Outside of Cheap Trick, Nielsen's credits include appearing as a hijacked car driver in the 1987 movie "Disorderlies". He and his wife appeared on HGTV's "Homes of Note" in the early 1990s. In 1997, he appeared in Michael Moore's documentary "The Big One". Nielsen appeared on an episode of The History Channel's show "American Pickers" Season 8, Episode 9, that originally aired on March 11, 2013. The show followed the standard format with the show's two stars, Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz, picking Nielsen's various storage units full of items he has acquired through his years on tour.