When will the next generation of this show happen?
Posted by AoxomoxoAJones@reddit | mythbusters | View on Reddit | 36 comments
I feel that they were in transition until Grant died but IMO, we still need a show like this to keep physics and science alive for younger generations. We as long time adult fans of the show might think that there is nothing left to do but I was watching the Simpsons episode S17E1 with my daughter and she was in Adam's words "gobsmacked" I've rarely seen her interested in math or physics (she has autism and is very artistic but not math brain) but she absolutely loved this episode. lets just hope she never finds out how to get a cherry bomb. Anyway, science shows have always been around. How do we continue?...
ExcaliburZSH@reddit
It is being done, on Youtube
R1ppedWarrior@reddit
This is it. The new generation isn't gonna care about some TV show. They watch YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, etc. And this is where a lot of creators are putting out great science/engineering content. Channels like Veritasium, Stuff Made Here, Mark Rober, ElectroBOOM, etc are all carrying the torch of Mythbusters in a way. Hell Adam Savage has his own channel still putting out cool stuff.
dmdewd@reddit
Yes. And a special shout out to Allen Pan, I Did A Thing, Backyard Scientist, William Osman, Simone Giertz, and NileRed for making science more interesting (and sometimes more terrifyingly dangerous at the same time).
captkirkseviltwin@reddit
Yeah, that’s the thing, a diaspora of science content happened, it’s now focused on Internet content, and YouTube seems to currently be its home.
Mr_Moooooooooo@reddit
Came here to say this. The best thing about youtube is you can almost always find someone/channel that you click with on a topic of interest to you. It is essentially personalised TV. Having said that, it is getting harder to find new and interesting channela due to the algorithm, but they exist.
Old_Faithlessness_94@reddit
Honestly? Probably never, the show has run it's course & people have moved on to different things.
cjruizg@reddit
Already happened, more than once... It sucked.
Adam & Jamie are a one off
snrub742@reddit
The top gear effect
Ok-Expression-3614@reddit
i think a great version of the show would be a bunch of episodes just behind the scenes, in the latest (i think) mythfits podcast kari explained how some of the funniest things were behind the scenes and cut
ExcaliburZSH@reddit
Yeah, I heard that and was thinking “just release the unused fottage”
Ok_Pickle_3120@reddit
I'd be down for an "Inside Out Mythbusters" that's mostly old footage and outtakes, I hope whever runs the Mythbusters Youtube channel can dig some stuff out
Sweetcreems@reddit
It’ll have to be something different. I love mythbusters too but the cold hard truth is that one of the many reasons the show ended was that they kinda did everything already. Like yeah it’s been a decade and such and more myths are out there but the show really was quite thorough on getting all the old wives tales, rumors, etc. There are of course more movie myths and internet mysteries but that corner of the market has been kinda addressed as common internet media. Plus, tbh, it’s kinda a miracle that the show got made imo just with how much crazy stuff was in it.
My advice is show the newer generations the show. There’s 17 seasons of it so there’s more than enough lmao, and hope that somewhere along the way something new will take up the science mantle.
Cause let’s be honest Mythbusters was lightning in a bottle. We can’t recapture that lighting, all we can do is wait for another strike.
JBaecker@reddit
I showed my son mythbusters two years ago and he’s hooked. It’s in regular rotation and he’s used more than one Adam catchphrase in talks with his friends more than once. My favorite was when a situation happened and a kid said something mean about it so my kid belts out “I reject your reality and substitute my own!” Cracked me right up, particularly with its timing!
Helpful_Passenger_80@reddit
"one of the many reasons the show ended was that they kinda did everything already"
I think at the time of it ending that was entirely true. You could tell during the last few seasons they were really scraping the bottom of the barrel. But with the amount of fake or potentially fake videos online these days I think they'd easily be able to film another 4 or 5 seasons worth of genuinely interesting content - especially in the modern era of TV/streaming where seasons only have 8-16 episodes, compared to the 20+ they used to have. I honestly believe Mythbusters has just as much of a reason to exist today as it did back then. But without the original cast, I don't think I'd personally have much interest in it. I'm just not sure Buster would sign another contract.
Sweetcreems@reddit
The issue is while there are a lot of internet mysteries and fake videos out there Mythbusters was never strictly about debunking online fakes. That was a thing they did, yes, but it was placed intermittently between episodes. Plus, part of what made the show unique was that they were putting the "myths to the test" and crunching numbers which just wasn't a thing back then. Now there are entire deluge of online personalities whose whole allure/brand is debunking online fakes. And honestly I don't think that's a bad thing because a good debunking is good entertainment, but like you said what made Mythbusters goated was the mix of the myths and the cast.
