MythBusters is a science entertainment TV program created and produced by Australia's Beyond Television Productions[1] for the Discovery Channel. The series is screened by numerous international broadcasters, including Discovery Channel Australia, Discovery Channel Latin America, Discovery Channel Canada, Quest, SBS Australia, 7mate Australia and the Discovery Channel in the UK. The show's hosts, special effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, use elements of the scientific method to test the validity of rumors, myths, movie scenes, adages, Internet videos, and news stories.
Filming is based in San Francisco, though some elements of production are done in Artarmon, Australia. Planning and some experimentation takes place at Hyneman's workshops in San Francisco; experiments requiring more space or special accommodations are filmed on location, typically around the San Francisco Bay area and other northern California places, going elsewhere when required, such as Florida for alligator experiments, or Africa for shark and elephant myths.
During the second season, members of Savage's and Hyneman's team ("The Build Team") were organized into a second team and now generally test myths separately from the main duo and operate from another workshop.
MythBusters refers both to the name of the documentary and also the cast members who test the experiments.
The series concept was created for the Discovery Channel as Tall Tales or True[2] by Australian writer and producer Peter Rees of Beyond Productions in 2002. Discovery rejected the proposal initially because they had just commissioned a series on the same topic. Rees refined the pitch to focus on testing key elements of the stories rather than just retelling them. Discovery agreed to develop and co-produce a three-episode series pilot. Jamie Hyneman was one of a number of special effects artists who was asked to prepare a casting video for network consideration. Rees had interviewed him previously for a segment of the popular science series Beyond 2000 about the British/American robot combat television series Robot Wars. Adam Savage, who had worked with Hyneman in commercials and on the robot combat television series BattleBots, was asked by Hyneman to help co-host the show because, according to Savage, Hyneman thought himself too uninteresting to host the series on his own.[3][4]
During July 2006, an edited thirty-minute version of MythBusters began airing on BBC Two in the UK. The episodes shown on the European Discovery Channel sometimes include extra scenes not shown in the U.S. version (some of these scenes are included eventually in "specials", such as MythBusters Outtakes).
Savage and Hyneman are the original MythBusters, and initially explored all the myths of the series using their combined experience with special effects. The two work at Hyneman's effects workshop, M5 Industries; they make use of his staff, who often work off-screen, with Hyneman and Savage usually shown doing most of the work at the shop. The show is narrated by Robert Lee, though in some regions his voice is replaced by a local narrator.
As the series progressed, members of Hyneman's staff were introduced and began to appear regularly in episodes. Three such members, artist Kari Byron, builder Tory Belleci and metal-worker Scottie Chapman, were organized as a second team of MythBusters during the second season, dubbed the "Build Team". After Chapman left the show during the third season, Grant Imahara, a colleague of Hyneman, was hired to provide the team with his electrical and robotics experience. Byron went on maternity leave in mid-2009, with her position on the Build Team temporarily filled by Jessi Combs,[5] best known for co-hosting Spike's Xtreme 4x4. Byron returned in the second episode of season eight. The Build Team now works at its own workshop, called M7,[6] investigating separate myths from the original duo. Each episode now typically alternates between the two teams covering different myths, although the two teams still work together.
The series had two interns, dubbed "Mythterns": Discovery Channel contest winner Christine Chamberlain and viewer building contest-winner Jess Nelson. During the first season, the program featured segments with folklorist Heather Joseph-Witham, who explained the origins of certain myths, and other people who had first-hand experience with the myths being tested, but those elements were phased out early during the series. The MythBusters still commonly consult with experts for myths or topics for which they need assistance. These topics include firearms, for which they mostly consult Lt. Al Normandy of the South San Francisco Police Department, and explosives, for which they consult retired FBI explosives expert Frank Doyle and Sgt. J.D. Nelson of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. The MythBusters often ask other people, such as those supplying the equipment being tested, what they know about the myth under investigation.
There is no consistent system for organizing MythBusters episodes into seasons. The program does not follow a typical calendar of on and off air periods. The official MythBusters website lists episodes by year.[7] On the other hand, Discovery sells DVD sets for "seasons", which sometimes follow the calendar year and sometimes don't.[8] In addition, Discovery and retail stores also sell "collections" which divide up the episodes in a different way—each collection has about 10 or 12 episodes from various seasons.
