"MELISSA & JOEY," A NEW ORIGINAL COMEDY SERIES STARRING MELISSA JOAN HART AND JOEY LAWRENCE, PREMIERES ON ABC FAMILY ON TUESDAY, AUGUST 17 WITH BACK-TO-BACK ORIGINAL EPISODES AT 8:00 & 8:30PM ET/PT

Burbank, CA (July 20, 2010) - In the new ABC Family original comedy series, "Melissa & Joey," Melissa Joan Hart 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 (Lawrence) who, desperate for a job, moves in and becomes the family's "manny." "Melissa & Joey" debuts on ABC Family on Tuesday, August 17 with back-to-back original episodes, at 8:00PM & 8:30PM ET/PT. The half-hour series will air regularly on Tuesday nights at 8:00PM ET/PT.

In the second episode, "Moving On," both Mel and Joe experience issues in their love lives. While Joe is reluctant to move on after the break-up of his marriage, Mel attempts to start a new relationship, but finds it tough being a single woman with Joe living in her house. Meanwhile, Mel must jump into "mom" mode when Lennox has a difficult time adjusting to the new public school. Alexandra Hart Gilliams (Melissa's real-life younger sister) guest stars as one of Lennox's friends.

"Melissa & Joey" is a half-hour multi-cam comedy executive-produced by Bob Young & David Kendall, Paula Hart, Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence. "Melissa & Joey" is also written and created by Bob Young & David Kendall. The pilot was directed by Ted Wass. Melissa Joan Hart ("Sabrina, the Teenage Witch"), Joey Lawrence ("Blossom"), Taylor Spreitler ("Days of Our Lives") and newcomer Nick Robinson star. Elizabeth Ho is a recurring guest star.

Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence first partnered together on the ABC Family original movie, "My Fake Fianc�," in April 2009, which was the No. 1 TV movie of the 2008/09 season in Women 18-34 (1.0 million/3.0 rating) and the No. 1 ad-supported cable movie in Women 18-49 (1.6 million/2.4 rating).

Part of the Disney/ABC Television Group, ABC Family is distributed in over 98 million homes. ABC Family features programming reflecting today's families, entertaining and connecting with adults through relatable programming about today's relationships - told with a mix of diversity, dysfunction, passion, humor and heart. ABC Family's programming is a combination of network defining original series and original movies, quality acquired series and blockbuster theatricals. ABC Family is also the destination for annual Holiday events with "13 Nights of Halloween" and "25 Days of Christmas!" ABC Family. A New Kind of Family.