Movie: (1975) A slovenly cop is determined to bring a mob kingpin to justice.
First shown: 10/23/93
Opening: Joel’s unveils his toothpicky creation; the bots know what they have to do
Invention exchange: The Mads are being audited, so they’ve hired a temp by the name of Mike; J&tB present the Daktari stool
Host segment 1: Gypsy overhears the Mads plotting and thinks they’re talking about Joel
Host segment 2: A worried Gypsy tries to think of a way to get Joel off the SOL; Crow and Tom are no help
Host segment 3: Mike learns of a hidden escape pod, and gives Gypsy control
End: Joel is ejected into the escape pod, leaving behind a plaque and a final word; Dr. F. is furious … until Mike presents his time card
Stinger: “Your lying through your teeth!” “Buzz off!” “No, you buzz off!” “I SAID BUZZ OFF, KID!”
(209 votes, average: 4.78 out of 5)
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• It all starts so normally. Just another episode, right? Wrong. This is, of course, the most famous of the show’s “transition” episodes, and I’ve seen it perhaps a dozen times now. What sticks out is how well the whole thing falls together. There’s a lot going on here, but it’s all accomplished in about 15 minutes. Tight scripting, tight performances, tight editing, it’s a marvel of precision. It’s sentimental, but it doesn’t get mawkish. And it’s very funny all the way through.
• This episode was first put out as a single-disk release on November of 2001.
• References.
• You want a metaphor? How about Joel building an extremely fragile creation, certain in the knowledge that it will be destroyed? Now, that’s a metaphor.
• Mike makes his first appearance as, well, Mike. Wow is he young. (Recently I saw a movie starring a young Tab Hunter, and I’d never noticed before how much a young Mike and young Tab vaguely resemble each other. Maybe it’s the square heads.)
• The Daktari stool sat in the hallway of BBI for years. It was still there when I visited the set in 1999.
• What does Joel have against Harlan Ellison? Besides the obvious, of course…
• Segment 1 features a parody of the scene in “2001: A Space Odyssey” in which computer Hal reads the lips of the astronauts. Interesting that “2001” is again parodied in another transition episode at the end of season seven.
• Segment 1 is pretty much as close to Dr. F and Frank as most of us will ever get. I remember some female fans of Trace rather enjoyed it.
• Jim does a great job in segment 2. “Breathe through your nose”?
• I love the moment when Mitchell says: “Sh—.” and Joel finishes his line with: ‘…ugar?”
• Want a connection from this movie to the Robert Blake murder case? Sure, we all do! Gary McLarty and Ronald (Duffy) Hambleton, both of whom testified against Blake when he was accused of killing his wife, had small roles in this movie. McLarty played one of Mistretta’s henchmen and Hambleton played mob boss Edmondo Bocca, who gets dropped by Mitchell just short of the green. Both testified that Blake explicitly discussed killing his wife. But, unfortunately for the prosecution, both of these guys had somewhat checkered pasts. Blake’s defense team successfully undermined the credibility of both witnesses, introducing evidence of mental illness, drug addiction, etc. In the end, their testimony may have actually helped Blake get off.
• Not mentioned in the references list, because they only do references during the movie and not during the host segments, is the “OPE” thing Gypsy is muttering. It’s a reference to the movie “Dr. Strangelove.”
• The presence of that Christmas tree in John Saxon’s house — and pretty much no other references to it being Christmas — is one of the many odd things about this movie.
• Joel seems to lose it during the “Adam Rich” scene. (Actually, the kid is played by a Todd Bass, in his second and last role in show business, according to the IMDB. It would be fun to find Mr. Bass, who must be in his 40s by now, to see what he remembers of this shoot. By the way, according to Wikipedia the kid is supposed to be the son of Linda Evans’ character! Who knew?)
• Then current reference: the forgotten movie “Cop and a Half.”
• Hamdingers suddenly took over the MSTie consciousness after this episode, but it was funny how Gypsy and Mike (and, by extension, BBI) seemed very clear on what Hamdingers were … but nobody else seemed to be. It was hard to nail down just what they were, and descriptions seemed contradictory. Some said the Swift-Premium folks made them (I believe Kevin invoked Swift Premium during an online chat). Not true. At long last, I can point to this site, which seems to solve the mystery at last.
Hamdingers were a short-lived meat product produced by the Patrick Cudahy Co. out of Cudahy, WI, in the mid ‘70s … The product was sliced ham patties, about the size of a hamburger patty, and it came in a round can. Like Spam, it became a great meat to fry up with some eggs for breafast, but the great thing about Hamdingers is that it came in individually sliced portions, so you could grab a patty and fry it up for that perfect Hamdinger sandwich.