The following table is organized according to year of first broadcast.
| Season |
Episodes
(includes specials) |
Season premiere |
Season finale |
Special
episodes |
| Pilot (2003) |
3 |
January 23, 2003 |
March 7, 2003 |
N/A |
| 2003 |
8 |
September 23, 2003 |
December 12, 2003 |
N/A |
| 2004 |
17 |
January 11, 2004 |
December 22, 2004 |
1 |
| 2005 |
26 |
February 2, 2005 |
November 16, 2005 |
7 |
| 2006 |
28 |
January 11, 2006 |
December 13, 2006 |
2 |
| 2007 |
25 |
January 10, 2007 |
December 12, 2007 |
4 |
| 2008 |
20 |
January 16, 2008 |
November 19, 2008 |
8 |
| 2009 |
23 |
April 8, 2009 |
December 28, 2009 |
3 |
| 2010 |
25 |
January 4, 2010 |
December 22, 2010 |
4 |
| 2011 |
22 |
April 6, 2011 |
November 30, 2011 |
3 |
| 2012 |
9 |
March 25, 2012 |
N/A |
1 |
| Specials |
13 |
March 24, 2004 |
October 27, 2010 |
13 |
Each MythBusters episode focuses typically on two or more popular beliefs, Internet rumors, or other myths. The list of myths tested by the series is compiled from many sources, including the personal experiences of cast and crew, as well as fan suggestions, such as those posted on The Discovery Channel online MythBusters forums.[9] Occasionally, episodes are produced in which some or all of the myths are related by theme such as pirates or sharks, and occasionally these are dubbed as "[Theme] Special" episodes. As of May 2009, four myths have required such extensive preparation and testing that they had entire episodes devoted solely to them,[10][11][12][13] and four specials have been double-length.[14][15][16][17] Several episodes (including the 2006 Holiday Special) have included the building of Rube Goldberg machines. Before a myth gets introduced by the hosts, a myth-related drawing is made on a blueprint. After the hosts introduce the myth, a comical video explaining the myth is usually shown.
The MythBusters typically test myths in a two-step process. In early episodes, the steps were described as "replicate the circumstances, then duplicate the results" by Savage.[18] This means that first the team attempts to recreate the circumstances that the myth alleges, to determine whether the alleged result occurs; if that fails, they attempt to expand the circumstances to the point that will cause the described result. Occasionally the team (usually Savage and Hyneman) will hold a friendly competition between themselves to see which of them can devise a more successful solution to recreating the results. This is most common with myths involving building an object that can accomplish a goal (for example, rapidly cooling a beer, or finding a needle in a haystack).
While there is not any specific formula the team obeys in terms of physical procedure, most myths involve construction of various objects to help test the myth. They utilize their functional workshops to create whatever is needed, often including mechanical devices and sets to simulate the circumstances of the myth. Human actions are often simulated by mechanical means in order to increase safety, and to achieve consistency in repeated actions. Methods for testing myths are usually planned and executed in a manner to produce visually dramatic results,[19] which generally involves explosions, fires, and/or vehicle crashes. Thus, myths or tests involving explosives, firearms and vehicle collisions are relatively common.
Tests are sometimes confined to the workshop, but often require the teams to be outside. Much of the outdoor testing during early seasons took place in the parking lot of M5. A cargo container in the parking lot commonly serves as an isolation room for dangerous myths, with the experiment being triggered from outside. However, budget increases have permitted more frequent travel to other locations in San Francisco and around the Bay Area. Common filming locations around the Bay Area include decommissioned (closed) military facilities (such as Naval Air Station Alameda, Naval Air Station Moffett Field, Concord Naval Weapons Station, Naval Station Treasure Island, Marin Headlands, Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Hamilton Air Force Base, and abandoned base housing at Marina, California's former Fort Ord), and the Alameda County Sheriff's Bomb Squad and Firearm range. Occasionally, mainly for special episodes, production is out of state, or even out of the country.
Results are measured in a manner scientifically appropriate for the given experiment. Sometimes results can be measured by simple numerical measurement using standard tools, such as multimeters for electrical measurements, or various types of thermometers to measure temperature. To gauge results that do not yield numerical quantities, the teams commonly make use of several types of equipment which can provide other forms of observable effects. When testing physical consequences to a human body which would be too dangerous to test on a living person, the MythBusters commonly use analogues. Initially, they mainly used crash test dummies (most notably one they named Buster) for observing blunt trauma injury, and ballistic gelatin for testing penetrating trauma. They have since progressed to using pig carcasses when an experiment requires a more accurate simulation of human flesh, bone, and organs. They have also occasionally molded real or simulated bones within ballistics gel for simulations of specific body parts.
Both for the purposes of visual observation to determine a result, and simply as a unique visual for the program, high speed cameras are used during experiments and have become a trademark of the series. Very fast footage of moving objects in front of a measured scale is commonly utilized to determine the speed of the object.
Testing is often edited due to time constraints of a televised episode. It can often seem as if the teams draw results from fewer repetitions and a smaller data set than they actually have. During the Outtakes Special, they specifically stated that while they are, in fact, very thorough in testing myths and repeat experiments many times in many different configurations, it is simply impossible to display all of it during a program. Beginning in the fifth season, episodes typically contain a prompt for the viewer to visit the show's homepage to view outtake footage of either additional testing, or other facets of the myths being tested. However, Savage himself has acknowledged that they do not purport always to achieve a satisfactorily large enough set of results to overcome definitively all bias.[20] In response to criticisms they receive about their methods and results in previous episodes,[20] the staff produced several "Myths Revisited" episodes, in which the teams retest myths to see if the complaints have merit. These episodes have resulted in overturning results of several myths, as well as upholding some results for different reasons than originally concluded.
