Canadian pop-rock band Platinum Blonde appears in an episode of the family comedy series Melissa & Joey – sort of.
Set decorators for the U.S. sitcom, which ran for four seasons between 2010 to 2015, used a vintage Platinum Blonde poster in an episode titled “What Happens in Jersey.”
The poster appears on the boyhood bedroom wall of Joe Longo (played by Joey Lawrence) in an episode where he brings Mel (Melissa Joan Hart) to his grandmother’s birthday, hoping to fool her into thinking he’s still married.
It was first broadcast on Aug. 28, 2013, but popped up again this week on ABC Spark in Canada, where the series continues to air in reruns.
The poster features the cover photo of Platinum Blonde’s 1985 album Alien Shores, which spawned hits like “Crying Over You” and “Somebody Somewhere.”
On Melissa & Joey, drummer Chris Steffler has been cropped out of the image and the faces of Kenny MacLean (who died in 2008), Mark Holmes and Sergio Galli have been digitally replaced or altered. The band’s name at the top of the poster has been replaced with “MOD.”
It’s unlikely Lawrence’s character, growing up in New Jersey, was a fan of Platinum Blonde (in real life, Lawrence was 9 when Alien Shores was released) but the group was one of the biggest Canadian acts in the mid-80s following the release of its debut album Standing in the Dark.
Holmes and Galli, with drummer Dan Todd, continue to tour as Platinum Blonde.