In high school, his fellow actors included Jeff Perry and Gary Sinise, two of the founding members of the Steppenwolf Theater Company.

[5] 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.

[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.

[12] Following that, Melvoin became executive producer on In Justice, a short-lived ABC series from The Good Wife creators Robert and Michelle King.

[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.

[19] 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.

[20] 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.