Occasionally the MythBusters will take the opportunity to test "mini myths" during the course of one of the episode's main myths, usually in the name of satisfying personal curiosity. These can be either be planned in advance in order to take advantage of the testing location — for instance, in the "Peeing on the third rail" myth Adam got permission to find out if placing coins on a train track was sufficient to derail a train (he found that the test locomotive was not affected at all) — or can simply take place on the spur of the moment, such as in the "Elevator of Death" episode, when Kari found a bowling ball in an abandoned hotel they were testing in, and decided to drop it on a tiled floor in order to see if any damage was caused (while dropping the ball didn't do anything, bowling it across the floor was found to be sufficient to smash tiles on the opposing wall)[episode needed].
There are some myths the MythBusters refuse to test. Paranormal concepts, such as aliens or ghosts, are not addressed because they cannot be tested by scientific methods, although one exception, pyramid power, prompted Adam to comment, "No more 'oogie-boogie' myths, please" and state at a tour show in Indianapolis in 2012 that it was a mistake. The program generally avoids experiments harmful to live animals, though in one episode they bombarded cockroaches and other laboratory insects with lethal doses of radiation and the cast addressed this, saying that the insects were specifically bred for experiments and would have likely died anyway. However animal carcasses, including those of pigs and chickens, are often used.
The book MythBusters: The Explosive Truth Behind 30 of the Most Perplexing Urban Legends of All Time (ISBN 1-4169-0929-X) also gives a list of a dozen myths that are unlikely to be explored (although four were eventually tested). Savage has commented that it is difficult to test myths that require them to disprove general claims because of the inherent difficulty in proving a negative. As a result, when they do pursue such myths, they typically go about disproving specific methods that claim to achieve results.[21]
Additionally, certain myths are not tested due to various objections by Discovery Channel or their advertisers, most notably myths pertaining to radio-frequency identification (RFID) vulnerability.[22][23][24][25] Through nine seasons, a total of 2,391 experiments were performed and 12 tons of explosives were used to test 769 myths.[26] The team has also expressed reluctance to test conspiracy theory myths such as the JFK assassination or 9/11 conspiracies, although they have tested some of the conspiracy theories relating to the Apollo Moon landings.
By the end of each episode, the myths are rated "busted", "plausible", or "confirmed."
Busted
- Myths are rated as "Busted" when the myth's results cannot be replicated via either the described parameters, nor reasonably exaggerated ones. Often, when a myth is declared Busted, the team will attempt to see what would be required to replicate the result of the myth through scientific means, discarding the original parameters of the myth itself. This is commonly referred to in the series as "the MythBusters way", and often reveals that the circumstances required to accurately recreate a 'Busted' myth are physically impossible or highly unlikely to occur with the scientific facts presented, or the equipment used in the myth used to gain the results is neither available to civilians, nor capable of producing the results. For example, when trying to see if diamonds can be made with a microwave, and the myth is busted, the team will arrange with an expert to have diamonds created with a large quantity of explosives.
- Some of these myths are retested if the viewers are dissatisfied with the results, and are declared "Re-Busted" if the results of this second attempt results in the same conclusion as the original attempt. On rare occasions, re-tested myths result in a different conclusion than the first attempt, usually going from "Busted" the first time, to "Plausible" or even "Confirmed" on the re-test.
Plausible
- Plausible is given under a few circumstances:
- The myth's results can only be replicated by expanding some parameters of the myth by a realistic and reasonable margin. This may have been due to facts of the myth having been altered slightly over time by it being told and re-told by the time it was tested by the MythBusters. Also, certain materials may have had to be substituted for others in some cases as a matter of necessity during the course of the myth being tested, but the new materials are almost always very similar to the materials specified and usually are readily available, so as to prevent it from being prohibitively costly or impractical.
- If there is no documentation of the myth occurring, yet the MythBusters were still able to duplicate it very closely to how the myth was described (such as the myth that pirates wore eye patches in order to keep their night vision, or a civilian being talked through landing an airplane).
- If the myth's results are achieved using the method described, but the underlying reason is different from the one described in the myth (such as in the myth of throwing a fire extinguisher into a fire to make it explode and extinguish the fire).
- If it requires a highly improbable set of circumstances, yet is shown to be possible under similar yet artificial circumstances. For example, in the myth of "Can two colliding bullets fuse together?" it was shown that two bullets can fuse together but would be exceedingly difficult to actually get two period guns with period ammunition to collide in the correct way to cause the result. The results can be created in a similar laboratory setting, but the chances of the myth actually happening as described are remote.
- If the results stated in the myth are attainable, but in such a way as to make the process either highly dangerous or less efficient than more common methods of achieving the same result. For example, in "Car vs. Rain", the MythBusters declared the myth "Plausible (but not recommended)", due to the danger in driving a car at high speeds on a wet road even though the myth was completely true.[27]
- Occasionally a myth will be labelled plausible if the described scenario produces a result similar to, but of less intensity than, the one described in the myth.