The entry doesn’t mention that they were reportedly great fish bait as well.
• I love that DOS command Mike has to type in to the “techtronic panel” (apparently this was the one and only time that the control panel in Deep 13 was called this).
• Movie comment: Toward the end of the movie, Mitchell inserts a portion of his handkerchief (there’s a lesson, kids!: always remember to carry a handkerchief; you never know when you might want to blow up a drug dealer’s car!), then screws the gas cap back on over it, so that the rest of the handkerchief is hanging down. He then drives to the meeting place and when the deal goes south he, all in a split second, whips out a lighter, lunges forward and holds the lighter to the handkerchief, which INSTANTANEOUSLY lights up. Now maybe, just maybe, the tank was very, very full and the handkerchief got nice and soaked with gasoline on the ride over. But the tank might also have been mostly empty, meaning the handkerchief could have been bone dry. That seems far more likely, doesn’t it? Which would mean it would have taken maybe ten seconds for Mitchell to light it, plenty of time to stop Mitchell. What I’m saying is that it seems unlikely that the handkerchief would immediately burst into flames in a fraction of a second like it does here. The whole thing is about as implausible as a young, sultry callgirl falling in love with Mitchell.
• Callbacks: Several references to “Eegah”; reference to rock climbing.
• Toward the end of the movie, we get Joel’s last bit of fatherly control during the bit where Tom and Crow get a bit dark and suggest Mitchell should turn the gun on himself.
• Naughty riff: “I’m huge.”
• I love the classic, low-tech use of confetti to simulate static in the Hexfield. Very Joel.
• When fans on the internet weren’t obsessing about Hamdingers, they were arguing about the correct pronunciation of “Lao” as in “Dr. Lao.” The consensus was that Joel blew it.
• Tom and Crow fall apart during the PANIC, but I think this may be one time it was on purpose.
• I love Mike’s expression as Dr. F and Frank laugh about his fate.
• Cast and crew roundup: Sound mixer Herman Lewis also worked on “Teenage Caveman,” “Viking Women and the Sea Serpent and “Night of the Blood Beast.” Score composer Jerry Styner also worked on “The Side Hackers.” In front of the camera, Buck Young also appears in “Stranded in Space,” Rayford Barnes also appears in “Beginning of the End,” Jim B. Smith also appeared “San Francisco International and Alan “Mustang hood” Gibbs did stunts for “Hangar 18.” And, of course, Joe Don Baker also stars in “Final Justice.”
• CreditsWatch: Host segments directed by Kevin Murphy. Jim Mallon is listed as a contributing writer for every episode in season 5 except this one, where he is listed as an “additional writer.”
• Fave riff: “We’re going to control the ghetto, you and I, young man.” Honorable mention: “BABY OIL??? NOOOO!!!!”
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I absolutely love this episode. Probably my favorite of all time – certainly in the top five. There has been some discussion as to whether or not this is really a great episode or just an average one – or even one that is not good at all. I guess it really just depends on what kind of riffing you like. Joel and the bots are merciless in their verbal abuse of Joe Don Baker, and for some reason I find this really funny. I guess he is a really fun guy to pick on. Oh, and Mitchell is really dumb, which helps. I mean, if a woman shows up at your door and just says, “I’m your new friend,” when you have just pissed off a very powerful member of the criminal underworld, I’m sure we would all just let her in our apartment, right?
On top of that the points in the show where they are not railing on Mitchell seem to strike a chord with me as being overly funny. The scene in the park with the mobsters is about as funny a scene as I think they have ever done. There is something about it that I find hilarious. From the exchange of secret codes, “The spotted cuckoo bird is flying backwards…It’s a cold day for pontooning,” Servo’s version of “Saturday in the Park,” the constant reminders that the mobster is, in fact Italian, Servo’s response of “Oui” to the mobster’s rhetorical question, to the finale of “I’m almost Anthony Quinn” it all just clicks for me. There are a lot of catch phrases (HOT, MERGING ACTION!!) from this episode that even my wife, who never really watches the show, uses.
While it was shame that Joel left, the show continued and produced many more great episodes. Joel, Mike, it’s all MST3k and it’s all good.
# 139 I always thought the Daktari Stool was a play on words for a doctor asking if you had Dark tarry stools. Get it?????
Capt. Ross:
As I said about four years and 80 messages ago:
“I’ve never been convinced that BBI knowingly meant to invoke the obscure medical phrase “dark tarry stool” (however much Frank’s delivery of that line sounded like it) — mostly because I can’t see how it’s relevant. Usually they don’t make a pun unless it has some sort of point. I’ve always felt this was just a connection fans made.”
