NBC’s workplace comedy Happy’s Place is set in a Knoxville, Tennessee tavern called “Happy’s Place”. In the first season, Bobbie (Reba MacEntire) inherited the bar after her father passed away, only to discover that her father had a secret second family, and that he also left half the inheritance to her much younger half-sister Isabella (Belissa Escobedo), whom she had never met or known about. After a rough start, Bobbie and Isabella eventually became friends, running the bar together and living together in their father’s house. The oddball staff at the tavern is like a family, and includes bartender Gabby (Melissa Peterman), soft-spoken cook Emmett (Rex Linn), germophobic, obsessive-compulsive Colombian-American accountant Steve (Pablo Castelblanco), and Native American waiter Takoda (Tokala Black Elk).

As the first season came to a close, Isabella got Bobbie and Emmett to finally admit they had feelings for one another. But now that Emmett is constantly stopping by the house every night to talk for hours, and the couple making eyes at each other at work, Isabella is getting annoyed and some of the other staff are getting uncomfortable. Emmett is hesitant to actually move the relationship beyond talking because he has a secret. He had known about Isabella for years, but had promised Happy not to tell anyone. Now he’s worried about starting a relationship with Bobbie off on lie.

While there are comedic plot devices of the week, the series is far more serialized than many other sitcoms. The second season continues to develop the characters and relationships while also providing loads of laughs. One of the main focuses this season is the on again off again relationship between Bobbie and Emmett, plus later in the season, Isabella turns the storage unit above the bar into a Speakeasy, and there is quite a bit with Gabby and her mother. Bobbie and Isabella plan to sell Happy’s house, and Gabby, who’s still taking steps towards becoming a mother, has her eyes set on buying it…though she doesn’t actually have any money. Meanwhile, Steve is the only one who knows about Emmett’s secret and that starts to eat away at him.

Some of the other storylines this season include the gang finding a mouse the day the health inspector is supposed to visit; Isabella dating a guy from her class; Takoda getting obsessed with trying to figure out the owner of a lost phone; Steve trying to be an actor; Takoda’s band playing at the tavern; Gabby becoming obsessed with a creep toy; Steve and Isabella shooting a social media campaign for the tavern that includes Grumpy Chef Emmet; the staff performance reviews; and Bobby & Isabella seeing a therapist.

I quite enjoy this series. It’s a very light and fun watch that makes an easy binge (especially with the Play All option on the Blu-ray). The main ensemble has great chemistry, and play off one another perfectly. The series does have a laugh track, which I tend to despise these days, but I actually didn’t mind it in this case. It feels a little more natural, and fits with the throwback TGiF feel of the series. In addition to the main cast, the second season also introduces some new recurring characters including oddball health inspector Monica (Cheri Oteri), who has a romantic relationship with Emmett; and Gabby’s not-as-overbearing-as-described mother Val (Jane Lynch), with whom Gabby has a complicated relationship. The season also sees guest appearances by legends Carol Kane and Christopher Lloyd, and JoAnna Garcia Swisher—who played Reba’s daughter in Reba—making some fun meta references.

Universal has released the second season of Happy’s Place on Blu-ray and DVD. We were sent the Blu-ray release for review from AV Entertainment. The 18 episodes of the second season are evenly split across 2 discs, which are placed on either side of a standard-sized Blu-ray keepcase. Unfortunately this is a barebones release, and there is no bonus material included. However, the technical presentation of the series is excellent, with a solid, detailed picture, and clear dialogue throughout. The release does not include a digital copy, and our copy did not include any slipcover.

What’s Included:

Episodes: (6:26:11)

Blu-ray:
• All 18 episodes of Season Two on 2 discs:
  Disc 1 (3:13:19): “Promises, Promises”, “I’ve Got a Secret”, “Straw Man”, “Testing Testing”, “Mouse in the House”, “Izzy and the Professor”, “An Accountant Prepares…”, “The Name Game”, “Silence Was Golden”
  Disc 2 (3:12:52): “No”, “Dart to the Heart”, “Social Discontent”, “A New Chapter”, “Borrowin’ Trouble”, “Emotional Real Estate”, “AI-AI-No”, “Everyone’s a Critic”, “Couples Counseling”
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

There is no bonus material included

Final Thoughts:

In it’s second season, Happy’s Place continues to be a solidly entertaining workplace comedy with a delightful ensemble cast. Universal’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds great, but unfortunately is barebones and doesn’t include any bonus material. That said, the release still comes recommended based on the quality of the series itself. Fans of the series or cast should definitely pick this up.