Tonight is the second season premier of Melissa & Joey on ABC Family. (Although since the first half of season 1 aired two summers ago and the second half aired last summer, seems to me like it should be season 3, but I won’t quibble too much.)
I’ve got to admit I started watching for one reason – I’ve been a Melissa Joan Hart fan since her Clarissa Explains it All days. Yes, that means I watched all of Sabrina the Teenage Witch as well.
In this sitcom with Who’s the Boss overtones, she stars as Melissa Burke, a city counsel member in Toledo, Ohio. She’s a single woman whose world is rocked when her sister and brother-in-law are accused of running a Ponzi scheme. Her brother-in-law goes on the run, and her sister winds up in prison. What that meanas for Melissa is that she is now responsible for her teenage niece Lennox (Taylor Spreitler) and Ryder (Nick Robinson).
As she’s trying to figure out what to do with them, enter Joe Longo (Joseph Lawrence). He worked for Lennox and Ryder’s parents and is now on the street with a ruined reputation. Of course, it doesn’t help that his wife kicked him out and filed for divorce. He winds up becoming the family manny (you know, male nanny), which is a good thing since Melissa can’t even boil water.
Of course, we’ve got the bickering and flirting between Melissa and Joe. And we’ve got the typical teenage antics of the kids.
In many ways, this sitcom feels like many others I’ve seen before. But I find myself tuning in and laughing every week. The cast is strong, rounded out by Lucy DeVito (Danny DeVito’s daughter) as Melissa’s assistant. I’ve got to admit, her character was annoying at first, but she’s really grown on me.
When we last left them, the living room had been destroyed in a flood from the upstairs bathroom and Joey had almost left. I’ll be interested to see the new main set tonight and how much the teens have grown since it’s been awhile since they finished filming season one.
If you are looking for some laughs to get you through summer rerun season, tune in tonight at 8, 7 central and I’ll be interested in hearing what you think.