Former wild child Mel Burke has just been elected as city council person for Toledo, Ohio. However, in addition to her new job, she is also forced into raising her niece, Lennox, and her nephew, Ryder. Lennox and Ryder's father, Louis Scanlon, was part of a ponzi scheme and fled the country. Their mother was sent to prison, leaving Mel as the only option. Joe Longo, a former employee of Louis and lost all of his money. His wife kicked him out and left him with nothing. Joe tracks down Mel for information on Louis. Their paths continue to cross until Mel accidentally offers Joe a job to help her take care of the kids. Lennox got suspended from school and Joe saves the day getting Lennox to talk to the principal and accept her punishment.
Mel grounds Lennox because she is failing chemistry and needs to study. However, when Senator Russell Burke, Mel‘s father, shows up unexpected, he undermines her authority. Senator Burke sweet talks Joe and takes the kids out for a night of fun against Mel‘s wishes. Seeing the conflict between Mel and Lennox, Senator Burke invites Lennox to move in with him and her grandmother in Washington, D.C.
Mel catches Joe having secret meetings with a girl named Tessa in the basement. When Mel begins to spy, she learns that Joe & Tessa are on a manhunt for her brother-in-law Lewis Scanlon. Mel & Joe think Ryder is getting bullied at school because he keeps losing his stuff. Joe & Mel come to his rescue by getting his stuff back, but proceed to make everything worse.
Mel is working on her public image and invites a TV reporter to do a story on her and the kids. Celeste Vega (Valery Ortiz) finds out that Mel has a male nanny working for her and shifts the story to Joe. Stephanie alerts Joe that the piece is not flattering for Mel. Joe goes down to Celeste‘s office to defend Mel.
Due to a recent scandal at the city council, Mel is asked to prove Joe’s legal working status in the United States. Much to her surprise, Joe was born in Korea while his family was stationed abroad, and he can’t find his legal documents. Meanwhile, when Lennox decides to go to a school dance with one of her girlfriends, rumors start circulating about her sexuality.
Mel has an important deal with a Japanese businessman and asks Joe to teach her Japanese. When the businessman's son arrives in his place and speaks no English, Joe has to translate between the two. When the Japanese businessman develops a romantic interest in Mel, Joe sabotages the translation. Meanwhile, Lennox is forced to work with her ex-best friend on a school project, and Ryder tries to mediate.
After debating whether to show his face after the tumultuous year he's had, Joe ultimately decides to go to his 10-year college reunion. On the same evening, per the Mayor's request, Mel goes out to dinner with an artist to discuss bringing his installations to Toledo. But when Mel gets a call from a depressed Joe at his reunion, she rushes over there to surprise him by posing as his girlfriend and save the day - only to realize that in the meantime, Joe has found and reconnected with an old flame. And Lennox and Ryder decide to throw a party with Mel and Joe out for the evening, but it does not go as planned.
Joe paints Mel into a corner, forcing her to get him a job at City Hall with fellow City Council member Paul. Once there, Joe gets wrapped up in another potential financial scandal, leading to all sorts of headaches for Mel. Meanwhile, Lennox is torn between her boyfriend Zander and her hot co-star in the school play, Archer.
Mel's childhood friend, Austin, moves back to Toledo, and he and Mel quickly take their old friendship to a new level. But Joe starts to think that Mel and Austin may in fact be related, and schemes to break them up. Meanwhile, enterprising Lennox sells ads on her blog to earn extra money, but is horrified to discover her first sponsor may participate in unfair labor practices.
Mel is taken aback when she finds out that Austin may not share her vision of their future and is resolute in his belief he never wants children. Meanwhile, Joe's new girlfriend is only interested in a physical connection, which leaves him confused and wanting more in the relationship. And, Lennox can't motivate herself to write her college entrance paper, so she hires Ryder to be her full time babysitter until she does.
Mel and Joe are invited to co-host a week of “Good Morning Toledo” which Mel thinks will help her earn voters. Their constant bickering on air garners rave reviews with the audience and they’re an instant hit. But when the secret to their popularity turns out to be talking a little too personally about Lennox and Ryder, they have to decide if fame or family is more important.
When his apartment needs to undergo emergency renovations, Mel invites her new boyfriend Noah to temporarily move in with her, accelerating their relationship. When she starts to change her personality, Joe questions whether Mel is allowing Noah to know the "real" Mel Burke. Meanwhile, Lennox gets her dream internship at the local newspaper, but has a hard time actually waking up to get to work.
Joe works out an alternative payment plan when he begins dating the mom of one of his students, which unintentionally earns him a reputation among the other mothers in the neighborhood as a tutor-prostitute. Meanwhile, Zander and Lennox decide to skip college and drive around the country in a motor home – which doesn't sit well with "cool" aunt Mel. And Ryder introduces his vegan girlfriend to the joys of meat.
In failing health, Joe's grandmother Sofia begs him to come visit her one last time for her birthday, and to bring his beautiful wife Tiffany along. Since Joe never got around to telling "Nona" he and Tiffany got divorced, he's forced to beg Mel to pretend to be his trampy ex. Soon, Joe and Mel are on the road to Jersey with Lennox and Ryder tagging along.
After a night of heavy drinking, Joe and Mel end up sleeping together to their own shock. Ryder gets worked up about helping out Joe's mother with "the rat". Lennox finds out that Marco was only pretending to be into her to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. Mel, as Tiffany, mistakenly makes a deathbed promise to Nona that she and Joe will stay together forever.
