Wednesday, May 29, 2013
ABC Family Orders 4th Season of Melissa & Joey; Episodic Reviews: Melissa & Joey - "Works for Me" and Baby Daddy - "I'm Not That Guy" - Season Premieres Airing Tonight on ABC Family
Along with series stars Melissa Joan Hart, Joey Lawrence, Taylor Spreitler and Nick Robinson, the upcoming third season features such notable guest stars as Sterling Knight, Shannon Elizabeth, Trevor Donovan, Marla Sokoloff, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Jaime Pressly and Doris Roberts, who will be appearing in two episodes as Joe's grandmother. The series is executive-produced by Bob Young & David Kendall, Paula Hart, Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence. The series follows local politician and former wild child Mel Burke (Hart) who employs down on his luck "manny" Joe Longo (Lawrence) as she raises her teenaged niece (Spreitler) and nephew (Robinson). Melissa & Joey ranks as ABC Family's highest comedy debut ever in Total Viewers, and its second season wrapped as the series best to date in several key demos, including Adults 18-49, Women 18-34 and Viewers 12-34. The third season premieres tonight...read our review below!
On the next...Melissa & Joey:
By: Pavan
ABC Family's New Comedy Wednesday sitcom starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence, airs Wednesday nights at 8:00pm and we have just watched the season premiere that airs tonight (May 29). In the season premiere, "Works for Me," Joe (Joey Lawrence) pursues a new job opportunity, sending Mel (Melissa Joan Hart) into a panic when she realizes he may actually leave. But the job is not quite what Joe expected, causing him to reevaluate his place in the house, and Mel scheming to prove how much everyone needs him. Meanwhile Lennox (Taylor Spreitler) thinks her artist boyfriend Zander (guest star Sterling Knight) may have found another muse, and Ryder's (Nick Robinson) class trip has an unexpected outcome.
We love this show! It's like Who's the Boss? and that's a good thing. On this season premiere, we leave off where we left off on the second season finale. Joe is still on the verge of leaving Mel's household for another job, since he can't be a temporary manny forever. Mel of course wants him to stay and tries every way possible to keep him but she makes it seem like she doesn't really want him. We all can see that she does really want him, but the only person who can't see that it seems is Joe. Classic sitcom plotline but it works because Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence have such great chemistry. It's like Tony Danza and Judith Light all over again. They both mesh well with the kids as well. The kids are the niece and nephew of Mel, if you didn't know. Back to Mel and Joe, we are waiting and waiting for them to get together but it seems like it is not going to happen right away. We had a kiss at the end of the season one finale but nothing more since. As you just read above, we're going to have more than 15 episodes this season (15 in the summer and then 20 more in 2014, plus another 20 for season four), so we will have plenty of Mel and Joe moments, I'm sure. Just be patient, I guess.
The storylines with the kids were decent as well. It's hilarious what Ryder does but at the same time a real life situation that families can learn from. I'll just say, I didn't expect that from Ryder, but surprises are always good on sitcoms. Meanwhile, Lennox has a story with her boyfriend Zander that is pretty well done as well. He is a great artist and draws Lennox all the time, but when Lennox sees another girl...she gets jealous and tries to find out who this girl is. Is he cheating? Tune in and see. It's a great opener the third season and I think this show now can go deep since it has some security of lasting at least 100 episodes. As the theme song goes, "it's all good, it's ok, it's all right," is underestimating this show, "it's great" is more like it. B+
On the next...Baby Daddy:
By: Pavan
ABC Family's New Comedy Wednesday sitcom starring an ensemble young cast lead by Chelsea Kane, airs Wednesday nights at 8:30pm and we have just watched the season premiere that airs tonight (May 29). In the season premiere, "I'm Not That Guy," Ben (Jean-Luc Bilodeau) thinks he might like Riley (Chelsea Kane) and tries to convince her he's changed his playboy ways. Riley invites Ben to be her date at a work party, but Ben's efforts to prove he is dependable fall short. Danny (Derek Theler) hopes to come to Riley's rescue but he arrives only to find Riley getting friendly with another man. Meanwhile, Tucker (Tahj Mowry) schemes to go out with a model and Bonnie (Melissa Peterman) attempts to get to know a handsome stranger...with a little help from Emma.
Man this show is good. It has the relationships and style of Boy Meets World. This series is fresh and hip and I think it is going to explode this season. The season premiere brings the goods and the triangle is in full force. As we saw on the second season finale, Ben finally is into Riley! Riley has been into Ben for so long, but he wasn't seeing it. BUT...Ben's brother Danny is into Riley, but Riley doesn't see it. Relationships can be so tricky! In this episode, we are getting closer to the Ben-Riley match, but will it actually happen? Ben says he has changed and is no longer "that guy" that he used to be, so Riley invites him to her law firm party. Without giving anything away, Ben has an "emergency" and Danny fills in but even that doesn't go as planned. It's chaos for Riley, but this is good because we see her with both Ben and Danny. I honestly don't know who is a better fit for her, as I'm rooting for both. Tucker brings in the laughs when he goes out with a tall model. He is "climbing up!" And if you thought Tucker was funny, Ben and Danny's mother Bonnie brings more laughs when she meets a stranger at the bar while watching Emma.
The latter minutes of the episode brings in a surprise and Kyle XY fans will love it, as Matt Dallas appears. We only get a taste of him this week, but more of him is to come next Wednesday (which we will also review). We won't reveal who he is playing yet, but no, he isn't playing Kyle XY, unfortunately. I wonder if we will get a reference to that series soon? Anyway, this is an excellent episode and the storyline is very well done. It is setting up to be an even better season and the race is on to grab Riley. We just don't know who it will be yet. I mean, neither brother knows that the other wants Riley. Well, maybe Danny knows that Ben now wants Riley...but Ben doesn't know how Danny feels about Riley. Come on back next week for our review of the second episode, which in essence is part two of the season premiere. Yep, this episode's arc continues next week! This episode is funny, fresh and fools with love! Tune in! A-
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Tuesday, May 5
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 4)
Tuesday, May 5
- John Mulaney (Mulaney) - Catch John on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Meg Stalter (Hacks/Too Much) - Meg appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Suli McCullough (The Jamie Foxx Show) - Suli is a guest on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS.
- Jamie Lynn Sigler (Guys with Kids) - Andy Cohen interviews Jamie Lynn on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 3:30am on Bravo.
- Paul W. Downs (Hacks/Broad City) - Paul is a guest on Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) and Cedric The Entertainer (The Neighborhood/The Last O.G./The Soul Man/The Steve Harvey Show) - Antony and Cedric talk about AC Barbeque: The Husky and Handsome Guide to Grilling on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm. Anthony will also be on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Sally Field (Gidget/The Flying Nun/The Girl with Something Extra) - Sally talks about Remarkably Bright Creatures on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Jamie Lynn Sigler (Guys with Kids) - Jamie Lynn talks about And So It Is...: A Memoir of Acceptance and Hope with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Jill Kargman (Odd Mom Out) - Jill talks about Influenced on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- The Cast of Shrinking - The Cast of Shrinking can be heard on the Morning Mash Up on SiriusXM.
- Aasif Mandvi (The Brink) - Aasif tells Sherri about his new series The Miniature Wife on Peacock on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Phoebe Robinson (Everything's Trash) - Phoebe drops into Sherri's Laugh Lounge on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Ginnifer Goodwin (Pivoting) - The Drew Barrymore Show has a little bit extra from Drew's interview with Ginnifer, so check your local listings.
- Soleil Moon Frye (Punky Brewster/Sabrina the Teenage Witch) - Soleil appears on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
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