Post-MST3K
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, which gained a cult following of its own. 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 N.P.R. The first Film Crew D.V.D., Hollywood After Dark, was released July 10, 2007, and three more followed in the months after.
In 2006, Nelson was appointed Chief Content Producer for Legend Films. He will be 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 co-starring 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, even though it has never featured Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, J. Elvis Weinstein or Frank Conniff as they are currently affiliated with Cinematic Titanic.
Read more about this topic: Michael J. Nelson, Career