The series centers on Joe Kimbreau as he makes a pivotal, life-changing decision at his graduation from Syracuse University.

[1] The show follows him on three parallel timelines, starting ten years after his graduation: as a police officer, following in his father's footsteps; as a music star, following his passion; and as a nurse, after he marries his college sweetheart.

He can accompany his family to dinner, which leads to him following in his father's footsteps and becoming a police officer; go with his girlfriend Jenny to the beach, ultimately marrying her and becoming a nurse; or ask out an attractive fellow graduate named Amy, which results in the two marrying and Joe becoming a successful musician.

Joe's marriage to Jenny, a paralegal, sufferes from the strain of them both prioritizing work to provide for their wheelchair-using son Christopher.

When Diaz is diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, he endorses Amy, his campaign manager, to replace him on the ballot, upsetting Joe, who wants to be a father.

Nurse Joe, following Eric and Amy's advice, takes Jenny out on a date, during which she asks him to bring Christopher to the commemoration.

Jenny learns that her firm will pay for her to return to college and finish her degree, allowing her to finally become a lawyer--but it requires her to move to Atlanta.

Arriving late to the rally, Joe watches Amy give a heartwarming, unscripted speech and celebrate with Diaz.

This leads to a fight where Joe accuses Jenny of pitying him for giving up his dream of music to help raise their son.

Joe's mom turns the farewell into a surprise party, where Chris gets to wear his desired Mars Rover costume, but then Jenny heads for Atlanta.

Officer Joe confronts Amy about her affair with Bobby and tells her to talk to Jenny, the Assistant District Attorney.

She roots through his files after hours and discovers a copy of a check sent to one of his previous lovers...a woman who died later.

Nurse Joe is struggling getting Christopher ready for school by himself, making him late for his first physical therapy appointment with Bobby, who has doubts about his recovery chances.

The rest of graduation day and part of the next are covered for all three timelines with the common theme of a letter that Joe's Dad wrote to him.

He plays a classical song for his mother's friend, hears a story from Officer Winnick, someone who's alive thanks to Joe's father, and eventually decides to explore the police academy.

Uncle Frank is put on suspension and Amy gets harassed by law enforcement and angry Diaz fans.

Tensions rise at Thanksgiving with a suspended Uncle Frank and Joe's sister sharing their hurt feelings.

Nurse Joe starts working to make adaptive clothing for children facing the same challenges as his son.

Nurse Joe watches the game while at a trade show to exhibit his new "Zipper Pants" adaptive clothing.

Things go slow at first, but his son meets a similarly-challenged girl and her father is a department store buyer who expresses interest.

Feeling guilty, he decides to take Chris on a road trip to surprise Jenny in Atlanta for Valentine's Day.

Chris is suspicious of the trip's motives, but is very happy when it includes a stop to see a rocket launch.

Amy comes to the hospital to tell Joe she's moving to Miami to be with her family, but he asks her to marry him and stay.

[18] In January 2020, the series received a pilot order for the 2020–21 season and Adam Davidson was brought on as director the following month.

[24] He was joined the following month by Natalie Martinez and Charlie Barnett portraying the characters Amy and Eric Payne respectively.

[27] In August 2021, Jack Coleman, Christine Adams, Joe Carroll, Rushi Kota, Jason Burkey, and Gabrielle Byndloss joined the cast in recurring capacities.

[31] Principal photography on the pilot began in Chicago, Illinois, in March 2020,[32] but was suspended within a few days due to COVID-related shutdowns.

The website's critics consensus reads, "Ordinary Joe has an appealing start and premise, but it's hard to see whether it's [sic] triple timelines will add up to a satisfactory season of television.

"[41] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 64 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

[42] The show's use of multiple color palettes was described by a critic as "notable but not distracting" to distinguish among the three timelines: green when Joe is a nurse, blue when he is a cop, and orange when he is a rock star.