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Q: Please tell us about the cast members from the show "Reba."

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Author: 
Adam Thomlison / TV Media

That's a big question, as the show's success -- its popular run from 2001-2007 made it an early tentpole for what is now The CW Network -- was based on its strong ensemble cast.

Of course, whole novels could be written about the titular lead Reba McEntire, an iconic country singer who got her start as a teenager singing at local rodeos around her native Oklahoma and parts nearby.

But it was an ensemble hit, and many critics and fans said the supporting cast of Christopher Rich (who played her ex, Brock), Melissa Peterman (Brock's younger new wife, Barbra Jean), Joanna Garcia (her eldest daughter) and Steve Howey (her new son-in-law) had as much to do with the show's successful six seasons as McEntire herself.

Rich was the most seasoned of the actors heading in, a longtime TV man who co-starred with McEntire in her second-ever acting gig, the 1991 telefilm "The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw." He had recurring roles on a few major series, such as "Murphy Brown" and "Nash Bridges," and even had a series of his own called "The Charmings," but it only lasted a season back in the late '80s.

Garcia has found the most success as a result of her time on "Reba." Though she'd already starred on a few, starting with the teen series "Are You Afraid of the Dark" on Nickelodeon in 1994, when she was just 15, she's found even more success since. That's culminated recently in a brand new ensemble sitcom, "Better With You," that just premiered on ABC.

Peterman, too, has a new series under her belt, probably thanks even more directly to "Reba." She'll be starting this winter on the new comedy "Working Class," which is the first scripted series made by CMT.

Howey was mostly unknown when he landed the "Reba" part, but he's done well since and is poised to do better. He, too, has a new series this season -- he's got a role in the Showtime series "Shameless," which premieres this winter -- but he also has three big-screen films on the go. All three -- "Something Borrowed," "Conception" and "Losing Control" -- are indie pictures due out either late this year or early next.

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