Melissa & Joey
Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence are small screen veterans. Both started out as child actors and were huge sitcom stars in the 1990s. Hart made a name for herself in Clarissa Explains It All and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, while Lawrence rose to fame in the 80’s in Gimme a Break! and later as Blossom’s Joey Russo. Just last year, the two joined forces for ABC Family’s made-for-TV movie My Fake Fiance. They worked so well together that the network decided to give them a TV series. Their new show, Melissa & Joey, premiered on ABC Family on August 17.
Hart plays Mel Burke, a city council woman who is taking care of her niece (Lennox) and nephew (Ryder) after their mother is sent to prison and father flees the country because of a company scandal. Lawrence is Joe Longo, a commodities trader who worked for Mel’s brother-in-law and lost his job because of the company’s tribulations. The problem with Mel’s brother-in-law is just the beginning of the list of Joe’s troubles. His wife is leaving him, and he has no money or a place to stay.
The show’s pilot episode sets up the series and shows how their characters come together. Joe confronts Mel about her brother-in-law at a town meeting and asks for the money that was stolen from him. He later shows up at her house looking for answers, but Mel has none to give. The following day, he goes back to the house and asks Mel for a city job, but she can’t help him out because there is a hiring freeze. Joe finds out that she is looking for help raising the kids and says that he will be the live-in nanny. In the few hours that he’s there, Joe is able to get the rebellious teens to go to school and do homework. From there it becomes official, Joe becomes the kids’ “manny.”
The show’s second episode, entitled “Moving On,” aired right after the pilot. In it, Joe tries to get some of his stuff back from his estranged wife. He is able to obtain his flat-screen HD TV, but not his chair. He thinks his ex is keeping the chair because it reminds her of him but discovers that she’s selling it online. Mel sees how her new living situation affects her dating life. Her new guy goes back to her house but ends up watching football on the big screen TV with Joe and Ryder instead of hanging out with her. She later finds out that the guy is gay and used her to get votes for his arts program. Meanwhile, her niece Lennox is missing her friends from her old private school. She befriends a girl from her current school after hearing her vomit in the bathroom.
Melissa & Joey airs on Tuesday nights from 8-8:30pm on ABC Family.