“How do you like your scotch?”
“By the quart.”
Possibly my all time favorite riff.
Mitchell….what a great episode.
Don’t know if anyone mentioned this yet, but one thing Harlan Ellison also did, was after being hired by Disney in the 80s, he made a suggestion to do an animated porn flick. He of course was fired on the spot.
Also, Ellison hates Snopes.com just because they have an article of that incident.
My favorite episode for years and years until Riding with Death supplanted it. What can I say? There’s just something about the ’70s.
I had the Rhino VHS in college and introduced many friends and roommates and prospective girlfriends to MST through it. Ironically, my wife doesn’t like MST at all. But I forgive her.
Favorite lines:
“Or 3: You get drunk and pass out again!”
“Fluffernutter! Uh!”
“My my my my GOD!!!”
“It’s stream of consciousness – he stopped singing about Mitchell five minutes ago.”
“They’re randomly loaded. It’s a little game i play.”
“And, she’s an acrobat, Ted!”
“He was hastily put together.”
“She was gonna smell like beer sooner or later.”
“Mitchell! I’m gonna taking my clothes off now! You better stop me!!”
I’m pretty divided about this episode. The riffing is great (shouldn’t Mitchell be paired up with a buttoned-down straight-shooting partner? they couldn’t find a buddy for the Jim Belushi character?), the movie is wretched, but I’m not a big fan of this one.
Much like Sampson and the Vampire Women, Laserblast, and Diabolik, I find this episode sad because it’s a goodbye, and I hate goodbyes. I think MST3k was very awkward with handling transitions; it casts a pall over the whole thing, and I find myself rarely watching these episodes. Maybe they should have just said “bye!” like Josh did and walked off!
@ #138: As I mentioned earlier, I never liked how the Trek franchise handled time travel, which helps lower my opinion of the episode. Plus I find it hard to believe that the nation could be turned so pacifistic that it would ignore the kick to the batch that was Pearl Harbor.
Some time back, the blog Fantasmo Cult Cinema Explosion did a profile on Joe Don Baker.
#1= I remember TV GUIDE and several other magazines had blurbs on Mike replacing Joel at least a couple of months before it happened. The show was beginning to gain momentum on the pop culture landscape at the time outside the loyal fans, so it was becoming more common to see articles on it.
*feels nostalgic*
EDIT: If I was smart, I would read all replies before doing so myself.
*feels shame*
As far as Harlan Ellison goes, I read his “last published short story ever” in the Ray Bradbury tribute anthology SHADOW SHOW the other week. The story itself is barely a few paragraphs, but there’s an author’s note that goes on for pages and pages about Harlan Ellison on Harlan Ellison.
Bradbury gets…um…mentioned.
Didn’t give me a very favorable impression. And this is from some who loved “Jefty is Five” and “Repent, Harlequin!”
#143 Thanks for being the one. There’s always someone who gets mad when I say I like the Joel years (way) better than the Mike ones. Which if anything, is kinda odd since Joel ya know, created the show. But I never said Mike was a hack. He was head writer for all my favorite episodes and his songs are hilarious. I just didn’t like the way the tone of the show changed, how the Mads seemed to start acting way over the top, and the host segments were largely lame.
And if you honestly feel the Coleman Francis episodes are some of the best ones, then we just have different senses of humor I guess. I think they’re the worst (yes, even worse than Hamlet). I think the Coleman Francis eps get the same treatment as ‘Manos’, in that the movie is SO bad people say that’s their favorite episode. But I think it’s just more of a community thing where people repeat what others have said. Because even though I love Joel and ‘Manos’ was even my first first-run episode I ever recorded, it’s no where near the funniest Joel episode.
There, now I alienated everyone.
“But I think it’s just more of a community thing where people repeat what others have said”
Why do you think this?
I genuinely like the Coleman Francis episodes. I did so long, long before I encountered other MSTies.
To state that people do so merely because they’ve heard others say so seems pretty odd.
Although I am a big Mike fan (probably more of a Bill Corbett as Crow fan) I was always sad to see the sleepy eye guy leave.
Best dynamic of the show was Mike as special guest star. Also, some movies, such as the sword and sandal flicks could only be funny with Joel for some reason. Plus Joel,Mike,Frank,Trace in the writing room was a great option…I guess I like the premier Mike years after Frank,Trace and Joel left better is because the older references went away and more dialogue infused riffs were used.
Just differing humor, which is why I am glad we have the Joel and Mike era…it encompasses so much more of a fanbase.
