Melissa & Joey

• Melanie Alison "Mel" Burke[18][19] (Melissa Joan Hart) is a city councilwoman in Toledo, Ohio (the youngest in the city's history, as Mel repeatedly brags). She is also a senator's daughter. Growing up, she was a rebellious, irresponsible party girl, and now she must take care of her niece and nephew after their mother (her sister, Meredith)[20] was arrested for money laundering and their father disappeared to avoid arrest for running a Ponzi scheme. She started dating Joe in "A Decent Proposal". She accepted his proposal in season 3 episode 32 "Right Time, Right Place", and they marry at the end of "At Last". She runs for Congress in season 4 and learns that she and Joe are having twins.
• Joseph Paul "Joe" Longo[19] (Joey Lawrence) is a former executive and commodities trader with an MBA who lost his job, money and marriage in the wake of Mel's brother-in-law's Ponzi scheme and wound up living in his car. Seeing that Mel needed help raising her niece and nephew (and that he needed a job), he has agreed to be the live-in nanny/ house manager to assist Mel and give advice to the kids. He was born in a U.S. Army hospital in Uijeongbu, South Korea, and raised in Secaucus, New Jersey. He also has a brother named Tony who briefly dated Mel and a sister named Teresa. It was revealed he has a 13-year-old daughter named Dani (Jada Facer) with a woman named Felicia (Brooke Burke-Charvet). He started dating Mel in "A Decent Proposal". He proposed to her in "Right time, right place" and they get married in "At Last". In season 4 he writes a book and in the series finale it is published, he is also invited to go on a book tour.
• Lennox Elizabeth Scanlon (Taylor Spreitler) is a free-spirited teenage girl who, at first, is against the idea of living with her aunt, but soon comes to terms with it. Lennox is known for her artsy, hipster style and extremely vocal liberal views and ideas. Her longest relationship thus far has been with Zander. They broke up when he left Ohio for school in Vermont and Lennox stayed in Toledo to attend the University of Toledo. They get back together, but then break up again after Zander finds out that Lennox had a relationship with Joe's nephew, Marco; then Zander slept with his roommate, keeping them apart. In "At Last", she hooked up with Marco to forget about Zander, but continued their relationship afterwards and in the series finale she and Zander get engaged.
• Ryder Scanlon (Nick Robinson) is Mel's nephew, and the youngest in the household. In the Pilot, it is mentioned that he suffered a nervous breakdown and burned his father's suits in the driveway. Like many teenage boys his age, he enjoys watching television and playing sports and chasing girls. Lennox often makes jabs at her brother for being a "nerd", but it is not clear if this is true or just a brother-sister teasing relationship. Ryder is suspended from school in Season 3 for smoking marijuana on a school trip. In Season 4 he joins the Navy and is stationed in Portsmouth, Virginia.

• Stephanie Krause (Lucy DeVito) is Mel's legislative assistant and former intern, beginning with episode 7. Hyperactive and fiercely loyal, Stephanie is keen to schedule interviews, photo opportunities, and media coverage for Mel. She regularly exhibits that she has a crush on Joe.
• Rhonda Cheng (Elizabeth Ho) is Mel's press secretary appearing in 5 of the 6 first episodes. She's a giddy yet loyal friend to her and always gives her dating and/or parenting advice.
• Tiffany Longo (Megan Hilty) is Joe's former wife, first seen in episode 13. Their on-again, off-again relationship is punctuated by bouts of lovemaking in unusual places.
• Holly Rebeck (Rachel G. Fox) is Ryder's extremely aggressive, controlling girlfriend. She is often manipulative, jealous, and conceited, and Ryder is usually submissive to her demands. Later on, she gets help with her "controlling" issues, though sometimes she can't help but be a bit demanding. She broke up with Ryder in the beginning of the third season after she found out he smoked pot on the school trip.
• George Karpelos, Jr.[21] (Scott Michael Foster) is Mel's 24-year-old lover, starting with episode 21. He is an independent business entrepreneur who loves bicycling. Their relationship is put on hold when George moves to Italy for business, and later, Mel breaks it off.
• Roman Maizes (Chris Brochu), a nerd and Lennox's boyfriend in the first season.
• Russell Burke (Christopher Rich) is Mel's father, the former Senator of Ohio, who is very indulgent to his grandchildren and tends to undermine Mel's authority with them. He left his wife Monica for a 28-year-old yoga instructor but returns to his wife when Mel informs the yoga instructor that her father had a vasectomy.
• Elena Romanov (Anya Monzikova) is a Russian businesswoman whom Joe marries at the end of the second season. Their marriage ends when she moves back to Russia to testify for an old colleague.
• Leo Larbeck (Joel McKinnon Miller), the friendly contractor who helped Mel and Joe remodel the house in the beginning of the second season.
• Jackie (Christine Lakin), Mel's best friend from college, who is her only other single friend. She plans to get a sperm donor to have a baby without having to marry someone, and Mel unwittingly leads her to purchase Joey's sperm.
• Haskell Davis (Gregg Sulkin), Lennox's boyfriend in the second season.
• Aidan Haber (Cody Linley), the president of the Spirit Committee at Lennox and Ryder's school. Became romantically involved with Lennox in the second season.
• Monica Burke (Rita Rudner), Mel's neurotic mother who gets back together with her husband Russell after Mel ruins his relationship with his mistress by telling her about his vasectomy.
• Austin (Trevor Donovan) is Mel's childhood friend who is back in town.[22]
• Noah (Justin Hartley) Mel's boyfriend in season 3, who temporarily moves in with her after his apartment floods.[23]
• Zander Carlson (Sterling Knight), Lennox's boyfriend in the third and fourth season. He is also a talented artist, and provides illustrations for Lennox's web series "Cassandra." After a car accident, Zander and Lennox decided to take their relationship to the next level and got engaged in the series finale.
• Keira (Sadie Calvano), Ryder's girlfriend in the third season.
• Dani Mancini (Jada Facer), Joey's long-lost daughter, revealed in late season three. She decided to live with Joey and Mel while her mother goes on tour. After her mother returned, Dani moved back with her, but still keeps in touch with Joey and Mel.
• Felicia Mancini (Brooke Burke), Dani's mother who works as a professional band massager.
• Anthony "Tony" Longo (Matthew Lawrence), Joe's younger brother. Actor Matthew Lawrence and Joey Lawrence are brothers.
• Marco (Kevin Fonteyne) Joey's nephew and Lennox's ex-boyfriend who she dumped when he left for Japan for six months.
• McKenna Cederstrom (Greer Grammer), an aspiring actress who Lennox and Zander hire for the role of "Cassandra" in their film. She and Zander become romantically involved, until realizing he still loves Lennox.
• Noelle (Hayley Erin), Lennox's friend who develops a crush on Ryder.

Melissa & Joey stood as Wednesday's #1 cable TV telecast at 8 o'clock in Adults 18–34, Women 18–34, Women 18–49 and Females 12–34 Demographics. The show continued to dominate its cable time period during its second season, ranking #1 across key measures Adults 18–34, Women 18–34, Adults 18–49, Women 18–49, Viewers 12–34 and Females 12–34.[3][4]

The following is a table with the average estimated number of viewers per episode, each season of Melissa & Joey on ABC Family.