Michael J. Nelson

Michael J. Nelson, through no fault of his own, became a divisive figure among fans of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (Comedy Central/Sci-Fi 1988-1999) when he took over the hosting job following the departure of creator Joel Hodgson in 1993. From that point forward, many fans felt the need to choose one host over the other. Michael J. Nelson was born in Illinois on Oct. 11, 1964 and later moved to Wisconsin. He attended college at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls, studying theater. He left before graduating and moved to Minneapolis-St. Paul to work as an actor and stand-up comedian.

In 1992, he joined the writing staff of "Mystery Science Theater 3000," quickly becoming the show's head writer before taking over as host in the middle of season 5. During this period, Nelson married fellow MST3K writer Bridget Jones. After the end of MST3K, Nelson teamed with fellow alumni Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy to form The Film Crew, which mutated into RiffTrax, a team that specializes in downloadable commentaries on big-budget Hollywood films. Nelson also performed more traditional commentary tracks on DVDs of his beloved bad movies such as the infamous "Reefer Madness" (1936).