For MITCHELL, this episode holds a dear place in my heart since my son’s name IS Mitchell…so even to this day when he is doing something monotonous, the cha chaka cha Mitchell theme will come at him from LF
This is a sad episode of mst3k history :| but of course, still one of the funniest. It seems like Best Brains, when it came to the doctiary stool, was in a hurry for an invention so they just used whatever they could. :P
And by the way, I don’t think Servo’s head falling off was on purpose, but I do agree on Crow; you could tell Trace was shaking him to make him fall apart.
Earl Rogers,
I guess it’s just me. I can’t stand the Coleman Francis ones, and they are the ONLY ones I feel that way about (okay, also Starfighters). I just meant if you asked everyone at a MST convention what their favorite episode is, you’d probably get more ‘Manos’ than anything, like you’re ‘a real fan’ if you say that. If you’re into comics, it’s similar to if you don’t say ‘Watchmen’ is the best comic ever, you’re not a ‘real fan’. Or if you don’t say Citizen Kane is the greatest movie ever, you’re not a ‘real movie fan’.
But possibly that’s just my imagination because I cannot believe for the life of me that out of all the MST3K episodes, the Coleman Francis ones are in any way some of the more popular ones.
But I’ve been wrong before. So there’s that.
@166 – Mike wasn’t the prop-comic Agent J, and his comic instincts weren’t bent toward the idea of “found humor”, so giving him the Invention Exchange was a bad idea that was pretty much agreed to phase out of the show.
(One of the first things that turned off some core Joel-era fans in the fifth season, starting with Mitchell, was that the running Joel and KTMA-derived bits like the Invention and the letters were treated almost contemptuously, and the first few Inventions in S5 came off as “Uh, yeah, I’m Joel now, so here’s something goofy I’m supposed to do something with. It’s, um…goofy, I guess.”
By episode #514, we got–yep–another joke about minimum-wage waiters at TJ Bearwiches, and that pretty much sums up why they dropped it in favor of more self-aware bridge segments. Why ask him to tell new jokes?)
This mid-70’s cop movie is probably best remembered as Joel’s last episode. The part of Walter Deaney was played by John Saxon. He was born Carmine Orrico in Brooklyn, New York on August 5, 1935. John Saxon has appeared in nearly 200 roles in the movies and on television in a more-than half-century-long career that has stretched over seven decades since he made his big screen debut in 1954 in uncredited bit parts in It Should Happen to You (1954) and George Cukor’s A Star Is Born (1954). He studied acting with Stella Adler after graduating from New Utrecht High School. Has a black belt in karate.
Favorite lines:
[Credit for Merlin Olsen] Yeah, here’s your loser actor bouquet.
“Come on Don, let’s get some juice.” Fresh panties all around.
Orson Bean, he’s a cop.
“Mitchell, people don’t like you. In fact, I don’t care for you myself, why is that?” Perhaps our brief but bitter affair.
They arrested Harlan Ellison. Good.
“Log it, fifty-five out.” And speaking of logging it, I better find a bush around here.
Reynolds Wrap—keeps freshness in, but can’t keep Mitchell out.
[Mitchell running from Deaney’s house] Oh man, this is hard to do after six sour cream burritos.
Bo Derek…well Linda Evans actually.
[sniff, sniff] So, do you work at a petting zoo?
These guys couldn’t shake a trolley. This makes Driving Miss Daisy look like Bullett.
Yes, the Lincoln Continental, perfect for off-road excitement.
[Mitchell shoots Bocca at golf course] Hey, can we play through, we’ve got a head wound back here?
The new Chrysler Fury, the car that thinks it’s a house.
[Mitchell’s dinner with Cummings] Can we get more volume on that jacket, please? “Forget the Heroin.” That’s for dessert.
The declining years of Lee Majors.
“…I arrange a $100 company in your name.” You mean, ORION?
[Mitchell finds “heroin” in limo trunk] Gee, Scarface didn’t do that much at once.
It’s the Starship Enterprise in dry dock.
Let’s rip off the last scene from Key Largo, Mitchell.
“I’m throwing it out.” Grab anything frilly out of there you want.
You know, it’s about this time in any killing spree that you really ought to turn the gun on yourself.
Final Thought: Mitchell! I give this one 5 out of 5 stars.
#143
I think one of the good things about MST3K is that it’s such a big tent. The show went through changes that would have collapsed others, yet here we are over 10 years after the last one was made and we’re still enjoying it. Every era of “the next person in line” was immensely funny and each new person did it their own unique way. And they were funny!
#167: You nailed it down, we have different tastes in humor. Sorry, it can’t be helped. What I find annoying is that some people are talking about the “death” of MST3K, that’s bollocks, the Brains did a great job after Hogdson was exiled by Mallon.
#168: Shut up, Eric J, just shut up.
