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Michael J. Nelson

Michael J. Nelson

Writing

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.

Known For

Hunks of Junk

Star Wars: lots of people hate it, and those are just its biggest fans. But even if you’re a casual Star Wars fan who can’t tell Jyn Erso from Jizz Wailing, you have to admit, it inspired a whole lot of crap. Hunks of Junk is a collection of this crap, which a generous critic might say was “inspired by Star Wars” and a more accurate critic might say “appears to be at least 60% stolen footage from Star Wars.” There’s Turkish Star Wars, Japanese Star Wars, Italian Star Wars, He-Man Star Wars, John Boy Star Wars, direct-to-video Ewok Star Wars, animated Star Wars, even Donny and Marie Star Wars. We’ve even riffed Ernest Cline’s Fanboys, which shows that the author of Ready Player One can write a deeply emotional work without relying on tired pop culture references (we’re kidding, it’s worse than his poetry). Mike, Kevin, and Bill provide bantha fodder, er, host segments in between riffs. So what are you waiting for? Get into the garbage chute, flyboy, it’s time for Hunks of Junk!

Hunks of Junk

2026Movie
RiffTrax Live: Christmas Shorts-stravaganza!
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What do ice-skating reindeer, pipe-smoking santas and a parade of aquatic champions have in common? You’ll see them all in the RiffTrax Live: Christmas Shorts-Stravaganza, now available as Download to Stream, DVD and Blu-ray! The stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000® have a sackfull of delightful and demented shorts to riff live onstage. Some of the forgotten gems of Christmases past prove to be the perfect targets for the rapid-fire riffs of Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett. And if that wasn’t enough, they’re even joined by comedy legend “Weird Al" Yankovic for a musical short about the wonders of pork! It’s funnier than Ernest Saves Christmas and far less creepy than The Polar Express! Join Mike, Kevin, Bill and Al for a festive night of hilarious holiday comedy that is destined to become traditional Christmas viewing.

RiffTrax Live: Christmas Shorts-stravaganza!

2009Movie