It’s Time for Laughs on ABC Family with MELISSA & JOEY and STATE OF GEORGIA

During a recent press junket held by Disney, NiceGirlsTV had the opportunity to participate in a roundtable interview with talent from the upcoming slate of returning and new television shows at ABC, ABC Family and Disney. The stars of the ABC Family comedies were among the guests of that roundtable and here is what they had to share with the press:

Joey Lawrence and Melissa Joan Hart Photo By: Rueben

Actors Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence discussed their comedy Melissa & Joey, which will be back with all new episodes from the latter half of the show’s first season on Wednesday, June 29 at 8 PM. Unlike most shows, the comedy filmed 30 episodes straight through, completing the last of the 30 just a few weeks before the press junket. The final 18 episodes of the first season will be seen over the course of the summer.

Both actors agreed that what the viewers saw in the first 12 episodes that have already aired is the cast “getting the groove” with their characters and the overall story. Meanwhile, the next 18 episodes will be “figuring out where the show lives” with Joey making the analogy of “the longer you leave coffee in a pot, the richer it gets.” They also agreed that filming the 30 episodes took its toll (on all of them), it was like “taking a final exam or like a live performance for 11 months straight” but it was “an awesome ride”.

When asked if the tone of the comedy will stay light, they both explained that “we don’t want to have those ‘very special episodes,’ but we will have interesting themes to the upcoming episodes including a threesome and a lesbian wedding.” They joked that even though they are on ABC Family, it is “like cable, as they can get away with things that ABC proper wouldn’t allow.” There is also an episode where Joe will need to speak Japanese to help Mel with a businessman who has come to town; and in order to speak the language, Joey had to learn phonetically over the course of a few weeks. They also mentioned some of their upcoming guest stars will include Joey’s brothers Matt and Andy, actress Vivica A. Fox and actor John Ratzenberger.

In terms of being compared to the 1980’s comedy Who’s the Boss, they both shared that the structure is the same and it’s an easy comparison to make; but they are not the natural parents of the teens in the show and Joe’s character has an MBA in business, which is unlike the character  Tony Danza played. They also shared that Mel and Joe don’t really like each, but they need each other.

Be sure to tune in to the ABC Family Channel for the return of Melissa & Joey on June 29 at 8 PM.

Majandra Delfino and Raven Symone Photo By: Tiffany Vogt

That same night – the new Wednesday night block of comedy for the ABC Family – the new half-hour comedy State of Georgia will debut at 8:30 PM. The series stars Raven Symone, Majandra Delfino and Loretta Devine; all of whom were in attendance at the press junket.

In describing their characters, Raven explained that she plays Georgia, who is from the state of Georgia who has moved to her Aunt Honey’s apartment building in New York as she is an aspiring actress. She joked that Georgia is “in love with the idea of being an actress; that she wants to be the most amazing actress in the world, but when she actually acts, it’s just not all quite there.” Meanwhile, Majandra plays Jo, or “Jo 3.145 as she likes to call herself,” who is an aspiring physicist who moves to New York with her best friend, since the age of 5 years of age, Georgia. And, Loretta is Georgia’s Aunt Honey, who is the girls’ landlord. According to Loretta, Aunt Honey is a “lady of leisure, who is sassy and a little eccentric. She made a promise to her sister, Georgia’s mom, to look out for the girls when they moved to New York.”

Loretta Devine Photo By: Tiffany Vogt

While both Raven and Majandra have worked in comedies before, this is the first comedy for Loretta. She shared that “it’s not usually what I’m called to do so it’s a little bit of a challenge, but I’m excited by it and I’m also excited to get to work with (the girls).” And while Raven and Majandra do a lot of physical comedy, the writers “have been writing some great dialogue for me, usually monologues that have great jokes at the end.”

Majandra was then asked about the research she had to do to play Jo the physicist and she joked “there is only so much research one can do before (you) get really confused.” She further explained that Jo “just entered her graduate program so “it’s not too crazy (yet), but I’m sure at some point it will get to a ‘what?’ kind of level.” She also said there is a bit of The Big Bang Theory in their show “with nerdy jokes and Star Wars references”.

As most TV viewers know, all three ladies have musical backgrounds and they were, of course, asked if they will get the chance to sing on the show. They all said that they would like that to happen, but it hasn’t been incorporated yet.

Make sure that you tune in to ABC Family on June 29 at 8:30 PM for the premiere of State of Georgia.