Melissa & Joey is an American television sitcom starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence. The series revolves around Melanie "Mel" Burke (Hart), an up-and-coming local politician who hires Joseph "Joe" Longo (Lawrence), a recently divorced commodities broker, as the nanny for her niece and nephew. The series premiered on August 17, 2010 on ABC Family.
Melissa & Joey stood as Wednesday's No.1 cable TV telecast at 8 o'clock in Adults 18–34, Women 18–34, Women 18–49 and Females 12–34 Demographics. Season 2 also dominated its cable time period, ranking No.1 across key measures Adults 18–34, Women 18–34, Adults 18–49, Women 18–49, Viewers 12–34 and Females 12–34.
On February 9, 2015, ABC Family decided to end the show after four seasons and a total of 104 episodes for the series. The series finale aired on August 5, 2015.
On Halloween, Joe hears noises in the attic and goes up there to check. There he finds Mel's brother-in-law, Lewis (John Ross Bowie), who is still hiding from the law. Lennox and Ryder have been bringing him food and want to spend some time with him before he turns himself in. They end up fooling Mel and Joe, who follow Lewis and the children to a Halloween party. In the end, Lewis is taken away by a person they believe is a police officer. However, he was actually hired by Lewis, who escapes the law once again. Julia Duffy guest stars as Mirna Sherwood, Mel and Joe's neighbor.
Mel enlists Joe's translating services when a Japanese client comes to town, only to regret her decision after Joe interferes with a possibility of romance. Meanwhile, Ryder plays the role of mediator for Lennox and her ex-best friend, who must work on a project together.
Mel, sympathizing for Joe's unfortunate year, pretends to be Joe's girlfriend at his college reunion. Meanwhile, Lennox and Ryder, left home alone, dream of throwing a wild party, only for it to be quite mild.
Mel plans her cousin's lesbian wedding, and is put in an awkward position when her soon to be cousin-in-law hits on both her and Joe. Lennox and Ryder attempt to create a documentary exposing the prejudice of the nuptials.
Joe considers new found possibilities, when he comes into a large sum of money. Meanwhile, a water leak is found on the living room ceiling. When Joe comes into nearly $167,000 dollars, he decides to resign from being a nanny and moves. Mel visits him in his new apartment, and their feelings for each other are evident. After a hasty kiss and the awkward feeling, Mel and Joe don't talk about it. When Joe goes to collect his money, he doesn't receive it only because of his address which is the same as the Scanlon heirs. Despite this he doesn't tell them but moves back in and once again becomes their nanny.