the best and also worst MythBusters episodes
Posted by CreepyHeight9754@reddit | mythbusters | View on Reddit | 75 comments
i have watched many many episodes in MythBusters and a lot of the time I sit and go wow I don't know why its usually not the ones with big explosions that launch the set into outer space its usually the more technical ones some of my favorites was the episode about animal myths in which they created one of my favorite MythBusters myths are elephants afraid of mice the almost cinematic results but my all time favorites was a breakaway from the usual the duct tape island just seemed so well done it was incredible it was more like I was watching a you tube challenge video than a show but it was more well done and organized than the average YT challenge video an instant classic
Although i cant specifically think of certain myths that I despised or hated I think they where all well done even if it came from the depths of pop culture
I'm curious comment some myths you loved or hated in the comments to cure my boredom
HumpHur@reddit
I love the show. But it really went downhill when they started to script basically everything and everything they say. It became so unnatural compared to the early seasons. It was so much better when they let them just be themselves.
serpicodegallo@reddit
I am on episode S2E13 right now and this is where it begins I think. the build team have prepared lines and some of them (eg Tory) are more woodenly transparent actors than others.
you can also see it in the editing; close-ups of a person talking to someone, then cutting to a different camera for the reply, but the new camera show shows there is no longer a camera there to capture the initial close-up, making it clear that these moments did not happen in a direct chronology as depicted
blizzard7788@reddit
The immigrant getting over the border fence by slingshot. It was setup all wrong from the beginning. Never stood a chance.
Two hammers hitting each other. Again, setup wrong. How would two hammers ever be swung towards each other on a job site. Now, bury the claw of one hammer into a piece of wood by striking the face with another hammer. This happens all the time. Especially in concrete construction, where you have to take apart forms after the concrete hardens. And I witnessed a hammer breaking into smaller chunks and going into a guys arm by doing this.
Snobolski@reddit
i.e., didn't "explode" - busted.
;-)
blizzard7788@reddit
It broke from exploding.
ZeusStorage94@reddit
I loved the episode where they tested whether large breasts affect tipping. Besides the pure fun of seeing Kari 'enhanced', it was great to find all the smugness and 'monkey brain' comments destroyed by the data showing that not only did women tip more to the big-breasted Kari, their percentage of increase was more than the men's increase.
Ok_Pickle_3120@reddit
C'mon man
ZeusStorage94@reddit
Facts are facts...
Ok_Pickle_3120@reddit
Facts?
ZeusStorage94@reddit
Have you watched the show? Are you even aware what this sub is about? Sober up.
LiveLongAndProspurr@reddit
I didn't like the Battle of the Sexes episodes. I thought the ear wax candle was gross.
Ok_Pickle_3120@reddit
Really any of the episodes involving gender or anything to do with sexuality was pretty bad
Ok_Pickle_3120@reddit
Laws of Attraction and stinky Car remain my least favorite episodes to the point where I don't revisit them (Although I did rewatch Stinky Car to cope with personal tragedy from this year). Laws of Attraction because among many reasons, the results were unreliable, biased, and too subjective to the point where each myth could've come down to a coin toss. Plus, it was family unfriendly in a sort of South Parkian, overly rude way that kinda feels confrontational and dickish. If any episode should ever become "Lost" its that one. Stinky car I just hate it because of the premis and the fact that I love Corvettes and cool cars in general. I've somewhat forgiven the guys but its still a hard watch.
Best episode I can't pick one, but Halloween special, Christmas one (s?) and S4's Killer Quicksand are some of my evergreen favorites. Funnily enough, it feels like Killer Quicksand has been steadily mising content for years somehow.
Robdd123@reddit
My favorite episode is the Christmas special with the Rube Goldberg machine; not really a myth but it's so much fun. Other memorable ones include the Giant Waterslide, Duct Tape, the one with the banana peels, painting with explosives, the cement truck, and any of the early ones (mentos&coke, "am I missing an eyebrow?", etc).
Least favorites are the last few seasons where the show runners basically defaulted them to just recreating movie scenes.
Latter-Ad7199@reddit
Loved duct tape island. Less so duct tape canyon, that one wasn’t so good. The abseil / rappelling down the gorge was fine but they didn’t need to pretend the safety rope was duct tape and cover the climbing harness with tape to pretend it wasn’t real climbing gear. Honestly they could have just given us the real deal that there was actual safety gear in use . Same goes for the life vests they wore, just covered in tape. Felt fake, which is far far far from The usual MB vibe.
