Melissa Peterman is guest-starring on the all-new Sydney To The Max episode “Good Grade Hunting.” In the episode, Sydney is baffled when she can’t seem to get an A in her poetry class even though her dad got As in his class — and they have the same teacher, Mrs. Harris. Sydney really tries to impress Mrs. Harris in our exclusive video with her thoughts about cinnamon. Mrs. Harris assigns Sydney and the class their first poem and they’re supposed to write about something that makes them happy. “I had such a great time playing Mrs. Harris. I love that she is such a passionate teacher who loves her students and wants to get them excited about learning,” Melissa said. “She’s fun and quirky and has lots of interesting interests. It was fun to play her as a brand new teacher in the ’90s and 27 years later.”
Melissa loved working with the cast, especially director Robbie Countryman, who also worked on Reba with her, and Caroline Rhea. “The cast is incredible, Ruthie and Eva, Jackson and Christian are so talented, their comedic instincts kept me on my toes for sure,” Melissa continued. “And as talented as they are, I loved how kind and professional they were to everyone on set. Great kids! And I love Caroline, she is ridiculously hilarious and I love anytime I get to play with her. And bonus the episode was directed by Robbie Countryman, who I have known since my Reba days and he is one of my favorite people and happens to be an incredible director as well.” She had so much fun with Ruthie, too! “We had a ton of fun between takes, Ruthie and I got a tad out of control with our air guitar and pretended to trash the set like real rock stars,” Melissa revealed. “We also had fun with the classroom sets, I actually wrote some fun things on the chalkboard and on my post it’s on my desk as inside jokes.”
Melissa admitted she does miss some of the music from the ’90s. “As much fun as it was to go back to the ’90s for the show, I don’t miss my giant cell phone, my hair, and fashion choices but I do miss some of the music…Spice Girls, Nirvana, U2, Bon Jovi all of it.”
While Mrs. Harris is only in the March 15 episode, Melissa would love to return. “I hope Mrs. Harris gets to come back and play a lot more!” Melissa said. Sydney To The Max airs Fridays at 8:30 p.m. on Disney Channel and DisneyNOW.