One thing that Family Guy has done that cracks me up is when Peter rattles off a whole slew of Fox shows that had been cancelled and his list goes on and on and on. Not that this is something exclusive to Murdoch’s company at all, either. Pretty remarkable how many shows – many of them pretty good, actually – get the axe early on.
Also remarkable how many shows stay on for approaching nine seasons (winning!). Or, for that matter, TV shows starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence not called Sabrina, The Teenage Witch or Blossom. With the eponymously titled Melissa and Joey, Shout! Factory bring the oh-yeah-I-kinda-remember-that-ABC-Family show to DVD for the first time. Well, the first season at least. I mean, the first half of the first season.
In the ABC Family original hit comedy series, Melissa & Joey, Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch), portrays Mel, the grown-up former wild child of a political family who is now a local politician herself. When her sister ends up in prison and brother-in-law flees after a scandal hits, Mel must take responsibility for her teenaged niece, Lennox, and adolescent nephew, Ryder. Spread too thin to manage by herself, help comes in the unlikely form of Joe, played by Joey Lawrence (Blossom), who, desperate for a job, moves in and becomes the family’s “manny.”
So Melissa Joan and Joey play characters named “Mel” and “Joe” in their show called Melissa and Joey. Got that? Good. The DVD set will include the first 12 episodes from Season 1, along with a blooper reel, featurettes, and more.
Melissa and Joey, Season One, Part One hits stores on May 24th on DVD.