Melissa & Joey

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A 2010 sitcom on ABC Family starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence. Mel Burke is a former party girl turned politician who must take care of her niece and nephew, Lennox and Ryder after their parents are arrested for a ponzi scheme their father, Lewis Scanlon pulled. Joe Longo is a former employee of Scanlon who can't find work after the scheme, which he knew nothing about, bankrupted the company and tarnished his good name. Finally, after hitting rock bottom when his wife turns out to be a golddigger and leaves him, he works as the kids' nanny

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This series provides examples of:

• Actor Allusion:
  • Mel and Joe enter a local version of Dancing With the Stars; both actors appeared on the real show at different times.
  • During the halloween episode, Joe points out one of the guests at a party:

Joe: Hey, a teenage witch. Why didn't you try something like that? Mel: Eh, been there, done that.

• • Joe also goes 'Whoa!' a few times and comments it's been a while since he's done that. This was his character's trademark catchphrase in Blossom
  • Joe refers to Mel as his Fake Fiancée during the episode Joe Versus the Reunion, which is also the title of an earlier television movie the two starred in together.
• Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Although they're the aunt and nanny, Mel and Joe are this to Lennox and Ryder.
• Anything That Moves: Bianca.
• Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other: Done with Joe and Mel, so much.
• Big Screwed-Up Family: Mel's sister — Lennox and Ryder's mother — is in jail, while their father is on the run. Mel is raising her niece and nephew because of this. It's implied that Mel and her sister didn't have the greatest childhood, even with a senator father.
• Bi the Way: Implied that Mel may have experimented with bisexuality in college when Lennox pretends to be a lesbian.
• Buffy Speak: Mel is guilty of using this several times
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: Mel says to Lennox and Ryder: "Stay out of trouble, or I'll come to your school and kiss you at lunch."
  • On another episode when Ryder lost his shoes, Mel tells that she will show up in school in her bathrobe.
• The Danza: Melissa Joan Hart as Mel Burke and Joey Lawrence as Joe Longo.
• Dysfunctional Family: Mel, Joe, Lennox and Ryder are definitely this already.
• Everything's Better with Penguins: Mel wants Joe to get rid of his flat screen TV when she gets distracted by baby penguins on the screen.
  • Then subverted at the end when another baby penguin is graphically eaten (but not seen by the viewers) by a leopard seal. Thus the TV seems to bounce between being in the living room and in Joe's room. In otherwords, it's there when it needs to be but not when it would interfere with the typical sitcom living room. This is even shown in the above episode when Ryder constantly moves the TV from Joe's room into the living room.
• Getting Crap Past the Radar: Lennox once got herself in trouble for using an offensive word to talk about her principal, Mrs. Lunt. We were never told which word was used, but it was stated that said offensive word rhymed with "Lunt". Take a wild guess on what it was.
• Gold Digger: Joe's ex-wife.
• ~Hey, It's That Guy!~: Sabrina Spellman is Mel Burke. Joey Lawrence has played a ton of other characters.
  • Mel's father is Brock Hart.
  • And her cousin is Lauren from What I Like About You / Mary Cherry from Popular.
• Hide Your Pregnancy: Probably what's going to happen with Melissa Joan Hart, who's pregnant with her third child.
• Hot Mom: Although she's not their mom, Mel definitely fits.
• House Husband: Though he is technically Mel's employee, Joe performs the typical "house wife" role.
• Humiliation Conga: Joe; full stop. After the scheme pulled by Lewis Scanlon, he lost everything he had and is demoted to working as a nanny.
• Hypocritical Humor: Basically, every bit of advice Mel gives is contradicted by her own behavior.
• Incompatible Orientation: In one episode, Mel goes on a date with a guy who turns out to be gay. Joe mentions during that same episode that he once dated a lesbian.
• Lipstick Lesbian: Mel's cousin Emmy and her fiancee, Bianca.
• Ms. Fanservice: Mel, full stop.
• Missing Mom: Lennox and Ryder's mother, again.
• Old Shame: Mel's old 'party girl' image.
• Papa Wolf: Joe is exactly that. Examples; Ryder's "bully problem" in Spies & Lies, Lennox's date in Do As I Say, Not As I Did
• Promotion to Parent: Mel.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: Mel and Joey are like this with each other, with Mel especially firm about it.
• Spiritual Successor: To The Nanny and Whos the Boss.
• Strongly Worded Letter: Joe has one for Mel's brother-in-law in the pilot.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: When Bianca asks Mel if she's ever been with a woman, Mel replies "Nope! Never! Not even in college with my friend Renee!"
• Think Unsexy Thoughts: When lying to Mel's friend about his job, Joe has to keep calling his mother to stop thinking about sex.
• Why Can't I Hate You?: Joe has a habit of hooking up with "that Gold Digger who ruin [his] life"