The Sixth Season

Reba is a television series starring country singer Reba McIntire. She is a divorced mother of three and in the middle of a dysfunctional family. The ex-husband Brock left her for his twenty-something assistant Barbara Jean. Her oldest daughter got knocked up in high school and married her high school sweetheart; they live under her roof. To make matters worse, Brock and his new wife are permanent fixtures in Reba's life. Together they make a perfect dysfunctional family perfect for television. For more details about this series please refer to DVD Talk's reviews of season one, season two, season three, and season four.

Season six is shorter than past seasons and also the last of the series. It has a total of thirteen episodes. Despite not having a full twenty-two episodes, the season is still pretty fun and has a lot going on for the cast. There are some hilarious changes for everyone. Kira returns to the show after a hiatus during most of season five. Barbara Jean has a new look, which brings new problems to Brock. The Van-Reba real estate partnership turns rocky. Cheyenne and Van prepare to move on with their lives and move out on their own. Overall, it is a pretty busy season with plenty of fun, silly moments and drama sprinkled throughout.

The season starts off addressing one of the most noticeable changes to the cast, which is Barbara Jean. Between seasons five and six, Melissa Peterman lost a significant amount of weight. Her character comes back in season six slimmer than ever. In the first episode "Let's Get Physical", Brock fears that she is having an affair with her physical trainer. He convinces his ex-wife to investigate. When Reba arrives at the gym, she finds some shady interaction going on between Barbara Jean and her trainer. While the situation is pretty serious, it quickly turns comical when Reba overreacts based on Barbara Jean's training session. It is a pretty fun episode with both leading female characters offering some solid laughs with lots of good physical comedy. As the season progresses, Brock and the new Barbara Jean run into complications with their relationship, as he begins to fear that she might leave him for someone else.

In the following episode "Just Business", Van and Reba's real estate partnership is on shaky ground when the local real estate superstar Steve Norris (Tim Meadows) calls to meet with Van. Reba thinks he wants to purchase their business. However, he only has interest in her partner. This situation starts a storyline about Van considering better business opportunities and joining the local elite real estate team. A change on the job front is not an issue only faced by Van and Reba, as Barbara Jean makes a crazy audition tape to become a weather forecaster in "The Break-Up", which has several hilarious moments.

As the season continues, there are plenty of additional fun episodes. "Roll With It" is a great episode. Van really shines in it as a character. When the family learns that Jake has become the star on a basketball team, Van goes to investigate. He learns that Jake is playing in a nontraditional sports league. It makes for some really hearty laughs. In addition, Kira moves back in the house, Cheyenne and Van prepare to have another baby, Barbara Jean faces troubles in her new workplace, and more.

Overall, Reba's sixth and final season continues to offer the same level of fun as past seasons. The series during its six season run has pretty much kept to the same formula and focused on mixing slapstick comedy with over-the-top performances. The formula has worked pretty well and given the show a fun edge while incorporating drama to maintain some character development throughout its years. In short, Reba's sixth season has plenty of solid laughs and will offer fans of the show with thirteen fun-filled episodes.

Episode Guide

1. Let's Get Physical: Barbara Jean's weight loss helps to motivate Reba, but when Brock suspects that Barbara Jean is cheating with her fitness trainer, Reba is recruited to get to the bottom of things.
2. Just Business: After meeting with a major real estate competitor, Van and Reba learn that the company wants to hire Van and not Reba. Meanwhile, Barbara Jean's new, slender look has Brock concerned.
3. Trading Spaces: Change is in the air when Van builds a home office in the garage, Kyra decides to move back in with Reba, and Cheyenne reveals some surprising news.
4. Roll With It: After Kyra moves back in, Reba is shocked by some of her new habits, including drinking beer around the house. Elsewhere, a misguided Jake joins a wheelchair basketball team.
5. The Break-Up: The race is on as Van's decision to accept a job offer from a big real estate firm causes friction in the Hart household. Meanwhile, Barbara Jean auditions to become a TV weather forecaster.
6. Sweet Child O'Mine: As Cheyenne and Van eagerly await their new arrival, Cheyenne fears that the baby will grow up to be like Kyra. Meanwhile, Van is overwhelmed by a lengthy to-do list.
7. Locked And Loaded: Hoping to spice up his marriage, Brock seeks advice from an unlikely source -- Reba. And Van is in for a surprise when Kyra videotapes his crazy antics and goes public with them.
8. As We Forgive Those: Barbara Jean fears for her job and asks for Reba's help when the station hires an ambitious new intern. Meanwhile, Cheyenne has some difficult news for Brock.
9. Bullets Over Brock: Reba is caught in the middle when Brock moves into the garage to avoid fighting with Barbara Jean, and the temperamental Van is fired as the coach of Jake's soccer team.
10. Cheyenne's Rival: Just when Van and Cheyenne think they've found their dream house, things turn nightmarish when they discover that the seller is Cheyenne's high school nemesis.
11. She's With The Band: Reba puts her foot down when Kyra announces that she is postponing college to go on tour with her band. Meanwhile, Van and Cheyenne have different ideas about home decor.
12. The Housewarming: Reba quickly wears out her welcome by dropping in on Van and Cheyenne unannounced. Elsewhere, now separated from Brock, Barbara Jean has an on-camera meltdown.
13. The Kids Are Alright: In the bittersweet series finale, Van and Cheyenne move back in with Reba after a fire in their new home, and Barbara Jean faces a difficult decision when she is offered an out-of-state job.

The DVD
Reba: The Complete Sixth Season is packaged in a standard size DVD case. The entire season comes on a double-sided DVD. Side A is dual-layered and contains the first eight episodes. Side B is single-layered and has the final five episodes.

Video:
The video is given in 1.33:1 ratio full frame color. The picture is the most impressive aspect of this DVD release, as it is very clean and crisp. There are no noticeable compression artifacts and colors tend to be very rich.

Audio:
The audio in this DVD release is given in two languages, English and Spanish. For both languages the audio is in the same format, 2.0 Dolby digital stereo surround. The majority of the audio in this release is dialogue driven, which sounds very good with no noticeable distortions. It comes off flat and takes very little advantage of the multiple channels. There are also subtitles in English and Spanish. The release also supports closed captioning.

Extras:
There are no extras included with this DVD release.

Final Thoughts:
When I first started watching Reba, I did not fall in love with the show. I thought it was a pretty generic sitcom. However, my perspective on it has changed during its six season run. It has grown on me and I enjoy watching Reba and company get into their crazy situations. Previously, I did not think the over-the-top performance and various cliches would work in the long run, but I have found that those qualities are what give the series a fun edge. In conclusion, Reba is a sitcom worth watching. It will make you laugh and has enough drama to keep things interesting.