TheRiflesSpiral@reddit
Yeah and they built the suspension bridge completely wrong. The walkway is supposed to be hanging from the ropes they used as handholds. Instead they suspended all three parts from either side of the canyon. That's why they had such a hard time crossing.
EmperorsChamberMaid_@reddit
Huh. I never realised that, but yeah - that was a huge oversight
CreepyHeight9754@reddit (OP)
I do agree duct tape island was significantly better than the duct tape canyon counterpart thats why i left it out
jallenrt@reddit
100% the worst myth (to me) was pyramid power.
Some of the best myths were things that affect me personally - fuel economy, airplane boarding, covering your cough, etc
fapimpe@reddit
Worst for me is when they electrocuted Adam and then the build team never worked with the main team again <-- per this reddit anyway, and it wasn't even funny it was just a pause on the normal flow of the show.
Ok-Reality-9197@reddit
Was that the golden arc of the covenant prank?
fapimpe@reddit
Yeah, it's on youtube.
Ok-Reality-9197@reddit
Ahh yeah...that was kinda a shitty prank. So it makes sense
ComesInAnOldBox@reddit
The myths I never cared for weren't the myths, themselves, but their conclusions from their test results. Sometimes they would get hung up on one specific part of the myth and if that one specific part didn't hold, they'd call the whole thing busted. The Build Team was especially bad about this.
For example, using a bow and arrow on horseback. The "myth" is that mounted archers got more penetration by loosing while on the move (provided they were riding toward their target). Simple math confirms that much, as the velocity of the rider is added to the velocity of the arrow when loosed. They tested it and confirmed that, yes, there actually is, in fact, greater penetration when loosing while on the move. But the team gets hung up on, "the myth states that it's twice the penetration and that's not what we saw, so this myth is BUSTED!"
Another example? Diving toward the ground when a grenade going off being safer than trying to run from it (and hence being on your feet). They tested the hell out of this and confirmed that, yes, there are way fewer fragments that are likely to hit you if you're flat on the ground that if you're standing and have a much better chance of survival. But then the team gets hung up on, "the myth states that you're be completely unscathed, and as you can see that isn't the case, so this myth is BUSTED!"
The Build Team did this a lot, and it drove me nuts.
pyronautical@reddit
Oh god. This reminds me of the “catch an arrow” myth.
The first time they tested it was with a robot hand. And they were so so so certain it was impossible.
Then they get bombarded with mail saying not only is it possible, but people have seen it done at circuses and the like. So they find a guy who can do it and he does it pretty well. The trick was that you had to sort of follow the arrow with your hand as you grabbed it.
Then, out of nowhere, they add this part where “it’s not real enough. On the battlefield you would have to avoid many arrows”. Ok… don’t think that was the myth but whatever let’s do it.
So they put this guy in the middle of a circle. Archers surrounding him in a circle. And randomly, one of the archers will raise their bow and shoot an arrow at him. And he has to catch it and not get hit. So not only does this guy have to catch an arrow, he has to have ESP to feel an archer raise the bow behind him to shoot him in the back. And of course he couldn’t so they said busted.
This one I felt they really went to the ends of the earth to make sure the original myth stayed busted. Was nuts.
always-there@reddit
I learned to catch arrows when I was 16 years old at Scout Camp using target arrows. That MythBusters episode pissed me off.
ToneThugsNHarmony@reddit
For the grenade one they said while there would be less shrapnel down low, it would still be fatal. That’s why it was busted.
ComesInAnOldBox@reddit
Shrapnel injury doesn't equal fatal, and that's the problem with their "result." They "myth" isn't that you'll walk away uninjured, or that you're guaranteed to survive. The "myth" is that your odds are better, and their own testing absolutely proved as such.
Watch the episode again, they change what they move the goalposts on the myth a couple of times throughout the episode.
huckster235@reddit
Its a minor gripe to me because I don't really watch for the conclusions, especially now as an adult I can make up my mind if their method was compelling or not, but the experiments where human limits are either the focus or a factor in the myth and they just use an "expert" and when he can't do it it's myth busted. Or Adam and Jaime are like "well we can't do it, and it's like really hard, so it's busted". Like ok I get that you can't test everyone and probably can't realistically find people who are the pinnacle of human performance, but uh there are people out there capable of a lot of absurd things so Jaime and Adam don't mean much.
I also don't really think the ones where they test methods against each other or average their scores or whatever confirm or bust anything really.
Really minor gripes because I get they can't really exhaustively test a lot of these myths and they are fun, but some myths they test don't feel like they fit the "bust/confirm" paradigm of the show.
