One of my favorite appearances, pre-hosting, is when he was one of the two clowns trapped in the Hexfield with Paul Chaplin.
WHAT ARE YOU YELLING ABOUT? YOU THINK I LIKE BEING TRAPPED IN HERE WITH YOU? NO! GET DOWN ON YOUR ORANGE AND YELLOW KNEES AND KISS MY CLOWN FEET THAT I HAVEN’T KILLED YOU!
Mike’s performance as the long-lost grandfather in the Audible version of The Pole Vault Championship of the Entire Universe by Conor Lastowka is one of the funniest things I have ever heard.
I’ve kind of gotten tired of Mike over at Rifftrax, still like Bill, but for whatever reason, Mike’s voice and delivery gets on my nerves, or maybe it’s just that a lot of recent 'Trax have become tired and predictable for me.
But he’s still an ace on MST revisits, he’s the host of some of my favorite experiments, and before that was incredible in guest spots, playing characters from the movies, and as the host of the MST-Hour. He also wrote some funny books… though I don’t see eye to eye with him on a lot of arty things (music and movies).
So yeah, Mike is all about the fond memories of times past for me.
Mike is not only a hilarious blast to watch as the second host of MST3K, but he served a very important role in showing that the series could continue without Joel at the helm. I don’t think you get to the new era in Seasons 11 through 13 without Mike demonstrating that it could be done.
He had a lot of great guest appearances on the show (seriously, head on over to the MST3K Fandom and check out all the spots he did for the series) and wrote some top-notch material, but we can’t overlook his musical legacy while we’re at it. He wrote a wealth of nifty tunes and songs during his time on MST3K, and those episodes are all the richer for his contributions.
Then there’s RiffTrax, which is all ridiculously boss.
Oh, and to get back to his writing, we can’t forget about Mind Over Matters or Movie Megacheese. If he were to return to authoring material like that, I’d snap it up in a heartbeat.
Oh, and to build off of what @JakeGittes said once again, his work as Fake Jack Perkins for those Mystery Science Theater Hour intros and outros are pure joy.
I think of Pat Troughton.
Hear me out on this. Doctor Who was riding high in the ratings when the First Doctor, William Hartnell, announced his departure. Desperate to keep the hit show going, the creators cast about for any idea to save it, and finally in some desperation hit upon “well, he’s an alien, so he can regenerate” and held their breaths.
And it worked. It changed the show, and in a way that continued to engage the fans, and here we are almost 60 years later, approaching the 14th (or 15th, or 16th, depending on how you want to count it) Doctor’s era.
In the same way, Mike represents the incredible flexibility and resilience of MST3K, and of MSTies. When Joel announced he was leaving, Usenet (back when that was a thing) had the predictable AIEEEAAARGHGLBGLL THE SHOW IS OVER posts… but not many, really (“who’s better, Joel or Mike” was listed as a ‘taboo topic’ in the RATMM FAQ so in some quarters, feelings ran high).
Most MSTies took a ‘wait and see’ attitude… and Mike stepped up and belted it out of the park in his first at-bat.
That smooth transition made it easier to handle the move to Sci-Fi after the show’s unceremonious dumping by Comedy Central (*spit*spit* some of us have long memories), and speaking for myself, it’s why I was sure the show would be just as entertaining on Netflix, and why I think it’ll be even better on Gizmoplex where they don’t have to worry about some suit making decisions about whether to greenlight or cancel. The show can last as long as they want to do it, and as long as we want them to do it.
And to complete the analogy, can we please have a Four Hosts episode some day?
And let’s not forget Mike Nelson’s Death Rat!, a fun little novel.
I truly appreciate Mike’s commitment to every scene and goofy situation. Mike’s tight silver shorts, not breaking when Observer Paul is slamming him, the “no matches for Mikey!” skit… Wonderful.
Jonah tries hard and gets close, but I can’t picture Joel in any of these skits.
Although I respect his work, and his contributions to MST3K, when I think of him I think of the downfall of the show. I was never a fan of Mr. Nelson, and just can’t stomach most of his episodes, and just can’t bring myself to watch RiffTrax.
I read Mind Over Matters about once a year when I travel or am in a tough stretch.
Not every essay is gold, but his ones on his theatre experience, leaf blowers, and sharing your opinion (among others) make me laugh every time.
We’re not big on Rifftrax because of the way we watch, and I have only really watched the shorts (and Mary Jo and Bridget’s are the best).
Some of Mike’s songs and episodes are among my favorite, though. I’m a fan.
I don’t know Bruckner’s work, but I would be interested to hear what Mike had to say on the issue.
“You people bring matches for Mikey?”
Mike always keeps a portable spittoon nearby so he can spit every time he says Bruckner’s name.
ptui ding
A lot of people have never forgiven him for letting that ball go through his legs in the '86 World Series.
A man who is a far deeper thinker, and better actor and writer, than most people give him credit for being.
Edit: This is about Mike Nelson. The threads weren’t merged when this was written.
I’m a big MJN fan. As others have said, his commitment to his episodes of MST3K and his comedic wit are great. I haven’t read his written works yet but they are on my list
I do seem to be in the minority as I really enjoy Riffrax.
Bill Buckner?
Joel Hodgson. Thoughts, memories, takeaways? His life? His impact on MST? How will he be remembered?
He created my favorite TV show. Thank you, Joel.
He’s just this guy, you know?
“It’s Groundhog Day…” “Again…”