YMMV / Mystery Science Theater 3000 S05 E12: Mitchell

• Common Knowledge: Everybody knows The Brains cut out the "dune buggy" scene, making it unfair of them to joke about Deaney's disappearance from the film. It was actually because they used an edited-for-TV print from Lorimar that already had several things Bowdlerized or completely deleted from the movie, including the scene where Deaney is killed off. Likewise, Joel's riff "I guess it's one of those effects too expensive to show" when Cummings is killed reflects that the shot of Cummings standing agape with a bleeding hole in his forehead was already snipped out of the film before MST3K ever got their hands on a copy (this VHS release contains the exact same edit here, demonstrating that the cut was not made by The Brains).
• Funny Moments:
  • Joel and the 'Bots reaction to the baby oil on Mitchell's nightstand.
    Crow: Oh my, my, my, my GOD!!!
  • "Joe Don Baker IS 'Mittens'! He's a cop!" When you can get that good of a CMOF in the opening credits, you know you're in for a treat.
  • Everything in the initial sequence, from Johnny Mathis invading Deaney's den to the line about "Oh there is? I just thought there was a big slob walking around my house."
  • Mitchell waving at the chopper while being pursued by Cummings' thugs.
    [Mitchell raises his hand]
    Joel: Taxi!
    [Mitchell waves both hands over his head]
    Servo: Touchdown!
• Harsher in Hindsight: In one host segment, Joel remarks about professional golfer Frank Urban "Fuzzy" Zoeller: "What a great guy!" A few years later there was a controversy when Fuzzy Zoeller made a racially insensitive joke about Tiger Woods.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • The line "Joe Don Baker is Mittens!" after Mittens became a Detractor Nickname for 2012 Presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
  • "Oh, the Martha Mitchell story!" Come 2022, there would be Gaslit, which is basically The Martha Mitchell Story as a prestige series (though with Julia Roberts, not Joe Don Baker, in the role).
• Pop-Culture Urban Legends: As mentioned on the main page, the whole "Joe Don Baker threatened to murder Best Brains for making fun of him" story seems to be a wild exaggeration. Since it was mentioned in The Amazing Colossal Episode Guide, a lot of fans treated as gospel fact even though the Brains themselves admitted that it was based on rumors they'd heard at conventions, not something they could verify. Baker has never directly addressed the controversy but the Brains indicate that his reaction was, if not exactly friendly, less extreme and more understandable.
  • Mike Nelson recalled the story's origins as a joke he made about Baker at a press conference around the time the Mitchell episode aired that if Baker ever saw the show he'd "kick our ass." According to Nelson, Baker "got like sixty calls from reporters" asking him about MST3K afterwards. Baker at first didn't know what they were talking about, then got frustrated with reporters hounding him and snapped that he did hate MST3K and they should leave him alone.^note Admittedly this is a secondhand account, but Nelson indicates he and Baker have mutual acquaintances, from whom he presumably heard this story. Kevin Murphy affirmed that Baker's comments were clearly a joke, though he joked in response for Baker to "bring it on, sweet cheeks."
  • Joel Hodgson has discussed this a few times, indicating there's at least a grain of truth to it. David Mitchell of Shout! Factory, who worked on MST3K's DVD releases, asked Baker if he'd be interested in recording an interview about Mitchell. Baker replied that he'd never actually seen the show but had been hearing about it for years (no doubt because of this rumor) and wasn't happy at the idea that they directed jokes at him personally, rather than the movie or character he played. That said, Baker indicated he held no serious grudge against Hodgson or the show - he just preferred not to revisit it.