__ChefboyD__@reddit
Yes, another one that was super annoying was them testing the idiom "off to a running start." Their interpretation of this was to hang them in the air while they "ran" their legs and then drop them to the ground. Like, WTF.
The term means you at top speed when you reach the starting line.
rosmaniac@reddit
The .myth verbiage was "hit the ground running" (like the Desi Valentine song), so they took it straight and tried to hit the ground running
turingthecat@reddit
Not really relevant, but that just reminded a fact I learned.
Usian Bolt ran the fastest 100m ever recorded, but he didn’t get the record, because it was the second half of his gold medal winning 200m race (the one where his shoelace was untied)
ExcaliburZSH@reddit
The hung up on one thing is the scientific method and their hypothesis. The hypothesis was twice the penetration or unscathed so their conclusion was wrong, which means “busted”.
I agree it can be pedantic but they were embracing their Science Communicator phase.
ComesInAnOldBox@reddit
It's when the hypothesis changes throughout the episode (which is often does) that it drives me nuts. The Build Team also had a tendency to completely ignore the "plausible" category of results.
ExcaliburZSH@reddit
Yeah, I also noticed denying plausible became more of a thing. That was just show business, “we can’t keep saying everything is plausible, people will stop watching”. It is a flaw of the show’s design. It was an entertainment show first.
CreepyHeight9754@reddit (OP)
I know its so anoying when there in the middle of an explosion use something that sounds like it shouldnt work it works but its busted because they got a broken leg like COME ON
asphaltGraveyard@reddit
the fuel economy myths are the worst
seantabasco@reddit
I really liked the golf ball car one.
Shakes-Fear@reddit
My least favourite experiment was helium raft.
By all means, they demonstrated that it would take an absurd amount of helium in order for any raft to lift itself off the ground, let alone a human. But the giant helium raft they built at the end was a failure of their rig and their deployment of it, not the principle.
seantabasco@reddit
In general there are too many where for whatever reason they couldn’t get it to work so it was “busted”. I just woke up and can’t think of specifics, but there’s a couple where none of the 2-5 of them could do it, so it’s busted.
theshponglr@reddit
The ones that suck: the Dog related myths, the jean related myths, the relentless amount of gas conservation myths, and talking to plants and lying under copper pyramids, and mind control
The best: The giant water slide ramp into the lake, the hindenburg episode, lead balloon, anything with thermite. I don't watch the show for the explosions, but honorable mention of the OG cement truck, along with the dairy creamer fire ball
SnitGTS@reddit
I loved watching them try to get away from the blood hound!
seantabasco@reddit
The bloodhound part was great
pyroboy7@reddit
I'd like to propose an exception in the gas savings category with the golf ball textured car. Been legit tempted to intentionally put divots in my truck to get my shitty fuel mileage up.
theshponglr@reddit
obligatory "BOOP"
I do like that episode a lot actually, good call out
sir_thatguy@reddit
My sentiments exactly.
The stuff that wasn’t rooted in reality was stupid.
vivahermione@reddit
I disagreed with how they tested talking to plants. My hypothesis: it's not the sound that helps them grow; it's the carbon dioxide expelled when the person talks.
CreepyHeight9754@reddit (OP)
i do agree with the myth that suck being that sort of myth where we know that you cant mind control shit talking to plants and ones that make no sense whatsoever
mukn4on@reddit
The bestest of all time was the “scanning Kari’s ass” episode.
georgetherogue@reddit
Any episode with puking is the worst kind. Gross out stuff is not my bag and I think it’s Grant who wretches in the worst way and I really can’t handle it.
Best ep is waterslide jump, sorry. I know it’s cliche but what can I say?
bhandsomeman@reddit
I think my favorite myth at least my first time watching it was herding cats.
Probably my favorite myth I love most people generally lump in with myths talk about because it was on the last season was oil tanker implosion. I was just fascinated from start to finish.
utinak@reddit
Yeah, the oil tanker is one of my favorites. Essentially doing the opposite of blowing something up. I was substitute teaching a science class and this was one of the episodes we watched.
therelybare5@reddit
Am I missing an eyebrow? That was the episode about whether static electricity can cause a fire at the gas pump.
Kelldog9@reddit
The first Pirate Special has a special place in my heart. I’m not as big into the ones that are car-myth focused.
JRBowen9@reddit
"Airplane On A Conveyor Belt" just made mad. I thought, "Why are you testing this? There's no power going to the wheels of an airplane like that, so this whole concept is just a waste of time." Admittedly I was a little too invested in the show...but THAT one in particular drove me nuts.
92xSaabaru@reddit
Yeah, it should be obvious, but if you read the youtube/Facebook comments about it, it becomes clear way too many people believed the myth.
