Melissa & Joey

Mel is a local politician from a political family. When a family scandal leaves her niece, Lennox, and nephew, Ryder, without their parents, Mel takes them in. Meanwhile, Joe is a former commodities trader left bankrupt after a Ponzi scheme, and finds himself searching for a job. So when Mel finds it hard to handle an instant family and her own life, she hires Joe to become the family's nanny. The show stars two former teen idols who were notable for roles they played in popular 1990s sitcoms, Lawrence for Blossom and Hart for Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. Hart and Lawrence are both listed as executive producers of the series, and have each directed individual episodes. ==Episodes==

Main • Melanie Alison "Mel" Burke (Melissa Joan Hart) is a city councilwoman in Toledo, Ohio (the youngest in the city's history, as Mel repeatedly brags). She is also a senator's daughter. Growing up, she was a rebellious, irresponsible party girl, and now she must take care of her niece and nephew after their mother (her sister, Meredith) was arrested for money laundering and their father disappeared to avoid arrest for running a Ponzi scheme. Over the course of season 3, she and Joe start dating in the mid-season episode "A Decent Proposal", becomes engaged in "Right Time, Right Place", and marry in the season finale, "At Last". She runs for Congress in season 4 and learns that she and Joe are having twins. • Joseph Paul "Joe" Longo (Scott Michael Foster) is Mel's 24-year-old lover, starting with episode 21. He is an independent business entrepreneur who loves bicycling. Their relationship is put on hold when George moves to Italy for business, and later, Mel breaks it off. • Roman Maizes (Chris Brochu), a nerd and Lennox's boyfriend in the first season. • Russell Burke (Christopher Rich) is Mel's father, the former Senator of Ohio, who is very indulgent to his grandchildren and tends to undermine Mel's authority with them. He left his wife Monica for a 28-year-old yoga instructor but returns to his wife when Mel informs the yoga instructor that her father had a vasectomy. • Elena Romanov (Anya Monzikova) is a Russian businesswoman whom Joe marries at the end of the second season. Their marriage ends when she moves back to Russia to testify for an old colleague. • Leo Larbeck (Joel McKinnon Miller), the friendly contractor who helped Mel and Joe remodel the house in the beginning of the second season. • Jackie (Christine Lakin), Mel's best friend from college, who is her only other single friend. She plans to get a sperm donor to have a baby without having to marry someone, and Mel unwittingly leads her to purchase Joey's sperm. • Haskell Davis (Gregg Sulkin), Lennox's boyfriend in the second season. • Aidan Haber (Cody Linley), the president of the Spirit Committee at Lennox and Ryder's school. Became romantically involved with Lennox in the second season. • Monica Burke (Rita Rudner), Mel's neurotic mother who gets back together with her husband Russell after Mel ruins his relationship with his mistress by telling her about his vasectomy. • Austin (Trevor Donovan) is Mel's childhood friend who is back in town. • Noah (Justin Hartley) Mel's boyfriend in season 3, who temporarily moves in with her after his apartment floods. • Zander Carlson (Sterling Knight), Lennox's boyfriend in the third and fourth season. He is also a talented artist, and provides illustrations for Lennox's web series "Cassandra". After a car accident, Zander and Lennox decided to take their relationship to the next level and got engaged in the series finale. • Keira (Sadie Calvano), Ryder's girlfriend in the third season. • Dani Mancini (Jada Facer), Joey's long-lost daughter, revealed in late season three. She decided to live with Joey and Mel while her mother goes on tour. After her mother returned, Dani moved back with her, but still keeps in touch with Joey and Mel. • Felicia Mancini (Brooke Burke), Dani's mother who works as a professional band massager. • Anthony "Tony" Longo (Matthew Lawrence), Joe's younger brother. Actor Matthew Lawrence and Joey Lawrence are brothers. • Marco (Kevin Fonteyne) Joey's nephew and Lennox's ex-boyfriend who she dumped when he left for Japan for six months. • McKenna Cederstrom (Greer Grammer), an aspiring actress whom Lennox and Zander hire for the role of "Cassandra" in their film. She and Zander become romantically involved, until realizing he still loves Lennox. • Noelle (Hayley Erin), Lennox's friend who develops a crush on Ryder. ==Development and production==

The series marks the second time Hart and Lawrence have co-starred together in an ABC Family production; their first was the 2009 television film, My Fake Fiance. Melissa & Joey was criticized early on for lacking sufficient chemistry between the leads and a "will they, won't they" theme present in their earlier project, My Fake Fiance. On October 8, 2010, ABC Family announced their order of an additional 20 episodes for the first season, creating a season of 30 episodes. The mid-season finale for season one aired on October 26, 2010. The second half of the first season began airing on June 29, 2011. On July 11, 2011, ABC Family announced that Melissa & Joey had been picked up for a second season. On August 17, 2012, ABC Family announced that Melissa & Joey had been picked up for a third season. Both Lawrence and Hart directed episodes in season two. Lawrence's episode is called "Wherefore Art Thou Lennox" and Hart was the first woman to direct an episode of the series. The series was filmed before a live studio audience at CBS Studio Center stage 14. The house used for exteriors is located in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles. On February 9, 2015, ABC Family announced its decision to end the series after four seasons. ==Broadcast==

Melissa & Joey premiered on STAR World India on October 6, 2011. In Southeast Asia, it premiered on STAR World in 2011. In the United Kingdom, all episodes were put on Sky On Demand on July 1, 2014 and began airing on E4 on July 28, 2014. ==Home media==

On May 24, 2011, Shout! Factory released Melissa & Joey: Season One, Part One on DVD in Region 1. Special features include a sneak peek of the remaining season 1 episodes, bloopers, and featurettes with Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence. On October 4, 2011, Shout! Factory released Melissa & Joey: Season One, Part Two on DVD in Region 1, collecting the final 18 episodes of season one in a 2-disc set. ==Reception==

Critical reception On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, first season holds an approval rating of 45% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 6.50/10. On Metacritic, the first season of the show holds a score 53 out of 100 based on reviews from 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Ratings The show stood as Wednesday's #1 cable TV telecast at 8 o'clock in Adults 18–34, Women 18–34, Women 18–49 and Females 12–34 Demographics. The show continued to dominate its cable time period during its second season, ranking #1 across key measures Adults 18–34, Women 18–34, Adults 18–49, Women 18–49, Viewers 12–34 and Females 12–34. The following is a table with the average estimated number of viewers per episode, each season of Melissa & Joey on ABC Family. Accolades ==References==