Now, will the real Reba please stand up?

LAST May, Reba McEntire hosted the Academy of Country Music awards for the eighth time, and she was a case study in extreme calibration. She fired off toothless barb after toothless barb -- Nerf darts, basically -- gently poking fun at her peers in the crowd (only the absentee Dixie Chicks got any real heat), never even considering going too far. Even though hosting duties often come with implied ammunition and the right to use it, Reba would never dare. Platinum several times over, and one of the pioneering female singers of country music in the pop era, she’s the perfect, neat combination of prim acceptability and disruptive sass. She’s affable, crisp, and maybe a little bionic.

Not that the CW network -- the byproduct of the merger between the WB and UPN -- was inclined to pay Reba or her well-established brand much mind when, in May, it announced its debut fall lineup sans her titular comedy (which last season was the highest rated sitcom on the WB). But, facing down a reported $20-million kill fee for not re-upping the show, the network quickly capitulated, signing it up as a utility player.

Why “Reba,” which returns tonight, was a poor fit for the CW -- or, really, for any major network -- is readily apparent. It may well be the last truly traditional “American” family sitcom, which is to say proudly and perhaps unthinkingly focused exclusively on nonethnic whites. If it is not the last -- creative arguments can be heard for “Two and a Half Men” and, possibly, “Family Guy” and “The Simpsons” -- it is certainly the one least concerned with the modern world and most thrown by its interactions with it. In tonight’s season premiere, a personal trainer jiggles the breast of Reba’s neighbor, a la Isaac Mizrahi and Scarlett Johansson at January’s Golden Globes, sending Reba into a tizzy.

Throughout, it’s unclear if McEntire is actually acting, or merely upholding the values she espouses in her public life as a singer. In earlier seasons, she would occasionally disrupt the show’s timidity with a slightly off-color remark, though in this season’s first three episodes, that happens maybe once. As a character, Reba can be frighteningly dull; even the character’s full name, Reba Hart, resists any sort of meaningful or interesting reading. Every inch of her refrigerator is covered with family photos, as if to defend against accusations of insufficient goody-two-shoesness.

Ironically, in structure, “Reba” most closely recalls “Roseanne,” a show that, underneath its irascible exterior, was actually surprisingly values-driven. Its family core, though unconventional, was incontrovertibly tight. The idiosyncrasies of “Reba” are different -- her character is a single mom, living next door to her ex-husband and his new wife -- but there’s hardly a whisper of anything other than familial pride.

Of course, “Roseanne” was funny, but that seems like a minor quibble -- to attempt to position “Reba” as something more than savvy brand extension is a fallacy. With more than 50 million albums sold, McEntire the musician easily trumps McEntire the actress. And unexpectedly, the former is also far more interesting. Watching “Reba,” it’s easy to forget that McEntire is one of the great narrative singers in country music, a point proven time and again on the tribute concert “CMT Giants: Reba,” which premiered last night on CMT and will be rebroadcast several times this week. She’s a consistent, if not radical, vocalist, but whether the subject is infidelity, AIDS or the death of a loved one, McEntire knows how to sell it in song. And it’s worth remembering that her signature hit, “Fancy,” is a barnstorming rocker about a young woman put out to prostitution by her mother -- extreme material for any Nashville vet, especially a woman.

Following covers of her essential catalog by Martina McBride, Kelly Clarkson, Trisha Yearwood and others, McEntire took the stage in a devastating red fringed dress to close out “Giants” with a performance of “Fancy.” And when she hit the key lyric -- “I mighta been born just plain white trash / But Fancy was my name” -- she relished the moment: The spirited bird-flipping was evident.

Which is why it’s a shame that, even though “Reba” never fully lives up to Reba, it almost certainly won’t be brought back beyond this run of episodes. A vote of confidence from the CW might have given McEntire the room to play looser with the role, or at least to encourage the occasional hissing exchange as this, found in this season’s second episode:

“Be realistic,” the on-screen Reba laments.

“If our company could make more money by getting someone to replace us, they’d do it in a skinny minute. It’s just business!”

Replies her son-in-law co-worker, “Just business? Well sorry, Ms. H. If you take loyalty and ethics out of business, you know what you have?”

Dramatic effect pause.

“Television network?”