so hard...
571** And when Reba actually refrains from insulting Barbra Jean, she ''takes offense'', and mentions how, as "The Other Woman," she's always victim to gossiping and false friendliness from everyone else, and prefers Reba's rather harsh (but honest) jokes and teasing instead of the false sincerity from everyone else.
572* VolleyingInsults: This is how Brock and Lori Ann communicate with each other. The MyFriendsAndZoidberg entry, listed above, has one such example.
573* WackyCravings: In season 1, Van asks the pregnant Cheyenne if she's hungry. She says no and then she takes away the pickle that Van was about to eat and starts eating it along with some sour cream & onion chips.
574* [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse What Happened To The Dog]]: Broq, a small dog Barbra Jean adopts, shows up in several episodes, only to become a case of ChuckCunninghamSyndrome. Considering she got the dog to cope with the loneliness after Brock moved out (and the fact that Brock and Broq mutually despised each other,) it's possible she simply got rid of Broq when Brock moved back in.
575* WhamLine: Several in the series.
576** In the Pilot when the family starts arguing over the patriarch's infidelity, Jake lets slip of his older sister's teen pregnancy.
577---> '''Jake''': What?
578---> '''Cheyenne''': Daddy, how could you!?
579---> '''Jake''': What?
580---> '''Kyra''': Barbra Jean's pregnant!
581---> '''Jake''': I thought ''Cheyenne'' was pregnant!
582---> '''Brock''': What?
583---> '''Cheyenne''': Shut up, Jake!
584---> '''Kyra''': Back off. He's just a stupid kid!
585---> '''Jake''': I'm not stupid! She left the pregnancy test in the trash can!
586---> '''Reba''': Oh my God!
587---> '''Cheyenne''': I am gonna kill you!
588** In the Second Season finale when things get difficult between Kyra competing with her older sister Cheyenne for time with her mother Reba, Kyra delivers one to her dad after he consoles her.
589---> '''Kyra''': Actually...there is something I want. I want to move in with you and Barbra Jean.
590** In the Third Season, when things become strained between Kyra living with her father and stepmother, she delivers one to her mother.
591---> '''Kyra''': They don't fight with me.
592---> '''Reba''': Oh?
593---> '''Kyra''': They fight with each other.
594** In the episode where Kyra gets in trouble at school for punching a girl, she drops this:
595---> '''Reba''': Kyra, what did that girl do to make you lose it?
596---> '''Reba''': She called Cheyenne a slut, okay?! She called Cheyenne a slut so I punched her!
597** Later, when the parents go to Kyra's school to try to keep her from getting expelled:
598---> '''Kyra''': Mom, don't do this!
599---> '''Reba''': Kyra--
600---> '''Kyra''': I wasn't defending Cheyenne! I wanted to get kicked out!
601** In the Third Season finale, Brock drops one to Reba after another fight with Barbra Jean.
602---> '''Reba''': Brock, go after her! She thinks you made a mistake by leaving me and being for her and everything. Go tell her she was wrong.
603---> '''Brock''': I don't think I can do that.
604---> '''Reba''': And why the heck not?
605---> '''Brock''': Because...I do think I made a mistake.
606** In the Fourth Season finale, Two are exchanged between Van and Cheyenne.
607---> '''Van''': (holding an empty Vodka bottle) Is this your bottle?
608---> '''Cheyenne''': W-w-what? What would make you think it's my bottle?
609---> '''Van''': Well, it's not mine. And if it's not yours, then our three-year-old has a major problem. What's going on, Cheyenne?
610** Later in the same episode...
611---> '''Cheyenne''': Everyone, Mom, Dad, I have great news...I'M AN ALCOHOLIC!
612** In the Sixth Season, Van explains to Reba why he is working so erratically through this line.
613---> '''Reba''': I have to juggle work and the family!
614---> '''Van''': So am I! Why do you think I'm acting this way?
615---> '''Reba''': I don't know. Why are ya?
616---> '''Van''': Because Cheyenne is having a baby!
617---> '''Reba''': ''(stunned, audience gasps)'' I did not know that.
618** And in the series finale, Reba delivers one when Barbara Jean decides to move for her job:
619---> '''Reba''': Well I'm not going to stand here and let my ''best friend'' just go and ruin her life!
620---> '''Barbara Jean''': Best friend?
621---> '''Cheyenne, Brock, Van, Jake & Kyra''': Best friend?!
622* WhyWasteAWedding: Subverted. Brock and Barbra Jean decide to renew their vows at Cheyenne and Van's vow renewal to stall for time while said young couple is having a fight (and then Brock quickly tries to backpedal when Van mentions splitting the cost with them,) but an extremely stressed Reba faints from high blood pressure before that happens.
623* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Kyra, as she's a straight-A student on the honor roll and frequently comes off as more level-headed then the adults a lot of the time (in one episode Reba outright says that Kyra is "the only other adult in the family"). It's especially noticeable in season 1 when she's the one who ends up convincing Cheyenne to go back to high school and the one to help her calm down about the prospect of giving birth.
624* WhatTheHellHero: Kyra delivers one to her parents Brock and Reba after the two spy on her attending an unsupervised boy-girl party and they compare her to [[TeenPregnancy Cheyenne]]:
625-->'''Kyra:''' I know it's dark out but if you borrow Barbra Jean's spy goggles, you'll be able to see I'm not Cheyenne!
626-->'''Reba:''' Well, maybe we got confused because you're wearing her boy-meeting sweater.
627-->'''Kyra:''' So you guys really think I'm so stupid that I'd sneak off and have sex when I'm 14? ''(Brock sighs loudly, looks away dejectedly)'' And even if I did, why would I wear Cheyenne's sweater? For good luck!? I thought you knew me better than that!
628* WhoNamesTheirKidDude: In season one, when Barbara Jean gives birth to her and Brock's first child, Brock fears this is going to happen unless he gets to the hospital. Luckily, they settle for the name Henry Charles ''Jesus'' Hart.
629-->'''Brock:''' Oh dear God. Reba, we got to get to that hospital before Barbara Jean names the kid "Jesus"!
630** In season 6, when Van complains that he doesn't want to name their unborn son Brock, Cheyenne snarks that the name is just as weird as Van.
631-->'''Van:''' Do you really wanna name our son "Brock"!?
632-->'''Cheyenne:''' No! It's as weird as "Van"!
633-->'''Van:''' What?
634-->'''Cheyenne:''' Honey, "Van" is a weird name.
635-->'''Van:''' Well, it's certainly no "Cheyenne"! Hey I have an idea, why don't we name our kid "Navajo"!?
636* WhyCantIHateYou: One of the biggest ironies in the series is the ex-wife (Reba) eventually getting along with the mistress/new wife (Barbara Jean).
637* WorldOfSnark: The primary snarkers are Reba and Kyra, but everyone, even Jake, get some good ones in every once in a while.

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