Actually, I wonder about your assertion as to whether Mel would be suitable for a corporate programming job. In the sense that no typical corporate hiring manager would approve of him and his habits, then no, of course he would not fit.
However, even corporations occasionally need people who just get things done. I have, in my past life as a programmer at a bank, seen some incredibly opaque, hard-to-maintain systems hacked together in the course of a few sleepless nights in 1992, which still tick, do their work, and help generate millions in revenue. IT departments then take months, if not years, to attempt to replace some of that code, and typically fail. So occasionally, people who work somewhat like Mel do get approved by higher-ups who value the productivity of one incredibly smart hacker over the productivity of a mediocre team.
However, even corporations occasionally need people who just get things done. I have, in my past life as a programmer at a bank, seen some incredibly opaque, hard-to-maintain systems hacked together in the course of a few sleepless nights in 1992, which still tick, do their work, and help generate millions in revenue. IT departments then take months, if not years, to attempt to replace some of that code, and typically fail. So occasionally, people who work somewhat like Mel do get approved by higher-ups who value the productivity of one incredibly smart hacker over the productivity of a mediocre team.