Confirmed
- The MythBusters are able to recreate or closely recreate the myth's purported outcome with the described circumstances. A Confirmed myth is usually corroborated with documented evidence of actual occurrences.
- If the myth lacks any specific scenarios, the Mythbusters will test every reasonable scenario, and just one scenario is enough for them to confirm the myth. For example, when testing to see whether shooting fish in a barrel was in fact very easy, in most tests, they could not hit the fish with a bullet, but the energy transfer to the water by the bullet was lethal to the fish; therefore, the myth was confirmed.
- If there are no documented instances of the event occurring in real life, but the myth was taken from a specific scene or character in a specific movie, the myth will also be confirmed if they are able to replicate it with the same circumstances. For example, the Build Team gave a verdict of "confirmed" for a scene in Point Break where two skydivers—one without a parachute—jumped off the plane at different times, and yet, the second jumper was able to catch up to the first jumper. Even though there were no documented cases of this ever being attempted in real life, it was confirmed nonetheless, since it only came from a single scene in a specific movie. The same applied to the myth about the Knight Rider driving his car at highway speeds into a big rig via ramp, without any trouble; even though Adam and Jamie found no real-life occurrences of the stunt, it came from a specific TV show, and thus was confirmed.
- The term "True" was used in the first season.
- In rare circumstances, a myth is considered 'confirmed' when the testing process is consciously stopped, but news reports or other documentation are available that confirm it has happened at least once; in testing the Jet Taxi myth (in which a taxicab is flipped by the engine of a jet aircraft), both Adam and Jamie agreed that the myth couldn't be replicated accurately for insurance reasons, but news footage verified that such an event is possible. (In this case, three years later they were allowed to return to the subject and confirm the myth using a Boeing 747).
MythBusters places a strong emphasis on viewer safety due to the nature of the myths tested which often involve purported household scenarios. All episodes begin with a disclaimer against attempting the experiments seen on the series; most episodes also feature a second warning halfway through the running time. These disclaimers are not broadcast on Discovery UK, on SBS in Australia, in the Netherlands, Discovery Mix in Sweden, or on the Prime and Sky Discovery Channels in New Zealand. Often, they are presented with an element of humor, such as Adam wearing a padded suit as Jamie hits him in the chest with a baseball bat, or Jamie explaining that he and Adam are professionals before Adam slides into view and crashes into a barrier while saying, "Don't try this at home!"
The series employs various degrees of safety or courtesy-related censorship. Vulgar language and the names of ingredients used in the production of hazardous materials are usually blocked; in addition to the standard bleep, the show often uses a relevant or humorous sound effect. Euphemisms and scientific terminology are used for potentially offensive terms.[28] In the "Peeing on the Third Rail" myth, the show censored the valve used to release urine from the dummy. They usually do not show how to manufacture explosives, and the names of dangerous chemicals are often censored and their container labels obscured. For example, in the "Hindenburg" special, Adam ignited thermite with a hypergolic mixture of "blur" (a syrupy liquid) and "blur" (a dark powder). The show makes it clear that although they are professionals, they must sometimes seek special government permission or assistance, as in experiments that involve the use of explosives. Occasionally, their insurance company prohibits certain activities entirely.
In another episode that focused on myths surrounding electronic security devices, there was a segment on defeating biometric fingerprint readers using various methods. One of these techniques involved creating a fake 3D fingerprint from a 2D image of the authorized print. After some trial and error, the team successfully cast a viable ballistics gel reproduction using a copper-coated circuit board, a picture of the fingerprint printed on acetate, and a photochemical acid etching process. After the reproduction was shown to defeat both fingerprint scanners, and although the chemicals used during the etching process are never identified, the narrator still hints at an important step having been edited out and discourages viewers from trying it themselves. However, none of the other techniques that successfully defeated the fingerprint scanners or the other security devices tested in the episode were censored or obfuscated, perhaps because the rest were all fairly simple and straightforward methods, such as holding up a bedsheet or moving extremely slowly to hide from ultrasonic motion detectors or holding up a pane of glass to defeat thermal motion detectors.
Brand names and logos are regularly blurred or covered with tape or a MythBusters sticker. However, brand names are shown when integral to a myth, such as in the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment. (In a rare break from their safety warnings, Adam and Jamie stated on the air that this myth was perfectly safe for viewers to replicate on their own.)
