[.ca] Mitchell

From Amazon.com:
This farewell episode for Joel Hodgson is a sentimental favorite but even more worth it for the hilarity spawned by our captured Satellite of Love friends. The movie centers on the hapless, big lug cop named Mitchell (Joe Don Baker), who fights the rich and powerful drug-dealing bad guys. Along the way, Mitchell finds himself investigating murder, falling "in sex" with Linda Evans, helping an elderly woman like a good son, and telling a bothersome wisecracking kid to buzz off. Match that with clothing and music from 1975 and you've got prime fodder for the biting remarks of Joel, Crow, and Tom Servo--which, of course, they take advantage of handily and in abundance. Mitchell has a few quiet areas but these are spotty, and when Joel and his mechanical friends start wisecracking, it's all hilariously worth the wait. Mitchell: So '70s, you'd swear Kris Kristofferson was moaning the theme song in the background. --Karen Karleski

My, my, my, my...MITCHELL!:
Joels swan song, and also a classic ep. in its own right. what movie producer ever thought that a film that features a fat, bloated, drunken, slovenly, all around miserable and un-likable main character would be a GOOD idea? Joe Don Baker IS "Mitchell," a cop on the case of...well, aparently he starts out on some case involving Jon Saxon but then gets assigned to sit in front of some old mobsters house for weeks on end and then comes home and gets beat up by thugs for no apparent reason and then finds hooker Linda Evans in his house, sleeps with her without question ( a VERY disturbing scene, trust me) and yet arrests her for possesion of pot. there's some talk of a heroin shipment, Mitchell shoots some guy in a park, then there's a boat chase and a big shoot out and your left wondering what ever happened to Jon Saxon and then Mitchell sleeps with and arrests the hooker again and its the end. I get the feeling a lot of the reson this film plays so badly is that it was edited for content...the original trailer for the film on the DVD lists it as rated R, which means Comedy Central had to chop out some offending scenes...and yet they leave in the shot of Mitchell in bed with Linda Evans grabbing a six pack of Shlitz Beer off the end table next to a big bottle of Johnsons Baby Oil, which to me was far more repulsive than any graphic violence or language they may have had to edit. the sketches of course revolve around the escape of Joel: Gypsy over hears the Mads discussing doing away with somebody after the experiment, assumes its Joel, and sets out to find a way to get him off the ship and to safety. I wont spoil the whole thing for those who havent seen it, but its a perfect transition as Joel leaves and is replaced by MST3K head writer Mike Nelson. "oh my my my my Mitchell..."

The best MSTK3 episode ever!:
This is the episode that converted me over to MSTK3.They give poor Joe Don Baker hell but he deserves it for a funny turkey like this.Every time I need a laugh or feel bad this makes me laugh till i'm in tears. This is $20 bucks well spent. My only complaint with the DVD is that the original version of mitchell wasn't included. MMMIII-TTCHELL!

MITCHELL is fabulous!!!:
This was one of the first MST3K episodes I ever saw and it remains very dear to my heart and high on my list of all-time favorites. Joe Don Baker is a big fat turd in this movie and it's funny. That's pretty much how you sum it up. Highlights include the Mitchell theme song as sung by the robots, the "wockachicka" music, the 10 mph car chase, Mitchell's slutty girlfriend played by Linda Evans whom he beds and then throws in the slammer, and an endless string of fat jokes. Buy it!

Hysterical episode, and an important piece of MST3K history:
"Mitchell" is a watershed episode in the history of the classic TV comedy, "Mystery Science Theater 3000." For those of you unfamiliar with this amazing program, it's a ninety-minute program featuring a silhouette of a man and two robots watching a really awful movie and providing wisecracking, culturally savvy, and bitingly satiric commentary. With sketches and songs inserted at movie breaks, "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (or MST3K for short) is one of the most delightful and hysterical comedy shows ever created. And "Mitchell," broadcast in the middle of the fifth season, is one of the big moments in the show's history; it marks the departure of the show's creator and host, Joel Robinson, and the introduction of Mike Nelson as the new host. When first watching the episode, it's easy to overlook the movie and commentary and concentrate on the running subplot in the host segments about Joel escaping the ship. I won't spoil anything about it, but it's both funny and touching. Joel's farewell is a heartfelt moment and has a special place in the hearts of many MST3K fans who felt the show was never the same without him. (I personally like Mike a lot too, but there was a wonderful, laid-back 'family' feeling to the Joel episodes). But even if this episode were not a turning point in the show's history, it would probably still be considered one of the great episodes. "Mitchell" has become a classic movie for MST3K fans: an icky, cheap-looking, boring, incomprehensible cop "thriller" released to theaters in 1975. (And yes, despite the made-for-TV look, it really was in cinemas. I found old ads for it in the New York Times!) The commentary from Joel and the 'Bots on this one is hilarious. This is a very 'character' driven episode, with Joel and the 'Bots dismantling the film's cast of unappealing personas, principally the title character, a zero-hero police detective played by Joe Don Baker. Mitchell is a smelly, stupid, boozy loser who the film tries to present as a loner hero against the system as he tries to take down a heroin ring and bust a trade-union lawyer who shot a burglar in the back (no, the two plots have nothing to do with one another). The story makes pretty much no sense at all, with long scenes of dialogue containing strings of similar sounding names that don't mean a thing to the audience (Gallano, Mistretta, Deaney). There's hardly any action; mostly Mitchell sits outside drug dealer Martin Balsam's house and occasionally has dinner with him and irritates his butler Merlin Olsen. There's a car chase, but according to Crow, "It makes 'Driving Miss Daisy' look like 'Bullitt'!" John Saxon is in the movie someplace, although I can't tell you for the life of me what he does. And through it all slouches the unbelievably unappealing Joe Don Baker. The love scene between him and Linda Evans will turn even the strongest stomach. And for some reason, Hoyt Axton sings the theme song. ("HOYT, HOW COULD YOU?") Yessir, this one's a classic: great wisecracking for a wonderfully awful film, and a important moment in the show's history. The DVD contains no extras except for the original theatrical trailer for "Mitchell" (did ANYONE really want to see this film when it came out?), but this is a must-have for MST3K fans. Non-fans may want to experience a few Joel episodes before seeing this so they have a frame of reference for the story, but it's unquestionably one of the definitive episodes of the show.

BYE-BYE JOEL:
It seems they saved the best for last--for Joel Hodgson that is. MITCHELL is the ultimate in the bad made-for-tv movie that doubled as a pilot that thankfully never took off. All of which makes perfect fuel for Joel and the 'bots to tear into. It seems there is no end to the laughs and to the bad taste. Joe Don Baker is an absolute slob, and the fat jokes are deserved--the PC be damned! I also liked this episode for the spotlight on Gypsy's rescue of Joel in a crate of Hamdingers! My favorite moment is the horrific scene where Joe Don Baker's revolver slowly, unbearably rolls down the inside of his pants' leg, like some demonic sex organ or, worse, a product of incontinence. The screams from Joel and the 'bots are perfectly suited for the bad joke.