The cast of the television series ''

MythBusters ''MythBusters'' is a science entertainment television program, developed by Peter Rees and produced by Australia's Beyond Television Productions. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel on January 23, 2003. It was broadcast internatio ...

'' perform experiments to verify or debunk

urban legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

old wives' tale An old wives' tale is a supposed truth which is actually spurious or a superstition. It can be said sometimes to be a type of urban legend, said to be passed down by older women to a younger generation. Such tales are considered superstition, fol ...

s, and the like. This is a list of the various myths tested on the show as well as the results of the experiments (the myth is either Busted, Plausible, or Confirmed).

Episode overview

Episode P1 – "Jet-Assisted Chevy"

* Original air date: January 23, 2003

JATO Car

This myth was inspired by the

Darwin Award The Darwin Awards are a tongue-in-cheek honor that originated in Usenet newsgroup discussions around 1985. They recognize individuals who have supposedly contributed to human evolution by selecting themselves out of the gene pool by dying or b ...

-winning Arizona Dept. of Public Safety story about a former Air Force sergeant mounting a JATO rocket to a 1967

Chevrolet Impala The Chevrolet Impala () is a full-size car built by Chevrolet for model years 1958 to 1985, 1994 to 1996, and 2000 to 2020. The Impala was Chevrolet's popular flagship passenger car and was among the better-selling American-made automobiles in ...

and firing the rocket while at highway speed——on a deserted road. It was also alleged that when at , he had to make a turn with a slight upgrade but burned out his brakes trying to stop, was launched into the air, and hit the side of a mountain.

Pop Rocks

This myth was inspired by the alleged death of

Little Mikey Little Mikey is a fictional boy played by John Gilchrist (born February 2, 1968) in an American television commercial promoting Quaker Oats' breakfast cereal Life. The ad was created by art director Bob Gage, who also directed the commercial. It f ...

of Life Cereals commercial fame—allegedly due to gastric rupture caused by an excess of carbon dioxide from a six-pack of soda and six pouches of

Pop Rocks Pop Rocks, also called popping candy, is a candy, owned by Zeta Espacial S.A. Pop Rocks ingredients include sugar, lactose (milk sugar), and flavoring. It differs from typical hard candy in that pressurized carbon dioxide gas bubbles are emb ...

Episode P2 – "Biscuit Bazooka"

* Original air date: January 23, 2003

Stuck on You

This myth was inspired by a BBC and Reuters story about an obese woman flying on a

Scandinavian Airlines System Scandinavian Airlines, more commonly known and styled as SAS, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''SAS'' is an abbreviation of the company's full name, Scandinavian Airlines System or legally Scandinavian Airlines System Denmark ...

flight from Europe and getting stuck on the lavatory toilet due to suction, forcing the crew to land the plane while she was still on the toilet.

Biscuit Bullet

Falling Lawyer

Episode P3 – "Poppy-Seed Drug Test"

* Original air date: March 7, 2003

Lawn Chair Balloon

Poppy Seed Drug Test

''Goldfinger''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:MythBusters pilot

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

2003 American television seasons Television pilot seasons