During January 2005, children's author and adventurer Andrew Knight (aka "Bowvayne") commenced legal proceedings in Australia against Beyond Productions, the producer of MythBusters, alleging passing off in relation to the use of the name "Mythbusters".[29] Knight asserted that he had previously organized a team of "Mythbusters" and had used the name continuously since 1988 in relation to pursuing myths, ghosts, monsters, goblins, and other such mysteries in an offbeat manner all around the world. Knight authored a series of self-published children's books under the banner "Mythbusters" in 1991, 1993, and 1996.[30][31] In February 2007, the Federal Court of Australia dismissed Knight's claims against Beyond Productions.[32] A parallel action, relying on the same three books and a collection of short television appearances was brought later that year in the Chancery Division of the High Court of England and Wales. Beyond Properties Pty Limited was again a defendant, as were two other Beyond companies and Discovery Communications Inc, the entity responsible for broadcasting the MythBusters programme in the UK. Again, the claim failed.[33]
Due to the nature of the experiments performed on the show, there have been many experiments that have not gone the way that was expected. Sometimes these mishaps have resulted in the test equipment be rendered unusable, such as when the rocket in the Rocket Car Revisit exploded on ignition, or have even resulted in minor injuries to the personnel involved with the show, such as when Tory banged his knee falling off a fire tower; the fall was expected, but not banging his knee.
These kinds of incidents are usually included in the broadcast program, with little other media attention, but sometimes things fail in more spectacular and news-worthy ways.
On March 20, 2009, the town of Esparto, California was shaken and windows were shattered by a blast created by 500 pounds of ANFO during filming of the myth "Knock Your Socks Off".[34] Some residents were upset that the blast took place without "telling anyone".[35] Chief Barry Burns, of Esparto Fire Department, had several firefighters on hand for the explosion. He said he made the decision not to notify anyone in town for safety sake. "Mythbusters is supposed to be a really popular show. Everybody would have been out there. We would have had to cancel it because it would have been too dangerous," [36] Representatives from the show replaced some of the windows that same day.[34] The experiment did air, but the hosts recounted in a 2011 special episode ("Location, Location, Location") that they have never returned to the Esparto quarry as a result of the mishap.
On December 6, 2011, while conducting an experiment on the effectiveness of various projectiles when fired out of a cannon, the MythBusters crew accidentally sent a cannonball through the side of a house and into a minivan in a Dublin, California neighborhood. Although the experiment was being carried out at the Alameda County Sheriff's Bomb Range under the supervision of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, the errant projectile went over its intended target of water barrels and instead soared 700 yd (640 m) into a neighboring community, striking a house and leaving a 10 in (25 cm) hole, before striking the roof of another house and smashing through a window of a parked minivan. No one was hurt by the rogue cannonball.[37][38] A producer of the show visited the house to apologize,[39] followed by Savage and Hyneman; Savage later stated that production of the series would not be suspended because of the incident.[40] MythBusters stars Adam Savage and Kari Byron returned to Dublin High School on February 22, 2012 to participate in a moderated panel session at Dublin High School's Engineering and Design Academy Open House during National Engineers Week 2012. The sold-out event attracted an audience of over 1,000.[41][42][43]
Hyneman and Savage have appeared on numerous entertainment programs, such as Good Morning America,[44] The Late Show with David Letterman,[45] NPR's news program All Things Considered,[46] the syndicated radio Bob and Tom Show, and in the movie The Darwin Awards (as two military surplus vendors who sold a JATO rocket to the main character). Skeptic magazine's Daniel Loxton interviewed the duo in a 2005 article entitled "Mythbusters Exposed."[47] Hyneman and Savage spoke at the annual convention of the National Science Teachers Association in March 2006, and the California Science Teachers Association named them honorary lifetime members in October 2006.[48] They also are occasionally interviewed for articles by Popular Mechanics and are featured in that magazine's September 2009 issue.[49]
Hyneman and Savage occasionally appear at colleges around the United States to talk about what it's like to be a MythBuster; the show consists of an interview and discussion to give the audience the opportunity to ask the MythBusters questions. The Build Team members have sometimes made appearances in similar capacity. They hold lectures in both collegiate and corporate settings, though the technical colleges tend to be the most enthusiastic.[50][51] They have spoken at WPI, RPI, MIT, Michigan Tech, the University of Florida and many others.
Adam Savage has written a primer on mold-making for Make magazine, and was a featured guest at the 2008, 2009, and 2010 San Mateo Maker Faire. Kari Byron was interviewed on The Late Show, on January 16, 2006.[52]
People involved in survival stories reported in local newscasts have sometimes mentioned previous viewings of MythBusters as an influence to their actions. Twenty-three-year-old Theresa Booth of St. Martin, Minnesota credits a MythBusters episode for her and her infant child's survival. On April 3, 2007 she skidded off the road into a drainage ditch which had filled with flood water from the Sauk River. In a local newscast, she is described as opening the car door as soon as it entered the water, and credits her watching of the show (specifically, the episode of the Underwater Car myth) for her knowledge of how to survive the accident.[53] On October 19, 2007 in Sydney, Australia, a teenager named Julian Shaw pulled a fainted middle-aged man off the railway tracks near a train station to safety below the platform. He pulled back as the train passed, citing that the "Train Suction" episode affected his response.[54]
The 3rd Annual Independent Investigative Group IIG Awards presented an award to Mythbusters recognizing the promotion of science and critical thinking in popular media on May 18, 2009.[55]
On the May 1, 2008 episode of CSI, "The Theory of Everything", Hyneman and Savage appeared in a cameo as observers taking notes during a test to determine whether a taser bolt can set someone on fire under various circumstances (which was later tested on MythBusters itself).
