ABC FAMILY ANNOUNCES PICK-UP OF "MELISSA & JOEY"

Half-Hour Multi-Cam Comedy Stars Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence

Burbank, CA (Friday, January 29, 2010) � Paul Lee, president, ABC Family, today announced the pick-up of "Melissa & Joey." The series has been given a 10-episode order and is scheduled to premiere in 2010.

"We love Melissa and Joey," said Lee. "Melissa has a long history on the network, and she and Joey recently starred in the network's original movie, 'My Fake Fianc�," 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."

"Melissa & Joey," a half-hour multi-cam comedy with Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence executive producing and starring, finds Hart portraying 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 pre-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." David Kendall & Bob Young are executive producers and writers; Paula Hart also serves as executive producer.

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 relevant stories about today's relationships, all told with diversity, dysfunction, passion, humor and heart. ABC Family's programming is a mix 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.