Michael John Nelson (born October 11, 1964) is an American comedian and writer, most known 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 eleven-year run, and spent half of that time as the on-air host, also named Mike Nelson. In addition to writing books, Nelson is currently part of the online movie riffing sites RiffTrax and The Film Crew with fellow MST3K alumni, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy. He has written articles for Cracked.com.

Biography

Nelson is married to fellow MST3K writer Bridget Jones, and the pair have two sons. They moved from the Minneapolis, Minnesota area to San Diego, California in mid-2006. Nelson and his family moved back to Minneapolis in 2014.

He has described the role of Christianity in his family as "the very centerpiece of our lives. We're heavily involved in our church, my wife works with youth groups and churches as her profession, and almost every career and life decision I make depends upon it." He studies Christian apologetics and cites William Lane Craig and C.S. Lewis as influences.

During a 2004 interview with the fanatic site MST3K Review, Nelson described himself as Protestant and conservative: "I read the National Review cover to cover. Check in at Townhall.com every day. Check the Washington Times daily. Listen to Dennis Prager and Michael Medved on a regular basis. Read Mark Steyn with regularity. Read the Weekly Standard. So, yes, I do vote Republican.