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. This resulted in John Saxon's character, killed by Mitchell in a deleted scene, simply vanishing from the action. The only mention of his disappearance was a voiceover by a radio announcer stating that Saxon's character had died. Tom Servo remarks on this lapse with the question, "Hey, guys, wasn't John Saxon in this movie?" Particularly mocked were Mitchell's alcoholism, slovenliness and uncouth behavior. During the opening credits, Servo and Crow mock the theme song by improvising lyrics about food and Mitchell's weight, briefly referencing the theme song from "Shaft".