Joe rushes home to tell Mel that he has feelings for her after their romantic night together in New Jersey. When he arrives, he's shocked to find Austin has shown up and wants to give his relationship with Mel another try. Deciding he can't stay and watch them fall in love all over again, Joe quits. Meanwhile, Lennox plots to get Joe and Mel together and Ryder gets sick from his own cooking.
Mel feels that it’s a good idea for her and Joe to take things slow. Taking her literally, Joe finds another job, working so hard that they never have time to see each other. Meanwhile, Lennox is conflicted about putting her relationship with Zander on "Pause" when he asks her to collaborate with him on a comic book.
Mel insists on Joe "courting" her, but soon becomes frustrated at their lack of time together. Desperate to spend time with him, Mel sneaks over to his new digs, where he works as a live-in nanny, risking getting him fired—for a second time in as many weeks. Meanwhile, after witnessing a robbery, Ryder expects a hero’s welcome, but is horrified to discover that his interview with the local news has been turned into a viral video called "I Peed My Pants."
After winning an 8-course dining experience in a raffle, Mel decides to preemptively join an exercise boot camp to lose weight before she gorges on the gourmet meal. She talks Joe into teaching the class, but his harsh tactics get her booted out. Still fighting, they head to the restaurant to meet celebrity chef Malcolm Sunderland, who immediately butts heads with Joe over cooking styles. Meanwhile, Lennox and Zander attempt to sell their "Cassandra" web series.
Mel tries to talk Joe into letting her get a dog, but he argues that he'll be the one stuck taking care of it. She adopts the mutt anyway – much to Joe’s chagrin – but soon, "father and son" are inseparable, leaving Mel feeling left out. Meanwhile, Ryder finds himself spending more and more time with Stella's daughter, instead of Stella.
Mel and Joe have a fun game night with married couple Nate and Gillian, whom they hope to remain good friends with. But then Nate tells Joey a big secret…that Joe in turn tells Mel…who then tells Gillian… Meanwhile, after flunking out of art school, Zander shows up begging Ryder to let him secretly hide out in the basement without Lennox knowing.
When Mel and Joe discover Lennox is secretly dating her teaching assistant Emerson, Joe talks Mel into putting her foot down and forbidding the relationship. But things don't go as planned, and Lennox ends up moving out… and into Emerson's apartment. Meanwhile, Ryder is stuck at the Canadian border after leaving his passport somewhere in the house.
Mel's wild father comes to town to help Mel announce her state senate run. But when Joe teaches him about "selfies," he accidentally sends a racy photo to everyone involved in Mel's campaign, hurting her chances at winning. Meanwhile, Ryder tries to come up with a winning idea for his Entrepreneur's Club.
Joe inherits his Nona Sophia's ugly chair - the one she died in - and can't wait to finally add a piece of his life into Mel's home. Mel, unfortunately, doesn't feel the same way and tries to find ways to get rid of the chair without hurting Joe's feelings. Meanwhile, Ryder pretends he's a college student to hook up with one of Zander's roommates, and Lennox and Zander dance around their hidden feelings for each other.
It’s Mel and Joe’s wedding weekend, but things aren’t running as smoothly as they’d hoped. Before they can even make it down the aisle, Joe sees her in her dress, prompting Mel to trash it and get a new one. Plus, someone is injured during Joe’s bachelor party, Mel’s father is MIA, Marco’s making the moves on Lennox in front of Zander and someone accidentally confesses a hidden secret.
Joe wants Mel to stop taking birth control so they can start a family, but she's unsure. So he invites Nate and Gillian over with their new baby to see if he can change her mind. Meanwhile, Lennox tries to help Zander move on by setting him up with her friend Lilah, and Ryder announces his unexpected plans for the future.
Mel and Joe write their thank you cards to everyone who sent them a wedding gift. Mel goes overboard thanking her Aunt Bunny and Uncle Bert for a huge cappuccino machine she and Joe actually hate. She has Joe return the machine to the store, but then gets notice that Bunny and Bert are on their way to visit the newlyweds. Meanwhile, Marco gets an offer he can't refuse.
Mel discovers Dani is something of a musical prodigy and gets her a piano to foster Dani's dreams. But she's caught off guard to find Joe opposed to it, until she uncovers his secret musical past in a boy band. This episode features Joey Lawrence singing "911." Meanwhile, Lennox pressures Zander to choose between working on "Cassandra: The Movie" with her, or continuing a relationship with his possessive girlfriend, Lilah.
Mel and Joe decide they are ready to get pregnant right away. So they take the advice of multiple people on the best way to make that happen. Will all of their hard work result in a baby Longo? Plus, Ryder's back home from AmeriCorps and trying to determine what to do with his life. Lennox gives him some advice that leads to a surprising decision.
After taking a new job with crazy hours, Joe has to down a bunch of energy drinks to stay awake for a meeting Mel has with Hank, a rich backer who might finance her Congressional run. But with Joe wired and acting weird, Hank fears he's is on drugs. Meanwhile, Lennox decides to kill off Cassandra to break up Zander and McKenna.
Mel and Joe get stuck in a ski avalanche and are frozen for 100 years. When they thaw, they head to their home to find 120-year-old Lennox and Zander married. Mel and Joe want to resume their lives but discover the Big Brother government won't let them stay married and has already picked out the "perfect" new mates for them.
Mel decides to run on a Healthy Diet campaign for her senate run, but is then caught eating a Piggy Burger by a voter. After he tweets a photo of her and calls her a hypocrite, she gets into a war of the words with him. Meanwhile, Lennox invites Zander to move in with her after his roommates kick him out, but their love nest quickly turns into a house of horror.