Jeff Melvoin is an American television writer, producer, and educator. He has written dozens and produced hundreds of one-hour episodes on over a dozen television series.[1]
Melvoin attended Harvard University, graduating magna cum laude in 1975 with a degree in American history and literature. He wrote his senior thesis on the development of the American detective in fiction. While in college, he also directed six theatrical productions, including two on the mainstage of Harvard's Loeb Theater.[4]
Career
Journalism
After college, Melvoin took a mini-MBA program at Keller Graduate School of Business Management in Chicago and was subsequently hired by Fairchild Publications (Women's Wear Daily, W) as a reporter for Fairchild News Service (FNS) in Washington, D.C. Shortly after, he was made FNS bureau chief in Miami.
In 1978, he was hired as a correspondent for TIME magazine. He worked in their New York, Boston and Los Angeles bureaus before leaving the magazine in late 1982.[5]
Television
Melvoin speaking to Joint Base Lewis-McChord Army spouses in 2012.
Melvoin began his television career in 1983 as a staff writer for the lighthearted MTM detective show Remington Steele, joining the NBC series in its second season. He worked his way up to supervising producer by the end of the show's fourth season.[6] In 1986, Melvoin became co-executive producer on the final season of the NBC police drama, Hill Street Blues, also produced by MTM.[6]
Melvoin then began a four-year association with Columbia TriStar Television, developing original pilots. Three of his pilots were produced, but none were picked up to series.[7] In 1991, Melvoin was hired as a writer-producer on the CBS comedy-drama Northern Exposure, produced by Universal Television. He worked on the series from episode 17 until the end four years later writing 18 episodes and rewriting a half-dozen others. During his time on the show, Melvoin received numerous awards and nominations, including an Emmy award for best dramatic series, two Emmy nominations for best writing in a dramatic series, two Golden Globe awards and a Television Critics Association award for best dramatic series.[1]
In 1995, Melvoin became Executive Producer on the fourth season of the David E. Kelley drama series, Picket Fences, produced by 20th Century Fox Television for CBS. It marked Melvoin's first showrunner position.[8] Following Picket Fences, Melvoin signed an overall deal with Tristar Television and became a consultant on the light science fiction drama, Early Edition, for CBS. He took over the series as showrunner for seasons two through four, from 1997 to 2000.[9]
In 2007, Melvoin was hired as executive producer on Army Wives, produced by ABC Studios for the Lifetime Network. He ran the show in its first season, then left for other opportunities, returning to run the show for seasons three through seven, ending its run in 2013. In its day, Army Wives was the most successful one-hour drama in the history of the Lifetime network.[14] After Army Wives, Melvoin has worked on his own development and a variety of other projects, including the Shane Black and Fred Dekker spaghetti western series, EDGE, developed for Amazon Studios in 2015-2016, but eventually shelved.
In December 2016, Melvoin was hired as the showrunner for ABC'sDesignated Survivor.[15] He handled the second half of season 1 and stayed on as an executive producer for season 2.[16] In 2019, Melvoin was hired as an executive producer for season three of BBC America's Killing Eve and received an Emmy nomination for his work.[17]
Books
In September 2023, Melvoin's book, Running the Show: Television from the Inside, was published by Applause Books[18] and has been a bestseller on Amazon in the “TV Direction and Production” category.[19]
Showrunner Training Program
In 2005, Melvoin approached Writers Guild of America West President John Wells to create a WGA Showrunner Training Program. In the face of a rapidly changing industry, Melvoin saw a need to compensate for the disappearance of the old, informal apprenticeship system in television writing-producing with an intense, master class program for selected candidates. Together, Melvoin and Wells successfully lobbied the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to fund the WGA's Showrunner Training Program.[2]
In 2015, Melvoin was given the Morgan Cox Award, the WGA's highest recognition "to that member whose vital ideas, continuing efforts, and personal sacrifice best exemplify the ideal of service to the Guild." In announcing the award, WGA President Christopher Keyser said, "If this is a Golden Age of television, the program Jeff so lovingly shepherds deserves its fair share of credit. Thanks to him, as an art form and as a business, we are better at what we do."[1]
Morgan Cox Award; "to that member whose vital ideas, continuing efforts, and personal sacrifice best exemplify the ideal of service to the Guild." 2015
Inspire Award; Donate Life Hollywood; for stories that "entertain, enlighten, and inspire about organ and tissue donation." 2010
Sentinel for Health Award for Daytime Drama; University of Southern California & Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; "for exemplary achievements of television storylines that inform, educate and motivate viewers to make choices for healthier and safer lives." 2010
Voice Award, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services); "to increase public understanding and acceptance of people in recovery from mental health and substance abuse problems." 2010
Melvoin and his wife, Martha Hartnett Melvoin, a former photojournalist for the Los Angeles Times, were married in 1984. The couple lives in Los Angeles, and have two sons, Nick and Charlie.
