Mythbuster

''MythBusters'' is a science entertainment television series created by Peter Rees and produced by Beyond International in Australia. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel on January 23, 2003. It was broadcast internationally by many television networks and other Discovery channels worldwide. The show's original hosts, special effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, used elements of the scientific method to test the validity of rumors, myths, movie scenes, adages, Internet videos, and news stories.

Filmed in San Francisco and edited in Artarmon, Sydney, ''MythBusters'' aired 282 total episodes before its cancellation at the end of the 2016 season in March. Planning and some experimentation took place at Hyneman's workshops in San Francisco; experiments requiring more space or special accommodations were filmed on location, typically around the San Francisco Bay Area and other locations in Northern California, going to other states, or even countries on occasion when required. During the second season, members of Savage and Hyneman's behind-the-scenes team were organized into a second team of MythBusters, "The Build Team". They generally tested myths separately from the main duo and operated from another workshop. This arrangement continued until August 2014, when it was announced at the end of " Plane Boarding" that Tory Belleci, Kari Byron, and Grant Imahara would be leaving the show. Savage and Hyneman subsequently hosted the final two seasons alone. On October 21, 2015, producers announced that ''MythBusters'' would air its 14th and final season in 2016. The show aired its final episode with the original cast on March 6, 2016.

Kari Byron, Tory Belleci, and Grant Imahara, former ''MythBusters'' stars, led the Netflix show '' White Rabbit Project'', which premiered on December 9, 2016. Through experiments and tests, they delve into topics such as jailbreaks, superpower technology of fictional heroes, heists, and WWII weapons. Despite mixed to positive reviews, the series was canceled after one season.

On November 15, 2017, sister network Science Channel revived the series with new hosts Jon Lung and Brian Louden, who were selected by the competition spin-off '' MythBusters: The Search''. The revival was filmed in Santa Clarita and on location in other parts of Southern California, airing for two seasons that lasted until 2018. Savage later returned in ''MythBusters Jr.'', a spin-off featuring children.

In 2021, Beyond Television produced and aired a new title of the franchise, ''Motor Mythbusters'', for MotorTrend. Belleci returned for the series and was joined by engineer Bisi Ezerioha and mechanic Faye Hadley. The series focused on testing myths and urban legends about automobiles.

Also in 2021, excerpts of the original seasons (2003–2016) were used to produce "''MythBusters: There's Your Problem!"'' for several streaming services. In this repackaging, each episode is summarized to include only the episode's experiments and conclusions.

The term ''MythBusters'' may be used to refer to both the program and the cast members (without the italics) who test the experiments.

History

The series concept was developed for the Discovery Channel as ''Tall Tales or True'' 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 were 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.

During July 2006, an edited 30-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 United States version. Some of these scenes are included in "specials", such as " MythBusters Outtakes".

The 14th season, which premiered in January 2016, was the final season for the series with Savage and Hyneman.

Adam Savage returned to TV with the show ''MythBusters Jr.'', without his original co-host Jamie Hyneman, but with a cast of teenagers, hence the name. The show debuted on the Science Channel on January 2, 2019 with rebroadcasts every Saturday morning on Discovery, as well as international broadcasts.

Cast

Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman are the original MythBusters, and initially explored all the myths of the series using their combined experience with special effects. The two worked at Hyneman's effects workshop, M5 Industries. They made use of his staff, who often worked 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's, 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, best known for co-hosting Spike's ''Xtreme 4x4''.

Byron returned in the third episode of 2010 season. The Build Team worked at its own workshop, called M7, investigating separate myths from the original duo. Each episode typically alternated between the two teams covering different myths. During the Build Team's tenure, Belleci was the only member to appear in every myth that the team tested. At the end of the 2014 season finale " Plane Boarding", Savage and Hyneman announced that Byron, Belleci, and Imahara would not be returning in the 2015 season. This was reportedly over salary negotiations due to the rising cost of five hosts, however in a 2025 podcast both Byron and Belleci confirmed that due to budget cuts they were offered contracts that comprised only three weeks of work, which when coupled with an exclusivity clause would have left them effectively unemployed. Hyneman and Savage returned to being the sole hosts. Byron, Belleci, and Imahara went on to host Netflix's '' White Rabbit Project''.

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 in the series.

The MythBusters commonly consulted experts for myths or topics for which they needed assistance. These topics included firearms, for which they mostly consulted Lt. Al Normandy of the South San Francisco Police Department, and explosives, for which they consulted retired FBI explosives expert Frank Doyle and Sgt. J.D. Nelson of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. The MythBusters often asked other people, such as those supplying the equipment being tested, what they knew about the myth under investigation. When guests were on the show, the MythBusters generally consulted them or included them in the experiments.

Episodes

No consistent system was used for organizing ''MythBusters'' episodes into seasons. The program has never followed a typical calendar of on- and off-air periods. The official ''MythBusters'' website lists episodes by year. Discovery sells DVD sets for "seasons", which sometimes follow the calendar year and sometimes do not. Discovery and retail stores sell "collections", which divide up the episodes in a different way. Each collection has about 10 to 12 episodes from various seasons.