I remember when the Mitchell episode came to the University of Iowa back in October 1993. I was at work when tickets went on sale, so of course I didn’t get to go. (I tried to get a ticket after work anyway, and was basically laughed at by the cashier. Not that I’m bitter …) Still, there was a guy at work who did get tickets, and this amazed me – I didn’t think he’d know funny if it dropped on him like a meteorite.
I do love some of the football-related lines in this, like Joel as Joe Don, “So, Merlin … do you know Roman Gabriel?”
Or the then-current Vikings name-check, “Al Noga?”
And of course, Tom commenting on Joe Don’s glassware, “I got these at Conoco. They’ve got Dick Butkus on them.” We had some (google tells me they were from Shell) NFL tumblers with team logos. I’d love to have a set of them today.
I’d love to know if anything in real life brings EricJ greater joy than hating on Mike any chance he can get across numerous message boards. As much as many of us detest his repetitive jabber, ya gotta admit: the man is DRIVEN.
(To be more on-topic: Yeah, Mitchell is an all-around great episode! Goodbye, hilarious Joel, Hello hilarious Mike! And thanks for staying, hilarious robots!)
Neptune Man,
Yeah, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they kept going. I love Season 8, and some other episodes like Rowsdower, Werewelf and Boggy Creek 2, the Legend Continues to be heard about by no one. I just feel like Season 5.5 – 6 was the lowpoint.
Still…Girl’s Town has a couple things going for it…
YOU’RE lying through your teeth.
Mitchell, hearts pounding, Mitchell, veins clogging.
#168 I reiterate the shut up eric, just shut up
Besides, is Jim Mallon 100% at fault? NO! Joel Hodgson had a habit of quitting when his heart wasn’t in something. He exiled himself after he became big as a comic, that was his own doing. So, Mallon may have pushed, but Joel’s personality and history shows he never wants to push back. He is just as fault for his leaving as Mallon is…if not more.
And I like Crawling Eye,the Gamera’s,Pod People and I accuse my Parents as much as I love Space Mutiny,Final Sacrifice, Time Chasers and my all time favorite Prince of Space
and I, for one, am glad we had the shake up and new blood in MST3k, or we may not have had 200 episodes to cherish
Oh and I forgot the funniest part for me besides the jam #176 mentioned is when the robber runs away from the locked door and Crow says “Hey you” the guy turns like he heard him and Joel says “what? BANG Ohhhhh”
I realize I’m fighting a strong idea here, but, you know? Mitchell isn’t a bad cop, really.
I mean, he takes seriously the killing of a guy that could easily have been written off as, like the Brains put it, “you’re rich and white, I don’t see where there’s a problem”; when his bosses try to squelch his investigation by assigning him a pointless 18-hour (!) watchdog shift he really punishes himself by continuing to investigate in the precious few hours where he might be getting any sleep; and he really does something about the original killing and the drug deals that were swirling around the same guy.
Mitchell is not a pleasant person, granted (as opposed to Joe Don Baker, about whom I really don’t know anything), but he’s given a tough murder to solve and he solves it, come what may.
Something I personally have against Harlan Ellison is how he turned me against Doctor Who for many years. To clarify, way back when I tried out a novelization of a Fourth Doctor adventure for which Ellison had written an introduction. In it, his praise of Doctor Who primarily consisted of ripping just about every other piece of science fiction he hated. You could have filled a fleet of tankers with the bile he unleashed in that introduction. Adding in the fact that the novelization itself wasn’t very good and it was a long time before I was willing to give Doctor Who a fair shake.
That’s a great point Joseph, he WAS a good cop…a highly flawed, highly cholesterol laced,2 failed physicals, type of good cop :)
And the Joel years come to an end… *sniff*
Watching the series in chronological order for the first time, it seems very natural for things to go this way for the character of Joel, although his departure mid-season is a bit sudden. I wonder what fan reaction would’ve been if it was at the end of Season 5…..?
I love the Host Segments in this, especially #1and #3, Gypsy really shines in her HAL9000 impersonation and the character of Mike Nelson makes his first impression (it’s good). The storytelling in those segments (and the opening and closing) is top notch, economical and funny, with just enough sentimentality, it’s some of their best work outside the theater.
I am however alarmed by Joel’s shortpants and the shot of his knees.. ..speaking of, what happened to regular commenter dsman71…., he was always talking about Joel’s hair and knees…guess he finally got some therapy..? :)
“You guys watch Joe Don Baker movies?”
