A politician seeks help in raising her niece and nephew.
Joe tries to get his belongings back from his ex-wife; Mel dates a man with ulterior motives; Lennox tries to make friends.
Joe learns that finding dates as a nanny is difficult, so Mel helps him lie.
Lennox starts dating a bad boy that Mel disapproves of, while Mel is also dating a bad boy of her own. Joe takes it upon himself to reorganize Mel‘s closet.
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.
Mel agrees to participate in a local Dancing with the Stars themed charity event to raise money for the at-risk kids that Lennox tutors. Mel agrees to dance with Joe at the event, but creative differences cause them to part ways. Stephanie finds a way for celebrity dancer Mark Ballas to be Mel‘s partner in the competition. However, when Mel gets injured, it‘s Joe who saves the day.
Mel needs to prove that all her employees are US citizens. However, all of Joe‘s paperwork has been subpoenaed by the court for his divorce hearing. Mel worries that she will have to fire Joe if he can‘t find his paperwork in time. Lennox decides to go to a school dance with one of her girlfriend creating a rumor that Lennox is a lesbian.
Mel is excited that Lennox is dating the Mayor‘s son, Brett (Justin Prentice). Mel hasn‘t been happy with the kids that Lennox has been spending time with, so she thinks Brett will be a good influence on her. When Mel learns that Brett has offered Lennox alcohol, she and Joe go see the Mayor. The Mayor informs them that Lennox is the one who supplied the alcohol. Joe & Mel decide to do some snooping in Lennox‘s room to find out who is telling the truth. Ryder is spending time with Mrs. Gellar (Katherine Helmond), an elderly lady from the neighborhood, to fulfill his school‘s community service requirement.
After hearing spooky noises coming from the attic, Mel discovers her brother-in-law, Lewis Scanlon, has been hiding there.
Joe wants to get back into the business world, so he creates his own web series giving out financial tips, with Ryder as his cameraman. Joe asks Mel to become an investor to help get the series off the ground, but she is not the silent partner he hoped for and has several suggestions, some of which do not sit well with Joe. Meanwhile, Lennox gets tutored by a geeky kid from school who she develops feelings for.
Mel hires a personal trainer, Lindsay, to get in shape for a school charity run. After Mel catches Joe in a compromising position with Lindsay, Mel and Joe agree to see Lindsay on separate schedules. Meanwhile, Lennox rekindles a platonic friendship with a geeky classmate who used to have a crush on her, but now that he's dating her friend, some jealousy sets in.
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.
Mel plans a wedding at her home; Lennox and Ryder work on a documentary.
Mel volunteers Joe for a school charity auction but the winner of the auction may have ulterior motives.
Mel's last single friend accepts a marriage proposal, so Mel pushes herself to find a mate.
Mel begins dating a younger man (Scott Michael Foster). Elsewhere, Lennox encourages her classmate to edit the school blog.
George has a party to introduce Mel to his friends. Meanwhile, Joe gets upset at his ex-wife for disrespecting their anniversary.
Mel contemplates her relationship with George and Ryder meets Holly's parents.
Mel's father returns to lobby for a bill Mel is against. Lennox's poems garner the attention of a classmate.
Joe's little brother (Matthew Lawrence) arrives in town and is attracted to Mel.
Ryder lands in hot water with his teacher (Andrew Lawrence) because of Joe. Elsewhere, Mel gets Lennox into an over-18 concert.
After her star player suffers an injury, Mel must find a replacement for the office softball team. She has Joe pretend to be the "office manager" so he can help lead their team to victory. However, Joe's management skills are more than the office can handle. Meanwhile, Ryder butts heads with Lennox when he asks her to publish his girlfriend Holly's story in the school blog.
Joe pays a visit to Mel's neighbor, Arnie (John Ratzenberger), and asks him to do something about his noisy parrot, but ends up finding Mel's house has been built on part of the neighbor's property. Joe and Mel must remain civil with the neighbor to gain the land back, however Mel finds being nice to her neighbor to be a little difficult. Meanwhile, Lennox stars in a PSA Ryder films for a school project.
In Part 1 of the two-part Season 1 finale, Mel and Joe are concerned about Lennox attending an all-night party with her boyfriend following a school dance, so Mel persuades Joe to go after her. Elsewhere, Ryder stops backing down to Holly.
In the conclusion of the two-part Season 1 finale, Joe's financial situation changes, forcing him and Mel to make some hard choices. Meanwhile, a leaky ceiling grows into a huge problem for Mel.
Mel is feeling the pressure of balancing the massive home renovation with her duties at work. Determined to have the house fixed as quickly as possible, Joe convinces a reluctant Mel to put him in charge of the construction. But Joe's management style only makes things worse. Meanwhile, Lennox is thrilled when her school wants to put on her original play, but the reaction is not quite what she had hoped.
Mel is charmed by her "cabinet guy," but is less charmed by Joe's reaction to him, leading them to a fight about being too involved in each other's lives. However, their decision to give each other privacy does not turn out as planned. And Lennox is horrified at being appointed to her school's "spirit committee," until she meets the club's president.
Mel and Joe are shocked to discover that Lennox's boyfriend Aidan spent the night, and Joe is even more taken aback at Mel's reaction to the situation. Meanwhile, Ryder's girlfriend Holly declares it's time for him to start shaving.
Joe takes over Mel's finances and becomes convinced that her credit card statements reveal she is having an affair with a married man. Lennox tries to get along with her friend's new boyfriend, but is at a loss when he reveals his crush on her, and Ryder stresses about what to get Holly for her birthday.