VarietySpeak for
melodrama. Originally used in
headlines in
Variety magazine to save space (as the word has fewer, and narrower, letters).
Here's an example from November 16, 1966, (as a sub headline for a review):
"Night Train to Mundo Fine / Totally inept meller, grim b.o."
(Chad Gould, MST3K MOVIE GUIDE REVIEW Web site. <http://tilt.largo.fl.us/critic/mst3k/ss6619f.html> (7 November 2002))
The term is still in use today in
Variety:
"New CBS drama "The Agency" has done an OK job Thursdays opposite NBC's still-dominant "ER," with the CIA skein chipping away at the medical meller's advantage in male demos."
("Still Kicking," Variety, 4 February 2002. FindArticles.com. <http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m1312/11_385/82885163/p1/article.jhtml?term=meller> (7 November 2002))
And it has crept into plot summaries for video
catalogs. Here's one for
Las Vegas Shakedown, (1955):
"Dennis O'Keefe, Coleen Gray, Thomas Gomez and Robert Armstrong star in this crime meller."
(Movies Unlimited Product Page. <http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/product.asp?sku=796507> (7 November 2002))