Well, yeah….sure Mitchell isn’t that good, but Baker is really good in Walking Tall and The Outfit (and Mars Attacks!), and I highly recommend Don Siegel’s Charley Varrick, which is amazing. Check it out if 70’s cinema is your thing…
Mitchell is a funny episode, some strong riffing and great running jokes, and I find the movie itself fairly watchable, just because of the star power of John Saxon (whom I love) and all the garish 70’s fashion and the huge cars, etc..
Hard not to classify this one as a classic, although not my personal favorite of the season (see list below)….
RIFFS:
Crow: “It’s Bigfoot!”
Servo: “He looks like the moon in ‘Trip to the Moon.'”
Joel: Watch out for snakes.” —-the last time Joel says this….*sniff*
Crow: “Fresh panties all around.”
Crow (as driver, to Balsam): “I loved you in Taking of Pelham One Two Three.” —-yup, another great 70’s flick, came out the year before Mitchell!
Crow: “Little peek into Mitchell’s life.”
gun slides down his pant leg,
Joel: “WHAT?!”
All 3: “Ah!”
Crow: “Hot, merging action.”
Joel: “Baby oil! AHHH!!”
Joel: “Well let’s see.. I see Van Morrison, I see Meat Loaf, and Spooooock!”
Joel: “No wonder she’s attracted to him, she’s stoned.”
Crow: “Where’s your Cheech and Chong album?”
–
—
My
My
My
My Mitchell,
5/5
–
—
All in all, this is how I’d rank Joel’s final 12 episodes, in order:
5/5: Eegah, Girl in Lovers’ Lane, Warrior of Lost World, Mitchell
4/5: I Accuse my Parents, Magic Voyage of Sinbad, Operation Double 007
3/5: Swamp Diamonds, Secret Agent Super Dragon, The Painted Hills, Hercules, Gunslinger.
–
—
Wow, what a loaded episode! When it first came out I’d fallen out of being a regular viewer. I’m pretty sure by now things had fallen apart with my best friend that I was living with and watched MST with regularly. It’s a really messed up story involving suicide attempts, mental hospitalizations, domestic violence, and eventually a painful but final separation between the two of us.
As a result I saw The Brain that wouldn’t Die before I saw Mitchel as a rerun. So I was totally blindsided by Mike’s presence on the SOL. I caught a rerun of Mitchel soon after I think. Eventually the WTF factor wore off and I got used to Mike.
I still missed and preferred Joel as host. I still consider seasons 2 through 5.12 to be the golden age of MST3K. But I’m very glad Mike took over. He brought us years of excellent riffs with MST which led to The Film Crew and then Rifftrax. So I’d like to raise a glass to toast Joel, the original. And then I’d like to raise a glass again to toast Mike who carried the torch.
BTW, to this day I’m largely ignorant of the “politics” that led to Joel’s departure and I don’t really want to know. I think it would be like hearing my parents fight. And if his heart would no longer have been in it then it was clearly time for Joel to move on. Now we have Rifftrax and Cinematic Titanic. So I’ve got no complaints.
In other news… John Saxon was good in this and fantastic in Enter The Dragon, and the better Nightmare On Elm St. films. And Joe Don Baker has turned in some good performances as Watch-out-for-Snakes pointed out. Just not this one.
And am I the only one who loves the Double Butt Graft? “And to think that they all laughed.”
Sorry, never have seen a Don Joe Baker movie that wasn’t crap
Even the Eddie Murphy movie, which was in his prime and had a great message “Distinguished Gentleman” was ruined by Joe Don Baker and his rubber face acting
#175
Yes! You caught Sampo’s error, too!!
I can’t remember how old I was, I assume I had just started junior high when I caught this at my grandmother’s one saturday. I had been a fan for a year and was not tuned into the cast news or behind the scenes info as others so I didn’t know this was Joel’s swansong. I remember thinking nothing about any of it as I had seen so many episode’s in with various characters being hurt or maimed only to be back and okay for the next episode.
But it did feel different this time. I remember loving the riffs and me and my brother simply looked at each other when the show ended and refused to believe that what we had seen was what had happened. We were sure that Joel would be back for the next episode but we believed with that sneaking fear that we were wrong. Of course, when we caught the next episode and Mike’s full introduction it would never be the same. My brother stopped watching but I took a chance on the blonde man and haven’t regretted it.
People talk about the flame wars online. Imagine it in one single house between two siblings. My brother would shout whenever MST came up: “Come back Joel, we all miss you”. It was never to be, not like it was.
More on Mike in the future episodes. But on the subject of Joel and Mike. They both were good in their own ways. Joel was the creator, Mike was the Custodian and they both loved the fans and cherished what they were the faces of.
On a rather ironic note: This is the episode I use to introduce people to this show. It’s the best in the series in my opinion.
