Melissa & Joey Information

Melissa & Joey is an ABC Family original television series starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence. It first aired on ABC Family on August 17, 2010. The series follows local politician Mel Burke (Melissa Joan Hart) and Joe Longo (Joey Lawrence), whom Mel hires to look after her niece and nephew after a Ponzi scheme leaves him broke.

The series was renewed by ABC Family for a second season of fifteen episodes, which began airing on May 30, 2012 and ended on August 29, 2012. Melissa & Joey ranks as cable TV's #1 telecast at 8 o'clock across target audiences 18"34, 18"49 and 12"34 demographics.

On August 17, 2012, ABC Family renewed Melissa & Joey for a third season, set to premiere in spring 2013.

Series overview

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 new male nanny, or "manny".

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. (Melissa & Joey contains a number of allusions to both shows.) Hart and Lawrence are both listed as executive producers of the series, and have each directed individual episodes.

Cast

Main characters

• Melanie "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.
• Joseph "Joe" P. Longo (Joey Lawrence) is a former commodities trader who lost his job, money and marriage in the wake of Mel's brother-in-law's Ponzi scheme and wound up living in his car. Seeing that Mel needed help raising her niece and nephew (and that he needed a job), he has agreed to be the live-in nanny to assist Mel and give advice to the kids. He was born in a U.S. Army hospital in Uijeongbu, South Korea, and raised in New Jersey. He also has a brother named Tony who briefly dated Mel.
• Lennox Elizabeth Scanlon (Taylor Spreitler) is a free-spirited teenage girl who, at first, is against the idea of living with her aunt, but soon comes to terms with it. Lennox is known for her artsy, hipster style and extremely vocal liberal views and ideas.
• Ryder Scanlon (Nick Robinson) is Mel's nephew, and the youngest in the household. He is only a few years younger than Lennox. Like many teenage boys his age, he enjoys watching television and playing sports. Lennox often makes jabs at her brother for being a "nerd", but it is not clear if this is true or just a brother-sister teasing relationship.

Recurring characters

• Stephanie Krause (Lucy DeVito) is Mel's legislative assistant and former intern, beginning with episode 7. Hyperactive and fiercely loyal, Stephanie is keen to schedule interviews, photo opportunities, and media coverage for Mel. She regularly exhibits that she has a crush on Joe.
• Rhonda Cheng (Elizabeth Ho) is Mel's press secretary. She's a giddy yet loyal friend to her and always gives her dating and/or parenting advice.
• Tiffany Longo (Megan Hilty) is Joe's ex-wife, first seen in episode 13. Their on-again, off-again relationship is punctuated by bouts of lovemaking in unusual places.
• Holly Rebeck (Rachel G. Fox) is Ryder's extremely aggressive, controlling, girlfriend. She is often manipulative, jealous, conceited, and Ryder is usually submissive to her demands.Later on,she gets help with her "controlling" issues. Thought sometimes she can't help but be a bit demanding once in a while.
• George Karpelos, Jr. (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.
• Russell Burke (Christopher Rich) is Mel's senator father, 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 comes back to her after Mel informs her that he had a vasectomy.
• Elena Romanov (Anya Monzikova) is a Russian businesswoman whom Joe marries at the end of the second season.
• 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 friend, 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.

Production

The series marks the second time Hart and Lawrence have co-starred together in an ABC Family production; their first was the 2009 telefilm, 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 female to direct an episode of the series.

Episodes

See List of Melissa & Joey episodes for more information

DVD releases

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.

Ratings

Melissa & Joey 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.

Season	Timeslot (ET/PT)	No. of episodes	Premiere		Finale
			Date	Premiere viewers (in millions)	Date	Finale viewers (in millions)
1	Tuesday 8:00PM (2010) Wednesday 8:00PM (2011)	30	August 17, 2010	2.15	September 14, 2011	1.39
2	Wednesday 8:00PM	15	May 30, 2012	1.21	August 29, 2012	1.50

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Result
2013	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Cable TV Comedy

International distribution

Country / Region	Channel	Premiere	References
	Fox life	2012
	Sony Spin	October 4, 2011
	Fox Life	December 23, 2012
	Comedy Central	December 10, 2012
	Magyar Televízió	January 21, 2012
	STAR World India	October 6, 2011
	Comedy Central	April 9, 2012
	Comedy Central	September 5, 2011
	STAR World	October 6, 2011
	Disney Channel (Russia) Fox Life	April 2, 2012 2011
	Fox life	2012
	Star World	2011
	ComedyMax	2011