Melissa & Joey’s two newest episodes“The Mel Word” and “Auction Here” were aired together, so if this had been a competition between the two, “The Mel Word” won by a long shot. The episode’s unique premise of Mel hosting a lesbian wedding for her cousin in her house is entertaining, and results in some great comedy. Meanwhile, “Auction Hero” is typical sitcom fare in which Lennox’s hilarious antics completely overshadow the generic main story.
“The Mel Word”: Mel hosts her lesbian cousin Emily’s (Leslie Grossman) wedding to make up for an incident in their past, and to prove to her family that she’s changed. But the ceremony is threatened when the, uh, second bride-to-be Bianca (Courtney Henggeler) hits on both Mel and Joe. The two are a little confused but are sure that Bianca is a cheater, so they try to set her up…which doesn’t work until the hidden camera catches Bianca making out with her female make up artist and her male hair dresser. Crushed Emily cancels the wedding, and apologizes to Mel for not believing her. Meanwhile, Lennox tries to unearth controversy among the wedding guest, but only finds the slightly bigoted caterer, who at her inadvertent encouragement takes off with the food.
“Auction Hero”: Feeling left out of the kids’ school life, Mel goes to a booster meeting instead of Joe, who the parents love. With nothing to offer for the school fund-raising auction herself, Mel volunteers Joe’s services as a cook and nanny, which insults him because he feels she had no right to do so without his consent. Mel realizes she was wrong when, although Joe wins the most money, the female bidder decides to use him as a date instead of a cook. Meanwhile, Lennox is determined to prove to her snooty teacher that her sample chapter can be turned into a novel. But she has less than two weeks to write it, which pushes her to the brink of creative insanity.
As I said before, “The Mel Word” is the best of the two, maybe one of the best I’ve seen so far. The premise is fresh, and the jokes are hilarious. This show made me actually laugh out loud for the first time in a while when Mel mocks Joe’s claims that Bianca hit on him. Leslie Grossman from What I Like About You is an added bonus, as she always has great comedic timing. And of course there’s the expected hinting of Mel and Joe getting together, but I still can’t see the supposed romantic chemistry between those two yet.
To be honest, “Auction Hero” isn’t really worth noting. The auction story isn’t very interesting to me, though seeing frantic Lennox try to write a full novel in a short time is pretty amusing. Again, the episode showcases what great characters Lennox and Ryder are.
After some lacking episodes, “The Mel Word” has me hoping for better, more creative story lines in the future. “Waiting for Mr. Right” airs next week.