After reading my post above (#182) I think it makes things sound worse than they were for me. This is because I was largely an observer and impotent rescuer. It was my former friend who went to mental institutions and tried to kill himself. I watched it happen like a slow motion train wreck. I did all I could to help. In high school we were both all messed up inside. He was like a body without a soul. And I was like a soul without a body. For a while we were almost a complete person, but after graduating my lifelong depression was getting better while his was getting worse. After he went off to the army and ended up in a local mental hospital after beating up and trying to strangle his 16 yr old wife; the faith I used to have in him was destroyed with a thoroughness that astounded me. When he finally stabilized enough so I could sever my ties to him without it prompting another suicide crisis, I was gone and stayed gone. It’s been years since I had any anxiety dreams about him.
Letting go of him really felt like cutting myself in half. In high school when I thought my own death was imminent I was trying to share and invest the good parts of me in him so they might live after me. Not one of my better ideas.
One problem after we separated was that almost everything I enjoyed, including MST3K, I had shared with him. So naturally almost anything I enjoyed became something that reminded me of him. But I was determined not to let my former friend ruin everything I liked. And I haven’t. Geez what a mess. It was like a borderline psychotic depressive bromance gone wrong.
Throughout all this crap and beyond MST was like a friend I could rely on, and I watch a little (or it’s descendants) each day.
Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. It’s been almost 20 years since I saw my former friend. I take my medication responsibly. And I have a policy about not having friends/girlfriends who are more mentally unstable than I am. Too bad Rommel didn’t have a similar policy.
“Keep circulating the tapes.”
Rowsdower, honey?
did you just put the phrases “Coleman Francis” and “Citizen Kane” in the same paragraph?
Cornjob: sorry to hear your troubles…we all just have to try to keep our eyes on the path right before us…
Wow, can’t find a review from me anywhere.
This has always been top ten for me. I haven’t found the jokes hold up under repeated viewings as well as some of my other top tens, but it’s a great one. The quote from Dr. Lao is one of those reasons you know this is “your” show and always will be.
A+
Re#188:
Thanks for the kind sentiments. And my life has been good. Got engaged earlier this year even.
Back to Joel/Mike. I think of the Joel years as being a bit like the classic line-up of a great band, and the Mike years as being like the music made by the same band after a key member had been replaced. It’s not the same, but worth listening to.
Using this analogy the Joel era of MST is like the 1969-1978 Years of Black Sabbath when Ozzy Osbourne was still with them. The Mike era of MST then being analogous to the 1979-1984 Ronnie James Dio/Ian Gillan years of Sabbath. Thankfully the analogy breaks down now since around 1985 Toni Iommi started throwing crap together on his own and calling it Black Sabbath. MST has no similar period of decadence in my opinion.
I can’t believe I’m crawling out of my cave to defend the Daktari / Dark Tarry Stool. again.
We are talking about some of the funniest people in entertainment, spewing out hundreds of gags per ep, and we have to wonder if something that was genuinely funny and very clever was in fact an intentional joke ?
I think we have to give them the benefit of the doubt, they are certainly witty enough to come up with it, and both facets of the bit are things they would be familiar with.
But this can be tested I suppose. How many of their jokes are accidental ? How many examples do we have of comments that THEY did not intend to be funny, but only ended up being funny because of what we the audience brought with us.
I dunno. maybe one of us needs therapy. maybe both of us.
sigh.
I can’t remember how I found out about Joel leaving. It made me sad.
Atleast it was a funny episode. Servo does his 3M thing. Which reminds me of where I grew up there is a sign that’s been there since atleast the 1980s for 3M, yet it’s practically in the middle of nowhere. I could be wrong, but there was no business within five miles of that place and there’s only a few houses out there until you get to the freeway. There’s no reason for a advertisement for anything there. It’s just rusting away now.
“The future belongs to ‘3M'”
I saw Joe Don Baker in Goldeneye, that movie was pretty cool.
Finally, I think I was showing this to some of my friends (who didn’t have cable) and laughing about the Yahoo Serious joke at the end. I know who Yahoo Serious was, I just pretend that I don’t.
“He landed just short of the green.”
“…leaves nothing behind but the great smell of Brute.”
“I’ve got some good booze.”
…and you have to love the 70s decor. You can’t do big chases on the Priuses of today. You have to have those old 70s cars that you can beat up a bit. YOu think the Mustang would of been a manual transmission…
Two fave riffs:
Crow – You’re rich and white, I don’t see a problem
Crow – Hot, merging action (during the chase on the freeway on the way to the Mustang hood)
Runner up:
Joel – Merlin looks like he joined the Dave Clark 5.
