MythBusters is an American documentary television series created by Peter Rees, produced by Beyond Television Productions and starring SFX experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, who use basic elements of the scientific method to test the validity of various rumours, urban legends, myths and news stories in popular culture.
The series premiered in the USA on the Discovery Channel on 23 January, 2003. Episodes are an hour in length.
Mythbusters premiered in South Africa on DStv's Discovery Channel on Wednesday 7 December, 2005. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
Season 6 premiered on Discovery on Wednesday 22 October 2008, at 22h00. There are 20 episodes in the sixth season, which aired in the USA from 8 August, 2007 to 27 July, 2008.
Season 6 Repeats
Saturdays: 07h50, 18h00
Sundays: 05h05
Synopsis
So, you're minding your own business, filling up your petrol tank, when your mobile phone rings. Should you answer it? Because you've heard you shouldn't use mobile phones near petrol stations since they can produce small sparks that can ignite big fires.
But wait: could that actually be true? Sounds like a job for the MythBusters!
It's a tough job separating truth from urban legend, but the MythBusters are here to serve.
Each episode focuses on two or three urban legends, popular beliefs, or Internet rumours. The featured myth often requires extensive preparation and set building, although the one or two simpler myths usually included in the show require less planning and execution.
Some urban legends that have been tested include:
Can the unaided human voice shatter glass? ("Breaking Glass")
Can a penny dropped from a tall building kill a person at ground level? ("Penny Drop")
Did Ben Franklin's kite experiment really take place? ("Franklin's Kite")
Does a duck's quack echo? ("Duck Quack")
Can a rotating ceiling fan decapitate a person? ("Ceiling Fan Decapitation")
Methods for testing myths and urban legends are usually planned and executed in a manner to produce the most visually dramatic results possible, which generally involves explosions, fires, and/or vehicle crashes.
Because the emphasis is on visual spectacle, mishaps and injuries have occurred, leading Adam to describe the show as "Jackass meets Mr. Wizard."
When a myth tests the limits of the human body, the MythBusters use resident crash test dummy, "Buster", or ballistics gel, which replicates human tissue and is used by ballistics engineers to test firearms and other projectiles.
If the myth is not too hazardous, the cast may perform the experiment on themselves, although even this involves risks, since injuries and mishaps are quite frequent.
By the end of each episode, each myth is rated "Busted", "Plausible", or "Confirmed".
Confirmed
The MythBusters are able to recreate the myth’s purported outcome with the described circumstances. A "Confirmed" myth is usually corroborated with documented evidence of actual occurrences.
Plausible
This judgment is used if a myth is possible but unlikely, or if documented accounts of the myth exist that the MythBusters were unable to duplicate (for safety or cost reasons).
A further case for the plausible rating is if there is no documentation of the myth occurring, yet the MythBusters were still able to duplicate it. The "Plausible" rating was first used in the second season.
Busted
The myth's results cannot be replicated via either the described parameters nor reasonably exaggerated ones. The myth's results could only be reproduced with parameters so unusual that the likelihood of the myth’s validity is questionable.
Injuries
Savage's lower lip was sucked into and cut by a running vacuum cleaner motor as he was examining the device for the "Homemade Hovercraft" myth. He later explained in the "MythBusters Revealed" special that he had wanted to see if the vacuum motor would pull on his lip, but had not thought about the rapidly spinning impeller within.
Savage lost some hair during an explosion test in the "Cell Phone Destruction" myth, which invoked one of his more famous quotes: "Am I missing... an eyebrow?” used in subsequent opening scenes for the show.
Hyneman almost passed out during the "Stinky Car" myth. The car, having spent two months inside a sealed truck container with two dead pigs inside it, had accumulated high levels of ammonia that almost overwhelmed Hyneman when he went inside to release the brakes.
Savage and intern Christine Chamberlain both suffered mild burns in the "Exploding Jawbreaker" experiment. Chamberlain was hit the most; the hot liquid core of the jawbreaker splattered on parts of her face and neck. Savage was later quoted as saying that the molten candy, at around 250 degrees Fahrenheit, felt "...like napalm."
In testing the "Boom-Lift Catapult" some fumes from a boom lift got in Byron's eye, which needed to be immediately rinsed with water for a few minutes.
In "Bulletproof Water" initial testing was done in a very tall tank constructed in the M5 lab. A deer slug fired from a shotgun caused at least one corner of the tank to split open, draining the water and threatening the cast and crew with electrocution; the power cords for several lights around the tank were on the floor. Power was cut before anybody was injured.
Seasons
Season 1
Premiere: 7 December 2005 | Finale: 1 March 2006 | Wednesdays, 20h00 | Episodes: 13
Season 2
Premiere: 9 May 2006 | Finale: 23 May 2006 | Weekdays, 20h00 | Episodes: 11
Season 3
Premiere: 28 October 2006 | Finale: 3 March 2007 | Saturdays, 20h00 | Episodes: 19
Season 4
Premiere: 10 March 2007 | Finale: 25 August 2007 | Saturdays, 20h00 | Episodes: 26
Season 5
Premiere: 1 September 2007 | Finale: 24 November 2007 | Saturdays, 20h00 | Episodes: 13
Season 6
Premiere: 22 October 2008 | Finale: 4 March 2009 | Wednesdays, 22h00 | Episodes: 20