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11 eDoctig
magine hearing your musical scores being played
on top-rated, prime-time TV shows. Imagine see-
ing your scripts being performed on some of the fun-
niest and hottest sitcoms. Imagine videotaping
Barbara Walters while she interviews some of the coun-
try's biggest superstars. While this may sound like fan-
tasy to some, it's reality for three talented Detroiters.
Bruce Miller, creator of a myriad of television theme
songs including "Frasier" and "Wings"; Mark Levin,
producer and writer of such hits as "The Wonder Years";
and Ron Herman, production and media consultant,
who was a technical operations supervisor for a string
of TV celebrity interviews, have all climbed to the top
in show business. But, they all admit, behind the glitz,
glamour and fame is a lot of hard work.
"Breaking into television isn't easy," says Bruce
Miller, who after providing the entertainment at his
own bar mitzvah started playing the guitar and singing
with a band for other bar mitzvahs and parties. "I have
worked hard to get to where I am. Although I look at
my successes and say that it has a lot to do with being
in the right place at the right time, I have spent many
years perfecting my craft. And even then, I have gone
through some tough times."
Miller, 51, graduated from Mumford High in 1962
cy) and Wayne State University in 1966 and played in jazz
1-u clubs in Detroit all through his schooling. His big break
came while still in college, when he was playing with
the band at the Elmwood Casino.
(JD
"Paul Anka was performing, and after his first show
Lu he called me into his dressing room and asked if I want-
ed to go on the road with him," Miller recalls "Of course,
5 I was thrilled and took him up on his offer."
After graduation, Miller was drafted into the Army,
cc
1-Li but because of an impressive audition, he landed a spot
playing the guitar and writing arrangements for an 18-
= piece jazz band that included musicians from the Army,
- Navy and American and Canadian air forces.
"I was very lucky — I could have been sent to Viet-
00 nam," he says.
When his stint in the military ended, Miller rejoined
Anka, where he spent the next three
years conducting and performing
with Anka's band. But wanting to
branch out on his own, Miller made
the difficult decision to move to LA
with his new wife, Pam.
After a couple of years playing for
private parties and doing orchestral
arrangements for several Motown
artists — including the Temptations,
Four Tops and Gladys Knight — he
made what turned out to be a fortuitous phone call.
"I called a guy I knew who was a composer for "Knots
Landing," and I offered to write a new arrangement,"
he says. "I did, they liked it, and they kept it on the air
for a long time."
Through that connection, Miller met the people at
Lorimar Studios and started arranging and writing mu-
sic for them. He soon became known in the field, and of-
fers started pouring in.
Among the over 150 credits to his name, Miller has
composed, arranged and/or conducted theme songs for
"Matlock," "Falcon Crest," "Almost Perfect," "Designing
Women," "Step By Step," "Highway to Heaven," "The
John Larroquette Show," "Cagney & Lacey" and two
"Bonanza" movies of the week.
He presently writes the music for "Wings" and "Frasi-
er," and he just finished an arrangement for a new NBC
sitcom that will be debuting this fall called "Something
So Right."
Miller, who was nominated for an Emmy for "Frasi-
er" and the "Sammy Davis Jr. 60th Anniversary Cele-
bration," also scored "The Man From Hope," a
documentary produced for Bill Clinton's campaign in
1992 that aired on all three networks. Currently, he is
composing the music for Clinton's 1996 campaign film.
or Mark Levin, the pinnacle of success came at a
relatively young age. Yet, it wasn't without perse-
verance and years of honing his writing skills.
A graduate of Andover High School, Levin at-
NBC P HOTO BY GALE M. ADLE R
Behind the glitz, glamour and fame is
a lot of hard work. Here's how three
Detroiters made it in the TV-biz.
tended the University of Michigan where he was an
English major with a concentration in creative writing.
In fact, it was during his days at U-M that he won the
coveted Hopwood writing award, the major prize for
dramatic literature.
"Writing was my passion, and I always wanted to
write drama, whether it was for theater, film or televi-
sion," says Levin, who at age 7 started a newsletter for
his street in Bloomfield Hills and wrote little articles
about the environment.
Levin went on to Yale School of Drama, where he
studied playwriting and earned a master of arts degree.
And it wad at Yale, he says, that he made his invalu-
able connections.
"During the summer of 1989, I was invited by the
renowned television producer David Milch to help
launch a new show called 'Capitol News,' " says Levin,
who adds that the offer to be a story editor was a real
coup, since Milch had written for "Hill Street Blues"
and "NYPD."
Although that show was short-lived, Levin, only 23
at the time, acquired a considerable reputation and was
asked to join the staff of "The Wonder Years."
"I was always a big fan of the show and thought it
had wonderful writing," says Levin, who stayed with
the show for 2 1/2 years and rose from story editor to
producer. "I worked on about 60 episodes, 14 of which
I wrote myself."
From there, Levin landed a job on "Going to Ex-
tremes," an NBC show about a group of medical stu-