During August 2008, Hyneman and Savage appeared on the stage of NVISION 08, an event sponsored by Nvidia, having been asked by Nvidia's Creative Director, David Wright, to provide a visual demonstration of the power of the GPU vs a CPU. They did this by creating an image of the Mona Lisa with a giant parallel processing paintball gun, setting a world record for largest paintball gun in the process.[56][57] An encore of the demonstration was given at YouTube Live featuring Hyneman standing in the path of the paintballs wearing a suit of armor.[58]
On the April 17, 2012 episode of NCIS, "Rekindled", the character Abby Sciuto demonstrates a thermite fire to her boss, Jethro Gibbs, by playing a clip from the MythBusters episode "End with a Bang". Gibbs asks if the men in the clip are pyromaniacs, and she replies, "Scientists, Gibbs! Okay, yeah, they're kind of pyromaniacs too."
Hyneman, Savage, and others from the MythBusters crew have appeared at The Amaz!ng Meeting, and subsequently were interviewed by Dr. Steven Novella and the "skeptical rogues" for the podcast The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe.[59][60] On April 16, 2010, Hyneman and Savage received the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism from the Harvard Humanist Chaplaincy.[61]
MythBusters at the White House.
On October 18, 2010, President Barack Obama, as part of the White House Science Fair, announced he had taped a segment of MythBusters and would appear on December 8, 2010. Obama's segment covered the Archimedes Solar Ray myth.[62][63]
Both men appeared at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear on October 30, 2010 in Washington, D.C. They had an experiment with the crowd involving the wave. They had the audience make various noises (e.g. popping their cheeks or laughing) all at the same time. They also had everyone in the crowd jump up at the same time to see if it would register on a seismograph.
Hyneman and Savage received honorary doctorates from the University of Twente in the Netherlands for their role in popularizing science, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, on November 25, 2011.[64]
As of November 2011, all five MythBusters have also appeared in new shows, segments or specials for Discovery's Science Channel including: Head Rush (Kari, 2010-present); Punkin Chunkin 2010 (Adam and Jamie); Flying Anvils 2011 (Tory); Road to Punkin Chunkin 2011 and Punkin Chunkin 2011 (Tory, Grant and Kari); Large Dangerous Rocket Ships 2010 and Large Dangerous Rocket Ships 2011 (Kari); "Killer Robots: RoboGames 2010" (Grant); Curiosity (Adam); and Savage and Hyneman are judges on the game show Unchained Reaction which premiered in March 2012.
Aired on February 12, 2012, Adam and Jamie lent their voices to The Simpsons episode "The Daughter Also Rises" to be featured on a show similar to Mythbusters called "Mythcrackers" in which Adam and Jamie take on the classic myth that a cat will always land on its feet. In the episode they don't want to harm a real cat so they took a Build A Bear carcass, stuffed it with ballistics gel, shot it with a 20' barrel steam cannon, then made a scatter plot of the remains. By the end of the experiment, Jamie asked, "What was it we were trying to prove again?" to which Adam replied, "Don't know, don't care."
MythBusters is broadcast in several countries, primarily by each country's version of the Discovery Channel. In some countries, the English speech is either subtitled in the relevant language, or the narration voice-over is replaced, or the entire show (narration and hosts' voices) is dubbed. The United States customary units, used by the hosts throughout the show, are converted to metric in the process. Sometimes, the part where the myth is explained in sketches is completely redrawn in that language. Excerpts of the show were also shown as part of the Beyond Television-produced Beyond Tomorrow.
- Similar television series
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- ^ a b "Mythbusters". Beyond Distribution. http://www.beyond.com.au/index.php?option=com_vcatalogue&task=view_details&vid=208&Itemid=21&genre_id=19&keywords=. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
- ^ Knight v Beyond Properties., [2007] EWHC 1251 (England and Wales High Court (Chancery Division) April 25, 2007).
- ^ "Transcript of Jamie and Adam's November 10, 2004, Online Chat". MythBusters Official Website. Discovery Communications. November 10, 2004. http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/mythbusters/chat/transcripts/04nov10/04nov10.html. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
- ^ "Adam Savage Interview - Part 1". The Sneeze. August 23, 2005. http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/000408.php. Retrieved August 1, 2006.
- ^ "Jessi Combs Biography". MythBusters. Discovery Communications. http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/mythbusters/meet/jessi-combs.html. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
- ^ Teridman, Daniel (February 29, 2008). "A day with the 'MythBusters'". CNET - Geek Gestalt. CBS Interactive. http://www.news.com/8301-13772_3-9882698-52.html. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
- ^ "Mythbusters: Episode Guide". Discovery Channel. http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/mythbusters/episode/episode.html. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
- ^ "MythBusters DVDs and Videos". Discovery Channel. http://store.discovery.com/?pagemax=all&v=discovery_dvds-books_shows_mythbusters. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
- ^ McDuffee, Keith (April 18, 2008). "MythBusters fans want to bust the E-reader". TV Squad. AOL Inc.. http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/04/18/mythbusters-fans-want-to-bust-the-e-reader/. Retrieved April 18, 2008.