Now I'm not gonna say that another good cast can't come along. Things change and new people that fit the bill I'm sure are out there, but they'd still have to deal with the fact that the OG crew did like all the heavy first season hits like most of the ones from Star Wars, Indiana Jones, classic movies, bull in a china shop, lead balloon, etc.
AoxomoxoAJones@reddit (OP)
We'll always have those memories of Mr. Wizard i guess. The youts need a show.
beheadedstraw@reddit
It’s all YouTube now. Shows like this are dead in the water now.
mazzicc@reddit
Science YouTubers have been a thing for a while now.
Chrisv8709@reddit
Mark Rober now carries the mantle
Waffles005@reddit
On a scale from bill nye to mister beast he’s leaning quite a lot towards mister beast even if the science parts of what he does is solid.
I think creators like veritasium are leaning more towards bill nye, but I do admit that a lot of them are not as approachable to the kind of ~8-13 age range.
Chrisv8709@reddit
I couldn't agree more! Let me ask you this... do you think the issue is the viewers now? Feels like kids have shorter attention spans, they need more flashy lights and big colorful explosions, it feels like maybe society as a whole wouldn't want Mythbusters or something similar any longer, which breaks my heart.
Waffles005@reddit
Somewhat? I think there has been a cultural shift of “iPad kids”/ parenting by the internet, it’s just hard to say if that’s the only reason or if it has more to do with the YouTube algorithm or other factors like the rise of subscription boxes.
ilovecostcohotdog@reddit
This is correct. My kids love the guy and I enjoy seeing him do the science. I wish he would show a bit more of the actual build, but the science is legit. He is getting his own Netflix show too.
Chrisv8709@reddit
Oooh, I didn't know about the Netflix show. That'll be so cool!
have_a_schwang@reddit
Nobody Asked on Dropout is directly inspired by Mythbusters in terms of production style, though it leans way harder into the humor than the science.
Reviews were mixed though I thought it had some really fun moments. Definitely worth a watch and each cast member is brilliant in their own right–especially Brian David Gilbert.
Ragnarsworld@reddit
Mythbusters as we knew it is dead and not coming back. The model doesn't work for TV shows these days. But it could work well streaming or on Youtube in smaller/shorter increments. So instead of an hour doing an A and B myth, you do one smaller myth for 15-20 minutes. And for the love of god, no more movie myths or internet viral BS where you know going in it was CGI.
Fubushi@reddit
It had it's time. And the main five have aged or died. Jamie would be out. The other three? That might work, in a somewhat lighter format. Blowing up stuff just isn't doing it anymore.
murphsmodels@reddit
I thought they did a second generation with new hosts. I remember a "last survivor" style show where Kyle Hill so they could pick the new hosts. They didn't have the same chemistry that Adam and Jamie had, so I quickly lost interest. Dunno how long it lasted.
Ragnarsworld@reddit
It lasted less than a season. IIRC, it was so bad there were episodes they never aired.
The new show was hamstrung by the stupid "reality show/contest" that clearly didn't pick the right two hosts. I remember a lot of people wondering at the time why Kyle Hill wasn't a Mythbuster; dude has serious science/education/communications background.
Mr_Badger1138@reddit
And is entertaining to boot.
murphsmodels@reddit
I know they picked the wrong hosts. I wanted the redhead. Not only for being a redhead, but I liked her personality.
Elderberry-West@reddit
They tried new hosts. And nobody watched. They tried mythbusters jr. And nobody watched. Even though it was pretty good. I think that type of show is past
Ragnarsworld@reddit
To be fair, Mythbusters Jr. had a chance but COVID killed it. (also, they should have reduced Adam's on-screen presence, but they could have done that in a 2nd season)
ExcaliburZSH@reddit
Myth Jr and Savage Builds also ran into covid and kind of killed them. There is a reason Adam switch everything to Tested
Get_a_Grip_comic@reddit
I think a lot of YouTubers have taken the mantle of what mythbusters did.
People with engineering skills or science skills doing small experiments in their back yard similar to how mythbusters started.
Grant , Kari and Troy were very much like this in the early seasons, as they were younger.
Their are YouTubers out there that inform us about the truth of things, like “a real lawyer watches the court scene”
Captain disillusion for VFX ‘myths’
How to make everything
Veritasium
Cody’s lab etc
Part of the problem is that they ran out of myths, so any new show would be just big budget explosions.
Especially since the whole anti-science trend, I doubt any backers would produce a more down to earth sciency show.
Mythbusters was a great show, lightning in a bottle, the time period before reality shows became too influential.
The chemistry, the myths, the humour.
I think a show that would disprove a lot of todays myths would be boring as they would probably be too social media focused.
Jay_ShadowPH@reddit
Given the much, much shorter attention span of the possible audience, it would need shorter episodes, as in just 1 myth per episode, with the 'behind the scenes' explanations and failed attempts available on youtube, with a link being shared at the end of the episode.