MythBusters

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MythBusters
Genre	Documentary Science
Created by	Peter Rees
Starring	Jamie Hyneman Adam Savage Tory Belleci Kari Byron Grant Imahara Buster (List of additional cast members)
Narrated by	Robert Lee Robin Banks (Europe)
Composer(s)	Daniel Thomas (pilot) Bob Brozman (pilot) Neil Sutherland
Country of origin	United States Australia
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	11
No. of episodes	231 (including special episodes) (List of episodes)
Production
Location(s)	San Francisco, California, U.S.
Camera setup	Multiple
Running time	43-44 minutes
Distributor	Discovery Communications Beyond Distribution[1]
Broadcast
Original channel	Discovery Channel
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV)
First shown in	United States
Original run	January 23, 2003 – present
Chronology
Related shows	Head Rush
External links
Website

MythBusters is a science entertainment TV program created and produced by Australia'sBeyond Television Productions^[1] for the Discovery Channel. The series is transmitted by numerous international broadcasters, including SBS Australia(New episodes, repeat episodes show on 7mate Australia), and other Discovery channels worldwide. The show's hosts, special effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, use elements of thescientific method to test the validity of rumors, myths, movie scenes, adages, Internet videos, and news stories. The show is one of the oldest—and the most popular—onDiscovery Channel currently in production, being preceded only by How It's Made in the US and Daily Planet in Canada.

Filming is based in San Francisco, though some elements of production are done inArtarmon, Australia. Planning and some experimentation take 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 foralligator 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.

Contents   [hide]  1 History 2 Cast 3 Episodes 4 Format 4.1 Experiment approach 4.2 Outcomes of the experiments 4.2.1 Busted 4.2.2 Plausible 4.2.3 Confirmed 5 Warnings and self-censorship 6 Accidents 6.1 Esparto accident 6.2 Cannonball accident 7 Name lawsuit 8 Popularity and influence 8.1 Tours and exhibits 9 International broadcasts 10 See also 11 References 12 External links

History[edit]

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 seriespilot. 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 therobot 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).

Cast[edit]

See also: List of additional MythBusters cast members

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, andexplosives, 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.

Episodes[edit]

Main article: List of MythBusters episodes

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 do not.^[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 23, 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	22	March 25, 2012	November 25, 2012	3
	2013	9	May 1, 2013	TBA	1
	Specials	13	March 24, 2004	October 27, 2010	13

Format[edit]

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.

Experiment approach[edit]

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 use 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 involvingexplosives, 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 abandonedbase 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.

Outcomes of the experiments[edit]

By the end of each episode, the myths are rated "busted", "plausible", or "confirmed."

Busted[edit]

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 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 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[edit]

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 an untrained pilot 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]
• If a positive result is attained using surrogates for living creatures, but the procedure would result in injury or death if an actual creature was tested. For example, in "MythBusters 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 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[edit]

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 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.
• 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.)