- ^ "Border Slingshot". MythBusters. episode 35. July 27, 2005. Discovery.
- ^ "Confederate Rocket". MythBusters. episode 40. October 26, 2005. Discovery.
- ^ "Archimedes' Death Ray". MythBusters. episode 46. January 25, 2006. Discovery.
- ^ "Seesaw Saga". MythBusters. episode 120. May 20, 2009. Discovery.
- ^ "JAWS Special". MythBusters. episode SP8. July 17, 2005. Discovery.
- ^ "Mega Movie Myths 2 Hour Special". MythBusters. episode SP9. September 13, 2006. Discovery.
- ^ "Pirate Special". MythBusters. episode 71. January 17, 2007. Discovery.
- ^ "Supersized Myths". MythBusters. episode 90. November 14, 2007. Discovery.
- ^ "Explosive Decompression, Frog Giggin', Rear Axle". MythBusters. episode 9. January 11, 2004. Discovery.
- ^ This is self-acknowledged in Season 2's Bathtub Electrocution myth: [Announcer:] "...but it wouldn't be MythBusters without pyrotechnics; so Adam's rigged up a flashpot to ignite when [a lethal electrocution occurs]." Tory also dubs this "the Mythbuster way."
- ^ a b Adam Savage at The Last HOPE. July 2008. Event occurs at 4 minutes 37 seconds. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7425FD3If8w. Retrieved October 18, 2010. "We will absolutely revisit when we think we screwed up the results. We won't stand by our results—you can't with a data set of one, and two, and five. But we do stand by our methodologies."
- ^ Adam Savage at The Last HOPE. July 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7425FD3If8w. "Savage gives the example that when testing whether it is possible to obtain "free energy" (ie. building a system that outputs more energy than it requires in input), the best they could do was to test existing products that claim to produce free energy."
- ^ Doctorow, Cory (August 30, 2008). "Credit-card companies killed Mythbusters segment on RFID vulnerabilities" (Note: Adam Savage later retracted his statement on who prevented the myth from being tested. However, his statement that they shall not pursue RFID still stands.). Hope Hackercon: BoingBoing. http://boingboing.net/2008/08/30/creditcard-companies.html. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
- ^ Doctorow, Cory (September 4, 2008). "Mythbusters host: credit-card companies DIDN'T kill segment on RFID vulnerabiliies". BoingBoing. http://www.boingboing.net/2008/09/04/mythbusters-host-cre.html. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
- ^ Adam Savage at The Last HOPE. July 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZRmms0sZ8w. "Savage discusses an incident in which Discovery refused to air an episode testing commercial teeth-whitening products after advertisers expressed concerns."
- ^ Adam Savage at The Last HOPE. July 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7425FD3If8w. "Savage discusses how Discovery continuously responds to his desires to test audiophile myths, deeming them too boring; especially visually."
- ^ "MYTHBUSTERS BY THE NUMBERS". Discovery Channel. http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/mythbusters/about/mythbusters-by-the-numbers.html. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
- ^ "Car vs Rain". MythBusters. June 17, 2009. Discovery.
- ^ For example, when testing myths about flatulence the crew called the phenomenon by its scientific designation (e.g. "flatulence" or "flatus") and the word "fart" was bleeped out.
- ^ Porter, Jeni (June 17, 2005). "Wheel falls off serene machine (Here comes the son)". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/Opinion/Wheel-falls-off-serene-machine/2005/06/17/1118869093834.html. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
- ^ Bowvayne, Andrew E. (March 28, 1996). Mythbusters. Puffin Books. p. 144. ISBN 0-14-037554-6.
- ^ Bowvayne, Andrew E. (October 8, 1993). Nut Cases (Mythbusters S). Elfshot Productions. p. 96. ISBN 1-898412-00-6.
