Mystery Science Theater 3000 Nelson 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, typing the suggestions in the writing room. The writers told him to feel free to make some comments on the movies they were watching, and Nelson impressed them so much with his wit and comedic timing that they made him a staff writer, and, later, head writer. Nelson also appeared frequently in the show's host segments, often playing characters from the movies being mocked such as Torgo from the infamous
Manos: The Hands of Fate. When series creator and host
Joel Hodgson decided to leave halfway through the fifth season, he chose Nelson as his replacement, reportedly because he thought Nelson was a natural leader, a gifted comedian, and a gifted muse, and also because Nelson simply looked good standing next to the puppets. Nelson remained as host for another five and a half seasons (surviving the show's switching networks from Comedy Central to the Sci-Fi Channel) until the original run ended in 1999.
Post-MST3K Writing 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 works include a series of pop-culture humor books, Happy Kitty Bunny Pony
, Goth-Icky
, and Love Sick
, as well as a monthly column for Home Theater Magazine
. He also wrote for the short-lived game show Let's Bowl. He has commentary tracks for DVD releases of several films, including Reefer Madness, The Little Shop of Horrors, House on Haunted Hill, Plan 9 from Outer Space, Carnival of Souls, and Night of the Living Dead. With his MST3K
co-stars Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett, he was part of a comedy team called "The Film Crew", which has created comedy segments for National Public Radio. The first Film Crew DVD, Hollywood After Dark'', was released July 10, 2007, and three more followed in the months after. '' co-star
Kevin Murphy at a convention panel in
Metairie, Louisiana, November 1998
Legend Films | RiffTrax In 2006, Nelson was appointed Chief Content Producer for
Legend Films. He is responsible for building and leading the company's creative content, providing continuous 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. One of the projects put together by Nelson and Legend Films was
RiffTrax, a website offering the purchase of downloadable audio commentaries once again costarring two former
MST3K cast members
Kevin Murphy and
Bill Corbett. The first commentary made available through the service was for
Road House. In a September 2006 interview, Nelson said he felt that Rifftrax may be the closest thing to a reunion of the
Mystery Science Theater 3000 team. In 2016, additional MST3K alumni,
Joel Hodgson,
Trace Beaulieu,
Frank Conniff,
Mary Jo Pehl, and
Bridget Jones Nelson all appeared for a live reunion at the State Theatre in Minneapolis with Nelson, Murphy and Corbett. They were also joined by the newest host,
Jonah Ray.
Voice work In 2013, Nelson agreed to do voiceover work for
Armikrog. Nelson voices the lead character, Tommynaut.
Podcasts In 2016, Nelson and David Berge started the
podcast Like Trees Walking. They look at life and faith from a Christian perspective, with a lightly humorous, offbeat approach. Since 2017, he has created, with Conor Lastowka, the podcast ''
372 Pages We'll Never Get Back'', which analyses books of contested quality. ==Personal life==