He initially tries to use a Spanish pocket phrase book unsuccessfully, but is quickly greeted at Grano de Oro Airport by a company rep.[1] Jim is taken on a tour of Maracaibo, Caracas, and Lagunillas to familiarize him with the new country; Venezuela is depicted in a positive fashion.

[3]:158 Assignment: Venezuela was produced by Sound Masters, Inc. for the Creole Petroleum Corporation (part of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey) and directed by John H. "Jack" Tobin.

Chris Morgan, author of The Comic Galaxy of Mystery Science Theater 3000: Twelve Classic Episodes and the Movies They Lampoon, writes in the book that the MST3K version of the film is long for an MST3K short, noting that the intended format gave the producers a chance to "stretch their legs" and keep close to the original running length.

He thought that the short itself was dull and lacking in comedic potential, and that keeping the original premise of oil-boom relocation to Venezuela ages the piece significantly, though he observed that "Mike and the 'bots do their best with it" and the running joke made about the width of the lake was funny.

[2]:97 Scholar Miguel Tinker Salas wrote that the film was part of a practice intended to make the American employees more sympathetic to the Venezuelan locals upon arrival, and to not be too brash; he also believes it was unsuccessful in this aim.

[9]:149 Although the writers did not directly address the colonialism present in the film, according to Giannini, the commentary does show an awareness of it, including interjections calling the protagonist "white devil" and a sarcastic reference to the United States as "the best country ever".