Q & A
She Gets the Show
on the Road
Montclair’s Melissa Miller is a driving force behind Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
WRITTEN BY RICARDO KAULESSAR PHOTOGRAPHY BY MITSU YASUKAWA
J
erry Seinfeld may be literally behind the wheel
in the series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,
but it’s Melissa Miller who helps keep the show
on course. The Upper Montclair resident, who
moved to town a year ago with her husband and
two children, is the associate producer of the
talk show on wheels, which in 2016 was nominated for
an Emmy award as “Outstanding Variety Talk Series.”
It streamed on the Crackle network for nine seasons
before moving to Netflix in January.
Since 2012, in 73 episodes, Seinfeld has driven a
vintage car with a pithy high-profile companion in the
passenger’s seat. Destination: a local café or restaurant,
where they can schmooze over cups of joe. Guests have
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MAY 2018 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE
included former President Barack Obama, who took a
ride in a 1963 Corvette Sting Ray, and Montclair’s own
Stephen Colbert, who was driven in a 1964 Morgan Plus 4
to Bluestone Coffee Co. on Watchung Avenue.
Miller spoke to Montclair Magazine about her work,
and the impact the Colbert episode had on her life.
HOW DID YOU COME TO WORK ON THE SHOW? I’ve
worked with Jerry Seinfeld for 10 years; I’ve been his assis-
tant since 2008. So, when this project sort of started, I
was working on it from the first test shoot we did through
now. Somewhere along there, I had a couple of kids, and
he made me an associate producer on Comedians in Cars
Getting Coffee.
>
MORE FUN THAN HIS DAY JOB President Obama and Miller wait for Jerry Seinfeld to arrive at the Oval Office.