JDB and Linda Evans were in an episode of “The Big Valley” together circa 1968. He played an Indian who went to law school and was a childhood sweetheart of Audra Barkley (Linda’s character). About a year before Mitchell Linda Evans appeared in an episode of “Banacek” directed by Andrew McLaughlin (director of Mitchell).
I loved this episode so much that three of my cats were named in part after Mitchell characters – Mitchell, Greta and Benton.
Another couple things on Mitchell (plus, I mean c’mon, let’s get this thread up to 200, amiright?):
The first episode I ever saw was #601 Girls Town (a Mike ep, for those not keeping up) but Comedy Central was still showing Joel episodes on the regular, so I was exposed to both of them as hosts right from the get go. I never really experienced a “one is better than the other” kind of attitude. They were both funny, in different ways. (For the record, if forced, I’m a Joel guy..). Years later, post-Internet, I found out about the Joel/Mike flame wars and found the whole idea to be kind of ridiculous (still do) but you know, Joel’s departure is rather sudden, so I guess I can see where some fans are/were coming from.
–
In other news:
Last year I made a major score at a local thrift/second hand store: an original Mitchell movie poster, in great condition, only $5!! It’s on my wall right now, framed and everything. (just google “Mitchell movie poster” for an image. I’m lazy).
“Brute Force with a Badge!”
There’s a press photo of Mitchell and Benton fighting on the ship up for sale on eBay, used for the CBS airing in the late 70s:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CBS-Press-Photo-7X9-Joe-Don-Baker-Merlin-Olsen-/370256181809?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5634fcfa31
I used to think that “Felony” could be interpreted as “Mitchell 2” until I saw Joe Don Baker in “Wacko”. Just think of it as Mitchell gets kicked off the police force but is still working a case.
? ????????? ?????????, ??? ????? ??????????? ????????????? “???????? ?????????”, ???????? ???????? ?? ?????? ???????????????? ????, ??? ? ????????? ????? ???? ???????? ??? ????? ? ???????? ????????? ????. ?????????, ???????? ????????, “????? ?? ????? ??????”, ? “??????????? ?? ?????????? ??????????? ?????-?????????? ?? ????? ????”.????????, ??? ?????? ???????????? ??????? 16 ?????? ??????????? ?????????? ?? ????? ?? ??????? ?????? ? ????? ? ???, ??? ?? ???????????? ????? ???????? ????????? ?? ????? 12 ????????? ????????.
Al Noga?
Thoughts:
I don’t think the kid is supposed to be the callgirl’s son. I think some people misunderstood when the kid says “My mother doesn’t like you.” But the kid also thinks Mitchell is from an insurance agency or something like that.
Another reference to Christmas is that Mitchell refers to the callgirl as “A Christmas gift”. In the uncut version she introduced herself as a Christmas gift.
Is Mitchell supposed to be his first name or last name?
The Brains like to downplay what Joe Don Baker said he’d do if he ever met any of them(Except for Kevin. There have been multiple times he’s said “Bring it on!). Their take on it is that Baker just got sick of being asked how he felt about the episode. I’ve heard that later he admitted he’d overreacted.
MST3K did the TV version of the movie, complete with different takes of some scenes where the language was toned down(for instance, in the other version Linda Evans wrote “Bastard” on Mitchell’s car). I’ve heard people say different things about whether the death of John Saxon’s character was cut out for the MST3K episode or whether it was already missing for the TV version of the movie. Either way we ended up with his death briefly mentioned on the radio instead of showing the epic scene where he tries to run Mitchell over in a dune buggy. I would LOVE to see Rifftrax do the theatrical cut of the film!
I think the host segments overwhelm the movie (duh) and agree that a Rifftrax version of the whole uncut film would be pretty cool. Or oily, whatever.
Not a lot to add to all these great comments other than, as a straight female, I absolutely do not see or comprehend anything about Joe Don Baker that could be considered even remotely attractive. Now he’ll probably want to beat me up. Bring it on!
#168 Shut up Ericj, I tell ya, shut up.
I love this episode, it does have a sad note to it as it is Joel’s departure show, but it is also the first episode with the character of Mike Nelson, so every dark cloud has a silver lining. There is first rate riffing and the host segments are just as good.I loved all of the riffing on the pathetic chase scene. I also loved the opening segments where the ‘bots destroy Joel’s toothpick replica of Monticello:
Well, as far as breaking stuff goes it was good but not great.
Yeah, not as fun as that ceramic bell collection.
Favorite Riffs:
“Oh, thank goodness, they merged successfully. My heart was in my throat.”-Joel
“So why does he keep downshifting with an automatic?” Servo
“I’ve seen faster funeral processions!” Crow