ABC Family Gets Familiar With Hart, Lawrence Comedy

ABC Family, which has been fortifying its drama base of late, is turning to some familiar faces with the order of a new comedy series.
The network has ordered 10 episodes of half-hour, multi-camera comedy Melissa & Joey, starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence, both of whom are also serving as executive producers. The series will bow on the network later this year, according to ABC Family president Paul Lee.
Hart portrays Mel, as the grown-up former wild child of a political family, who has followed in the familial footsteps on the local level. When her sister ends up in prison and brother-in-law flees after a scandal hits, she must take responsibility for her teenage niece Lennox and pre-adolescent nephew Ryder. Spread too thin to manage by herself, Mel receives help in the unlikely form of Joe (Lawrence) who, desperate for a gig, becomes the family's "manny."
"We love Melissa and Joey," said Lee in a statement. "Melissa has a long history on the network [Sabrina, The Teenage Witchremains part of ABC Family's daytime lineup], and she and Joey recently starred in the network's original movie,My Fake Fiancé, which broke records for the network last year. They have fantastic chemistry and are just so relatable to our viewers. We knew we wanted to get them together again, and developed this comedy specifically with them in mind."
During January , ABC Family gave the greenlight to a pair of 10-episode series starts with Pretty Little Liars and Huge, while ordering second and third campaigns of Make It Or Break It and The Secret Life Of An American Teenager, respectively.