- ^ Knight v. Beyond Properties Pty Ltd [2007] FCA 70
- ^ Knight v. Beyond Properties Pty Ltd & ors [2007] EWHC 1251 (Ch)
- ^ a b "Mythbusters 'Big Bang' Shatters Windows". KCRA-TV. March 25, 2009. http://www.kcra.com/news/19016582/detail.html. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
- ^ "What we can learn from MythBusters". Daily Democrat. March 24, 2009. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WDDB&p_theme=wddb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=127284818CE8A448&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePMn. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
- ^ http://www.kcra.com/Mythbusters-Big-Bang-Shatters-Windows/-/11798090/12688930/-/item/1/-/e06cf3z/-/index.html
- ^ "'MythBusters' misfire sends cannonball through neighborhood". Los Angeles Times. December 7, 2011. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/12/mythbusters-cannonball.html. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
- ^ "MythBusters stunt sends cannonball flying through Bay Area home". wsbtv.com. December 6, 2011. http://www.wsbtv.com/news/ap/us/cannonball-fired-mythbusters-stunt-goes-through-du/nFwhg. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
- ^ Leibowitz, Barry (December 8, 2011). ""MythBusters" Misfire: Cannonball crashes through house in TV show mishap". CBS News. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57338972-504083/mythbusters-misfire-cannonball-crashes-through-house-in-tv-show-mishap/?tag=contentMain;contentBody. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
- ^ Fernandez, Sofia (December 8, 2011). "'MythBusters' Stars Adam Savage, Jamie Hyneman Apologize for Cannonball Accident". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 11, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/63qacLdbD. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
- ^ "MythBusters hosts visit Dublin High". BC 7/KGO-TV. 2012. http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=8554691.
- ^ "'MythBusters' TV stars talk science at Dublin High School". MercuryNews.com. 2012. http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_20025413.
- ^ "Stars Of TV Show 'MythBusters' Visit Dublin High". Patch.com. 2012. http://pleasanton.patch.com/articles/stars-of-tv-show-mythbusters-visit-dublin-high-e28940c3#photo-9171778.
- ^ "Good Morning America". November 8, 2004. American Broadcasting Company.
- ^ "MythBusters in Pop Culture". MythBusters Official Website. Discovery Communications. http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/mythbusters/about/mythbusters-pop-culture.html. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
- ^ "'Mythbusters' Have Fun in the Name of Science". National Public Radio. May 18, 2007. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10255528.
- ^ Loxton, Daniel (2005), "Mythbusters Exposed", Skeptic Magazine 12 (1), http://www.skeptic.com/the_magazine/archives/vol12n01.html
- ^ John Schwartz (November 21, 2006). "The Best Science Show on Television?". The New York Times (requires registration). http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/21/science/21myth.html.
- ^ "MythBuster Secrets". Popular Mechanics. September 2009. http://www.popularmechanics.com/marketing/covers/?fullSize=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.popularmechanics.com%2Fimages%2Fcovers%2F200909.jpg&caption=September%2C%202009.
- ^ MIT Lecture Series Committee November 4, 2006 MythBusters event page. Retrieved January 2, 2007. Archived December 28, 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Wolfman Productions MythBusters Program page Retrieved January 2, 2007.
- ^ CBS (January 16, 2006). "Late Show with David Letterman". Archived from the original on April 10, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080410195846/http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/wahoo/index/php/20060116.phtml. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
- ^ "Survival Story". KARE. April 3, 2007. http://www.kare11.com/video/player.aspx?aid=45360&bw=. Retrieved July 5, 2007.
- ^ Ramachandran, Arjun (November 8, 2007). "Schoolboy Julian's lifesaving MythBuster moment". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/julians-mythbuster-moment/2007/11/08/1194329387281.html. Retrieved November 9, 2007.
- ^ "IIG | The IIG Awards". Iigwest.com. August 21, 2010. http://www.iigwest.com/iigawards/2009/20090929_pressrelease.html. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
- ^ Hall, Kevin (August 29, 2008). "Myth Busted: Mona Lisa painted in 275 milliseconds with 1,100 paintballs". DVICE. SyFy. http://dvice.com/archives/2008/08/myth_busted_mon.php. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
- ^ Ayers, Leslie (August 13, 2009). "Adam Savage Interview -- Have Mac, Will Bust Myths". MacLife. Future US, Inc.. http://www.maclife.com/adamsavageextra?page=0,1. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
- ^ YouTube Live Mythbusters. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
- ^ Adam Savage (November 11, 2009) (Audio/.MP3). (Interview). The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe: Podcast 225. http://media.libsyn.com/media/skepticsguide/skepticast2009-11-11.mp3. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
- ^ Adam Savage and Tory Belleci (February 7, 2007) (Audio/.MP3). (Interview). The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe: Podcast 81. http://media.libsyn.com/media/skepticsguide/skepticast2007-02-07.mp3. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
- ^ "MythBusters to Receive Harvard Humanism Award". Huminist Chaplaincy at Harvard. http://harvardhumanist.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=102:drawing-inspiration-from-the-arts&catid=6:lastest-news&Itemid=38. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
- ^ "President Obama Announces Walk-On Role on Discovery Channel's MYTHBUSTERS, Which Premieres December 8 at 9 PM ET/PT" (Press release). Discovery. October 18, 2010. http://press.discovery.com/us/dsc/press-releases/2010/president-obama-announces-walk-role-discovery--940/. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
- ^ Biddle, Sam (October 19, 2010). "Obama Commands Mythbusters Crew To Fire Ancient Death Ray". Gizmodo. http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2010/10/obama-commands-mythbusters-crew-to-fire-ancient-death-ray/. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
- ^ Eredoctoraten voor Mythbusters Aandrijftechniek, July 1, 2011.
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