The company traces its roots back to Miller-Milkis Productions, which was formed in 1972. Its original run as a production company remained uninterrupted until its initial shutdown in 1999, having changed from the longtime Miller-Boyett name to Miller-Boyett-Warren two years prior. In 2015, the company was resurrected under the former Miller-Boyett name.[1]
The production company was founded in 1972 by program executive Thomas L. Miller and former film editor Edward K. Milkis asMiller-Milkis Productions. The company had an exclusive deal withParamount Television to produce television shows.[2] The company bought its first big hit, that ofHappy Days in 1974, which ran for 11 seasons over 10 years, and spawned a lineup of spinoffs.[3] In 1979, the company becameMiller-Milkis-Boyett Productions once Robert L. Boyett (who was a creative consultant ofHappy Days at the time) joined the company, before adopting the Miller-Boyett name five years later following Milkis' resignation.
Most of the series the company produced for ABC during the Miller-Boyett era aired on the network's Friday night lineup (known asTGIF from 1989 to 2000). The company brought out hits that were deemed to be popular, and wanted stronger attention.[4] During the1990–91 season, all four Friday comedies on ABC were Miller-Boyett series:Perfect Strangers,Full House,Family Matters and the short-livedGoing Places;[5] and the company had six sitcoms on the air during that same season, along withThe Hogan Family (which had moved to CBS, after a five-season run on NBC) and the short-livedThe Family Man. Around 1997, Michael Warren, longtime Miller-Boyett associate and co-creator ofFamily Matters andStep by Step, broke his partnership with producer partner William Bickley after twenty-one years and joinedMiller-Boyett Productions; the company was renamedMiller-Boyett-Warren Productions and produced its last shows,Meego andTwo of a Kind. After both shows were cancelled, the company was shut down. For the 1997–98 season, a majority of the shows went to CBS through their short-livedFriday Night Block Party sitcom block, although an attempt to do a sitcom forThe WB collapsed.[6][7]
Originally, the company was set up atParamount Television when the company was formed. After Milkis left the company, Miller and Boyett left Paramount to work forLorimar Television in 1985,[4] which was folded intoWarner Bros. Television in 1993. Despite the fact that the company shut down as Miller-Boyett-Warren Productions, it was, and still is, referred to as "Miller-Boyett Productions" (or just simply "Miller-Boyett").
In 2013, Boyett returned to TV producing under his own production nameplate, Robert L. Boyett Productions. With veteran producer Robert Horn, he co-created theFX sitcomPartners, which was co-produced by his company, along with Robert Horn Productions,Grammnet Productions andDebmar-Mercury, among other contributors. Robert L. Boyett Productions alone was originally said to be in development with Jeff Franklin Productions for the upcoming 2016Full House sequel series,Fuller House. However, when a front cover image of the firstFuller House shooting script was made public in late July 2015, both Miller and Boyett were listed as executive producers on the script, with Miller-Boyett Productions being listed at the bottom of the cover page—thus confirming that the production company has been effectively resurrected.[1]
Thomas Lee Miller (August 31, 1940 – April 5, 2020 (aged 79)) – After growing up in Milwaukee, he started his career as assistant to directorBilly Wilder. Miller also previously served as a development executive at Paramount and 20th Century Fox. In 1970, a year after starting the company with Edward K. Milkis, he co-createdNanny and the Professor with producerA. J. Carothers. Prior to then, he was a writer ofThe Year of the Horse in 1966, and in 1969 he was in charge of development forThe Immortal and did the same job in the 1970s forWeekend of Terror andAssault on the Wayne. He later wrote episodes forNanny and the Professor andMe and the Chimp and co-created that show withGarry Marshall. Miller co-produced the feature filmsSilver Streak (1976) andFoul Play (1978) with Edward Milkis. Miller died on April 5, 2020, afterFuller House ended production.
Robert Lee Boyett (born 1942 (age 82–83)) – He grew up in Atlanta, and later on moved to New York City to become a development executive at ABC, then later became senior vice president at Paramount Television.[4] He later became a creative consultant toHappy Days on its mid-seasons before joining Miller and Milkis in 1978. Boyett however was not credited as an executive producer with Tom Miller and Ed Milkis on most series in the Miller/Milkis/Boyett era. Following the dissolution of the Miller-Boyett-Warren company, Boyett became a producer for Broadway theatre productions. He currently resides in Salisbury, Connecticut.
Edward Kenneth "Eddie" Milkis (July 16, 1931 – December 14, 1996 (aged 65)) – A lifelong resident of Los Angeles, California, he became a film editor on such movies asNorth by Northwest. Next he signed on as the associate producer ofStar Trek. Later on, he was involved in some of Tom Miller's early shows prior to the establishment of Miller-Boyett. He died on Saturday, December 14, 1996, at the age of 65, after a lengthy illness. His last production wasExit to Eden, which he produced alongsideGarry Marshall.
Michael Warren started his career as the associate producer ofThe Partridge Family, where he met writer/Producer William S. Bickley. Then as an associate producer onHappy Days for its second season, later a story consultant with William Bickley, who was then a story editor. The two men producedOut of the Blue in 1979. Warren and Bickley later wrote forHappy Days andPerfect Strangers, before creatingFamily Matters,Getting By andStep by Step between 1989 and 1993, at that point Bickley and Warren became squarely producers instead of producer/writers, before officially ending their partnership around the time of the cancellation ofFamily Matters andStep by Step and joining the Miller-Boyett team.[citation needed]