The following table is organized according to year of first broadcast.

Format

Each ''MythBusters'' episode focuses typically on two or more popular beliefs, Internet rumors, or other myths. Many of the myths are on mechanical effects as portrayed in live-action films and television of fictional incidents. 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.

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 "hemeSpecial" episodes. As of May 2009, four myths have required such extensive preparation and testing that they had entire episodes devoted solely to them, and four specials have been double-length. Several episodes, including the 2006 Holiday Special, have included the building of Rube Goldberg machines. Before a myth is 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.

Experiment approach

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. 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, which often reveals that the claims of the myth are objectively ridiculous or impossible to achieve without specialized training or equipment. Occasionally, the team, usually Savage and Hyneman, holds 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 the team obeys no specific formula in terms of physical procedure, most myths involve construction of various objects to help test the myth. They use their functional workshops to construct whatever is needed, often including mechanical devices and sets to simulate the circumstances of the myth. Human actions are often simulated by mechanical means 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,This is self-acknowledged in season two's bathtub electrocution myth: nnouncer:"...but it wouldn't be ''MythBusters'' without pyrotechnics, so Adam's rigged up a flashpot to ignite when lethal electrocution occurs" Tory also dubs this "the MythBuster way", which generally involves explosions, fires, or vehicle crashes. Thus, myths or tests involving explosives, firearms, and vehicle collisions are relatively common.

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 that 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.

Early episodes made heavy use of crash-test dummies for observing blunt trauma injury, and ballistic gelatin for testing penetrating trauma; whatever form and function it possessed, the dummy would always be named Buster The crew progressed to using pig carcasses when an experiment required a more accurate simulation of human flesh, bone, and organs. Occasionally, real or simulated bones were molded within ballistics gel for simulations of specific body parts. Synthetic cadavers, or SynDavers, were used in a few tests such as in the "Car Cushion" myth.

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 used 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 the entire process 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. In response to criticisms they receive about their methods and results in previous episodes, the staff produced several "Myths Revisited" episodes in which the teams retest myths to see if the complaints have merit. These episodes have sometimes resulted in overturning results of several myths, as well as upholding some results for reasons different from the original.

Occasionally, the MythBusters 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 either be planned in advance 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 without prior planning.

Rejected myths

MythBusters refuse to test some myths. 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 stated at a tour show in Indianapolis in 2012 that it was a mistake. Another myth related to the paranormal was the "Haunted Hum" myth, which involved testing if a particular, inaudible sound frequency can lead people to believe that an area is haunted.

The program generally avoided experiments harmful to live animals, though in one episode, they bombarded cockroaches and other laboratory insects with lethal doses of radiation. 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, were often used, but the MythBusters repeatedly emphasized that the animals died of natural causes.

The book ''MythBusters: The Explosive Truth Behind 30 of the Most Perplexing Urban Legends of All Time'' () gives a list of a dozen myths that are unlikely to be explored, although four were eventually tested. Savage commented that testing myths that require them to disprove general claims is difficult because of the inherent difficulty in disproving a negative. As a result, when they pursued such myths, they typically went about disproving specific methods that claim to achieve results.

Certain myths are not tested due to various objections by Discovery Channel or their advertisers, most notably myths pertaining to radio-frequency identification vulnerability. Through nine seasons, 2,391 experiments were performed and 12 tons of explosives were used to test 769 myths. The team 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.

Outcomes of the experiments

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 under either the described parameters or 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. Going to absolute limits of what is physically possible to replicate the results is the origin of what is unofficially titled the ''Mythbusters'' motto, "If it's worth doing, it's worth ''over''doing."

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 the general public, nor capable of producing the results. For example, when trying to see if diamonds can be made with a microwave, and the myth was busted, the team arranges 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 "rebusted" if the results of this second attempt result in the same conclusions as the original attempts. On rare occasions, retested myths result in a conclusion different from the first attempt, usually going from "busted" the first time, to "plausible" or even "confirmed" on the retest.

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 because of the myth having been altered slightly over time by it being told and retold 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.
*Plausible is given if no documentation of the myth occurred at the time of the episode's production, yet the MythBusters were still able to duplicate it very closely as to how the myth was described (such as the myth that pirates wore eye patches to keep their night vision, or an untrained pilot was 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, plausible is used. For example, in the myth of " Can two colliding bullets fuse together?", two bullets were shown to 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, it is used. 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, though the myth was completely true.
*Plausible is used if a positive result is attained using surrogates for living creatures, but the procedure would result in injury or death if an actual creature were tested. For example, in " Holiday Special", two ballistics-gel replicas of pet dogs were used to test the myth that a falling frozen turkey would crush a household pet; both replicas sustained serious injuries, as determined by a veterinarian, and the myth was dubbed "plausible", as the Build Team was unwilling to test the myth on actual pets.
*Occasionally, a myth is labelled plausible if the described scenario produces a result similar to, but of less intensity than, the one described in the myth.

Confirmed

The term "true" was used instead of "confirmed" in the first season.
* 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 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

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