That myth triggered a lot of weird people. According to Adam, the original airdate got pushed back a week and everyone thought it was a conspiracy and called M5's landline and answering machine so much that Jamie had to disconnect the phone line.
Unfair_Detective_970@reddit
The problem was with how they described the experimental setup. What they said they were going to do was match the speed of the treadmill to the speed of the wheels.
But that is impossible to do (other than in the trivial case in which both speeds are 0), what they actually did was set the speed of the treadmill to the plane's groundspeed, which means the wheel speed was 2x treadmill speed.
Nanplussed@reddit
The walking on water episode. Just because Jamie almost died laughing when Adam went straight into the pool.
Also, stealing candy from a baby. Cuz baby reactions were just … 💀💀💀
Rededbeard@reddit
One of my favourites was the surface tension experiment when they dropped Buster from a crane in season 1
Elderberry-West@reddit
Personally i hated the running on water in an arc myth. More specifically jaimes lizard shovel feet part of the "myth" i can never see that one and NOT roll my eyes at jaime for that🤢🤮
Hot_Care9597@reddit
Best cement truck 1 & 2, the noise in number 2 was insane
Zealousideal_Fix1616@reddit
Holy shit. Invest in periods for your sentences.
47ES@reddit
The car fart vs which window to roll down was kind of dumb, but the result was interesting.
rowsdowerrrrrrr@reddit
so sorry but i love adam’s pirate voice so any one where they do that
JuniorSwing@reddit
The ones I usually skip is when it’s some obviously fake viral video (motorcycle table cloth pull) or something where the scientific basis is so silly (some of the movie based ones are like this, same with Zombie, etc). I also have the contrarian opinion that I HATE when the shoehorn an explosion that has nothing to do with the myth (we couldn’t this thing to work like the myth, so we just strapped it to TNT).
Best myths are the ones that end up reinforcing cool scientific principles. On this rewatch, for example, I thought the dimpled car stuff was cooler than I remembered. I also really love the ship undertow episode, quicksand, exploding jawbreaker)
The_mingthing@reddit
There is not a single punctuation in your entire post. Wow.
k00pa_tr00pa_@reddit
The only ones I tend to not watch again are some of those towards the end when they aren’t even really testing myths as much as they are just out of ideas and doing stupid stuff.
For example the zombie episodes. Those don’t interest me in the slightest because there is basically zero real scientific process or experimentation going on.
sej2016@reddit
There is an interesting Adam Savage video where he talks about Jamie killing myths later for this reason. The example being they were going to "test" the boulder scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Built the whole rig before Jamie went, "Why are we doing this? Are we actually testing or just recreating?"
NaviLouise42@reddit
My biggest disappointment was the sailing by fan power myth- as a sailor myself it showed a woeful misunderstanding of the mechanics of good sailing. Sailing with a tailwind is the least effective method of sail and yet it is the only one they tested. Good sailing uses the same mechanics as flight, just sideways, and so an almost head wind is the best wind for speed. I am not saying it would have worked, but they needed to try a fan from off sides or near the bow, blowing across the sail, instead of from behind like they did.
ixtlanium@reddit
The “meat man” episode (where a diving helmet safety valve “fails”) is so disturbing, I don’t think I’ll ever forget it!
(I’m referring to the results of the experiment, where they watch what happens. I’ve got no problem with meat man. Hell, I love meat!)
Ragnarsworld@reddit
Did you watch the myth about how using punctuation makes for more effective communication?
Vegimorph@reddit
My personal favorite myths were the movie-related ones, especially the heist episode, Jaws, and superheroes. The way the experiments were conducted was so much fun, like building their own sets for it and stuff.
The one I absolutely hate, though, is the "taking candy from a baby" one. I don't know why but it just made me so mad.
GonskyEdits@reddit
One of my favorites— the inner child in me LOVED everything to do with ‘Waterslide Wipeout’— great build-up and trial and error, with a really fun finale. Adam’s voice as he wailed through the air is forever embedded in my brain. Was kinda bummed that Adam said he wasn’t a fan of it (understandably bc of the cold and wet day and the toll of repeated slides on his body).
One of my least favorites— Vodka myths, only bc I felt bad they made Grant straight-up sniff Adam’s grungy feet. Come on, now!
ExcaliburZSH@reddit
There was ones I did not enjoy as much but even the “bad” myths (pyramid power, free power) proved these not true.
Funkytadualexhaust@reddit
I liked the sweat pheromones one the best, followed by the airline boarding one. I dont really care about the explosion ones, although water heater episode was good.