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Michael J. Nelson
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Michael John Nelson (born October 11, 1964 in St. Charles, Illinois) is an American comedian and writer, most famous for his work on the cult television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K). Nelson was the head writer of the series for most of the show's 11-year run, and spent half of that time playing the on-air host, also named Mike Nelson.
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Nelson is a talented comedic actor who can portray both male and female characters, and is known for his goofy charm and classic "Midwestern hunk" appearance (being tall, broad-shouldered and blond). He is married to fellow MST3K writer Bridget Jones (Internet Movie Database), and the pair have two sons.
Nelson is a self-described Protestant [1] and refers to his political leanings as center-right [2].
They moved from the Minneapolis, Minnesota area to San Diego, California in mid-2006.[1]
He was working as a waiter at T.G.I. Friday's and doing occasional stand-up comedy when he was offered a job on Mystery Science Theater 3000 doing typing in the writing room. The writers told him to feel free to make some comments on the movies they were watching, and he so impressed them with his wit and comedic timing that they made him a staff writer (and, later, head writer).
When series creator and host Joel Hodgson decided to leave the show halfway through the fifth season, he chose Nelson as his replacement — reportedly because he thought Nelson was a natural leader, a gifted comedian as well as a gifted musician, and also that Nelson simply looked good standing next to the show's puppets.[1]
Since the series ended, Nelson has worked steadily as a writer, publishing several books (as of March 2006): Mike Nelson's Movie Megacheese, Mike Nelson's Mind over Matters and Mike Nelson's Death Rat!, the last being his first novel. His other literary works include a series of pop culture humor books, Happy Kitty Bunny Pony, Goth-Icky, and Love Sick. He also wrote for the shortlived game show Let's Bowl, which gained a cult following of its own. He has provided humorous and informative commentary tracks for DVD releases of several films, including Reefer Madness, House on Haunted Hill, Plan 9 from Outer Space, and Night of the Living Dead. With his MST3K co-stars Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett, he is part of a comedy team called "The Film Crew" which has created comedy segments for NPR. DVDs are planned.
In 2006, Nelson was appointed Chief Content Producer for Legend Films. He will be responsible for building and leading the company's creative content, providing on-going commentaries and developing other premium web-based programming. "I'm very excited. Legend Films is such a great fit for me—talented people who consistently put out a great product. Plus there are Flaming Hot Cheetos in the lunch room vending machine. That made it an easy choice to join the team," enthused Nelson. [2]
One of the projects put together by Nelson and Legend Films was RiffTrax, a website offering the purchase of downloadable audio commentaries. The first commentary made available through the service was for Road House. According to a September 2006 podcast interview, Nelson feels Rifftrax may be the closest thing to a reunion of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 gang.[3]
In a recent interview, he stated that he considered Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace to be "the worst movie ever made".[4]
- ^ a b Biography for Joel Hodgson. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.
- ^ Legend Films, Inc. (July 10, 2006). "Michael J. Nelson Named Producer at Legend Films". PR Newswire. Retrieved on January 3, 2007.
- ^ The Flux.tv (September 28, 2006). "Mike Nelson of MST3K Fame Stops In". TheFlux.tv. Retrieved on January 3, 2007.
- ^ http://www.somethingawful.com/index.php?a=4245
- Michael J. Nelson at the Internet Movie Database
- Michael J. Nelson's website
- Film Crew website
- Mike Nelson interviewed on "The Joe Cook Program" 9/24/06
- Lessing, Uri (July 29, 2006). "How Mike Nelson Crashed the 'Road House' and Inadvertently Damned this Interviewer to Hell". EFilmCritic.com. Retrieved on August 8, 2006.