Mystery Science Theater 3000/Recap/S05/E12 Mitchell

Film watched: Mitchell

"My, my, my, my, GOD!!"

—Reaction To The squicky love scene that accompanies the Thematic Theme Tune.

On October 23, 1993, the edited-for-television release of Mitchell was featured as an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. The film was trimmed by several minutes to match MST3K's format, with the result that John Saxon's character, killed by Mitchell in a deleted scene, simply disappears from the action, leaving the circumstances of his death a mystery. Joel and the Bots even remark on this lapse: "Wasn't John Saxon in this movie?" Particularly mocked were Mitchell's alcoholism, slovenliness and uncouth behavior.

According to Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide, page 97, actor Joe Don Baker was very angry at the MST3K treatment of Mitchell, and threatened physical violence on any of the cast or crew should he ever meet them in person. This did not stop them from later featuring (and happily mocking) another of Baker's films, Final Justice, and hurling even more vicious insults at Baker. Kevin Murphy, who played MST3K's robot commentator Tom Servo and was one of the show's head writers, later said that Baker likely meant it in a joking manner.

This episode is notable for being the final regular episode to star series creator Joel Hodgson, as well as the introduction of his replacement Mike Nelson (who had been the head writer since Season 2, and previously appeared on-screen as characters like Torgo).

Editors, please keep this article neutral on the Joel vs. Mike thing. We don't want this turning into a Flame War.

The Mystery Science Theater 3000 presentation contains examples of:

Adaptation-Induced Plothole: The sudden disappearance of John Saxon's character halfway through the movie. He was killed off in a scene that was cut from the MST3k version.
- To clarify, the scene was already cut from the TV edit that Best Brains used. They wouldn't poke fun at a movie for a cut they made to it.
Bond One-Liner: "So long, chum!"
Catch Phrase: (Said during an action scene) "Mitchell!"
- Also any inaction scenes too...
Call Back: "He's no Claude Akins, but what a butt!"
- This episode, being Joel's last, is loaded with them. "Watch out for snakes" is used in the first five minutes and Deep 13 is cluttered with old invention exchanges (most noticeably the Cake and Shake and the life-sized Operation game).
Deus Ex Machina: Literally the name of the escape pod that Joel uses to leave the Satellite of Love.
Driven to Madness

Kid: My mother doesn't like you.
Mitchell: I don't like your mother.
Kid: Why not?
Mitchell: Why not?
Kid: No, why not?
Mitchell: No, why not?
Kid: Why are you repeating what I say?
Mitchell: Why are you repeating what I say?
Kid: I'm not!
Mitchell: Well, I'm not.
Kid: You are!
Mitchell: Buzz off!
Kid: What?
Mitchell: What?
Kid: What did you say?
Mtchell: What did you say?
Kid: Did you say something?
Mitchell: Did you say something?
Servo: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHH!!!

Face Palm: Joel does one during the "Buzz off, kid" scene.
Freak-Out: The 'bots do not take Joel's departure well.
Mistaken for Murderer: An actual plot by the Mads to kill Mike is mistaken by Gypsy to be a plot to kill Joel.
Put in a Pod: Farewell, Joel Robinson.
Running Gag: Confusion at the Loads and Loads of Mafiosi in the film.
Shout-Out: Several.
- The riffers reference virtually every 1970's cop drama (or thereabouts). Mc Q, CHiPs, Dirty Harry, the list goes on.
- The scene where Gypsy overhears the plot to kill Mike is a parody of the scene from [[2001: A Space Odyssey]] where HAL reads the astronauts' lips.
- When Gypsy is trying to puzzle out a way to save Joel, she scrawls the letters "P. O. E." on a whiteboard--a reference to Dr. Strangelove.
- Joel quotes from 7 Faces of Dr. Lao in his farewell message plaque to the 'bots.
- "Sorry folks, I can't come back, I don't know how it works, goodbye!"
Spy Speak: As syndicate leaders Cummings and Gallano meet in a park.

Joel: The... spotted cuckoo bird is flying backwards?
Crow: It's a cold day for pontooning.

Stealth Pun: Joel's last invention exchange. "It's a Daktari stool!" "What do you think, sirs?"
Stylistic Suck: The launching of the Deus ex Machina, and the "static" that interrupts Joel's final transmission on the hexfield viewscreen.
Too Soon: Crow suggests raiding Joel's candy cache, but Servo states it's too soon after his departure.
Viewer-Friendly Interface: Averted - Mike has to laboriously type into a DOS-style command line interface to give Gypsy access to the SOL's escape pod.

Mike: Let's see, uh... C... colon... backslash... c... uh, back... manual.exe. I hate these things.

Wham! Episode
Wham! Line: "Say, Mike - what size jumpsuit do you wear?"
What Happened to the Mouse?: Viewers of the MST cut may be wondering what happened to Deaney. He tried to run Mitchell down, but flipped his dune buggy and got himself 'sploded in a scene that was removed from the MST3K version. The opening credits are showing a portion of that scene, incidentally, where Mitchell smashes one mook's head with a rock before boosting his buggy. Deaney's death is mentioned on a radio newscast Mitchell is listening to while staking out Cummings.
What the Hell, Hero?: The 'bots' reaction to the inscription of the plaque Joel left behind.

Servo: Joel leaves, and his last words are from a George Pal movie?!

You Taste Delicious: The gang mocked this when Linda Evans offered Joe Don Baker the opportunity to lick some beer off her and he declined.

"He's such a super dude, the American dream, like the guys on the movie screen."

Joel: Mitchell!

—Joel's last line in the theater