Melissa Peterman’s ‘Happy’s Place’ Character Prepares for Motherhood With an AI Doll: ‘Starter Baby’ (Exclusive)

Happy’s Place is kicking its humor up a notch by giving Melissa Peterman‘s character, Gabby, an AI baby on her journey to become a mother.

In Us Weekly‘s first look at the Friday, January 31, episode, Bobbie (Reba McEntire) and the rest of the tavern employees are surprised when Gabby walks in with a very realistic looking doll.

“You remember last week when you said that I would be a great mother right now? Well now is now! This is my starter baby,” Gabby tells the group in the clip. “It’s not human. It is an AI baby that I ordered online.”

Steve (Pablo Castelblanco) is the first one to poke fun at the situation, quipping, “Dear diary, the child that will free the robots has arrived.”

The others try to be more supportive. Isabella (Belissa Escobedo) calls the doll “so lifelike” while Bobbie finds a way to compliment Gabby’s fake newborn. (Rex Linn‘s Emmett, however, walks in and immediately walks out to avoid commenting on the situation.)

“That kid is creeping … right into my heart. So dang quiet,” Bobbie adds. “Why is it — he, she, it, them — why?

Gabby ultimately expresses her excitement at the next chapter in her life.

“Well, I wanted my baby to meet the rest of my family. And now that they have, we can spend the whole day together,” she explains before Steve jokes, “Dear diary, Alexa has found a body.”

Gabby’s path to motherhood was introduced earlier in the season. After Gabby expressed her interest in having a child solo, showrunner Kevin Abbott hinted that newcomer Danny (Steve Howey) might turn out to be a potential sperm donor for Gabby down the line, which Howey expressed excitement for.

“I think a sperm donor could be part of a romantic relationship. If it is the sperm donor route Kevin wants to go, that’s kind of romantic, right?” Howey quipped to Us in December 2024. “It’s a little weird to be honest. It’s a little weird, but I don’t know what they have planned. I mean, I’ve been called a sperm donor before [on Shameless].”

The potential story line is a nod to Peterman and Howey previously sharing the screen on Reba. The sitcom, which aired from 2001 to 2007, starred McEntire, Peterman, Christopher Rich, JoAnna Garcia Swisher and Howey. Nearly two decades later, McEntire and Peterman reunited for their new series with Abbott, who was a former Reba executive producer.

“I hope that the people that loved Reba love Happy’s Place. They loved Reba because it was funny. They loved it because it was relatable. They also loved it because it had heart,” Peterman exclusively told Us in October 2024. “And I think all of those elements are in this show that we have now.”

Peterman, who played Barbara Jean on Reba, urged fans to give Happy’s Place a chance, adding, “We are new characters. It’s a new time and it’s different. But those core things that you loved about it are there. It does feel really different [though]. And what I’m loving is the interaction with the new cast members including Pablo, Tokala [Black Elk] and Belissa.”

She added: “The other big difference is real life family and the reality of blended families. Happy’s Place is all about finding family at work, and Belissa’s character is also finding a family that she didn’t know existed and figuring that out. You’ll feel that same warm feeling, but you’re gonna [know] it’s new.”

Happy’s Place premieres on NBC Fridays at 8 p.m. ET.