Director

Michael J. Nelson

Writing

Career Snapshot

Explained

These indicators come from TMDB. They are relative signals, not review ratings.

Directed credits

Emerging

Beginning to build directing work.

TMDB popularity

0.2

Low visibility

TMDB internal trend index. Higher usually means more searches and page activity now.

Directed movies: 2Directed series: 1All crew credits: 23

TMDB ID: 30020

IMDb ID: nm0625621

Known for: Writing

Born: October 11, 1964

Age: 61

Place of birth: St. Charles, Illinois

Gender: Male

Adult content flag: No

Career span: 1989 - 2026

Years active: 38

Average TMDB rating: 7.1

Wikidata: Q674380

Also known as

Mike Nelson

Frequent jobs

Director (3)Writer (20)

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Biography

Michael J. Nelson is the former host and writer of the Emmy-nominated, Peabody Award-winning Mystery Science Theater 3000. Since that time, he has appeared on numerous radio and TV shows, penned a regular column for TV Guide, and authored best-selling books for both HarperCollins and Abrams. His first book, Mike Nelson's Movie Megacheese, thrilled critics, including Richard Schickel of Time Magazine, who said of Mike, "He's more fun than a barrel of Val Kilmers... Smarter than a roomful of Patrick Swayzes... and almost as hilarious as Keanu Reeves." Mike's laugh-out-loud follow-up, Mind Over Matters, prompted Kirkus Reviews to enthuse, "From someplace called Minnesota comes a Nelson funnier than Ozzie, Ricky, Lord or Half," and even dared to compare him to another legendary writer, saying of his Serious Speech to Business People, "[It] could easily precede [Robert] Benchley's immortal Treasurer's Report." And Kirkus Reviews loved his novel, Death Rat!, saying, "Fast-paced, outrageous and funny, first-novelist Nelson's mockery of media mendacity is as biting as La Dolce Vita or Network--only funnier!" Nelson speaks all over the country, is a frequent guest on radio and television, and along with fellow former MST3K writers/performers Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy operate a podcast called RiffTrax, which, in a similar vein to MST3K, targets more mainstream films.

Movies