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 ...
s,
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
Busted, Plausible, or Confirmed).
Episode overview
Episode SP2 – "Buster Special"
* Original air date: February 2, 2005
In this episode, Adam and Jamie relived Buster's finest moments, from his introduction in ''
Exploding Toilet'' to his ultimate demise (supposedly in ''
Ming Dynasty Astronaut'') and showed the construction of the new "Buster 2.0". These moments include:
* ''
Exploding Toilet''
* ''
Barrel of Bricks''
* ''
Hammer Bridge Drop''
* ''
Raccoon Rocket''
* ''
The Mad Trombonist''
* ''
Forest Fire Scuba Diver''
* ''
Elevator of Death''
* ''
Boom-Lift Catapult''
* ''
Plywood Builder''
* ''
Ming Dynasty Astronaut''
Episode SP3 – "Ultimate MythBusters"
* Original air date: February 9, 2005
In this episode, Adam and Jamie competed in a series of arguably ludicrous tests and competitions to determine which of the two was the "Ultimate MythBuster". These competitions tested their ingenuity, constitution, and courage to see just how far they were willing to go to claim the title of "Ultimate MythBuster".
Episode 25 – "Brown Note"
* Original air date: February 16, 2005
Blown Away
Someone who is shot and thrown backward a significant distance is a staple Hollywood visual effect. This was revisited in
"MythBusters Revisited".
Brown Note
Chinese Water Torture
Episode 26 – "Salsa Escape"
* Original air date: February 23, 2005
Salsa Escape
Cement Mix-Up
Initially the team only intended to test the scenario of explosives being used to clean a relatively thin layer of concrete from the inside of a truck. Due to a mishap when the truck was being collected, however, it was filled almost to the top with concrete, rather than just with the thin layer that the team wanted. Adam therefore suggested splitting this myth into two sub-myths, the original one of cleaning a thin layer out of a truck (for which the team had to obtain a second truck), and another one involving a driver using explosives in what would presumably be a desperate attempt to remove a massive, solidified slab of concrete from the truck.
Episode 27 – "Exploding Port-a-Potty"
* Original air date: March 2, 2005
Exploding Port-a-Potty
See also ''
Exploding Toilet''.
Driveshaft Pole Vault
Episode 28 – "Is Yawning Contagious?"
* Original air date: March 9, 2005
This was the final episode in which the Build Team worked from their M6 workshop.
Toy Car Race
Is Yawning Contagious?
Toast – Butter Side Up or Down?
Episode SP4 – "MythBusters Outtakes"
* Original air date: March 16, 2005
In this episode, outtakes and other deleted scenes were shown, which included some failed experiments or extra experiments that had to be trimmed out of the show for time and relevancy reasons. Clips edited out of shows previously aired include:
* "
Breakstep Bridge revisit", the short revisit of the original myth. The revisit originally aired on
Myths Revisited, but was cut from the US version.
* "
Ping-Pong Salvage", in which a
sea otter
The sea otter (''Enhydra lutris'') is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the small ...
managed to interfere with the experiment by stealing a ping-pong ball from the ''Mythtanic II''.
* "
Plywood Builder", where Jamie had trouble with working with the zip line and Christine flat out refused to do the zip line.
* "
Chinese Water Torture", where Tory and Scottie each had a turn on the torture rack—Scottie with a blindfold and head restraint, and Tory with a head restraint, shackles, and a stream of iced water. In the aired version of this myth, Kari and Adam go 'under the drip', and it is found that Chinese water torture is extremely effective—Adam completes his turn without incident (but was not restrained in any way), while Kari, who was restrained, requested that her turn be cut short when she began to suffer an emotional breakdown.
* "
Buried Alive", where Adam and a producer each tried the experiment, neither was able to match Jamie's time in the coffin.
* "
Cement Mix-Up", where Tory tried to remove concrete from ''Twister I'' with a jackhammer, and only barely filled the bottom of the bucket after an hour of work.
* "
Needle in a Haystack", where Adam, before settling on the ''Needlefinder 2000'', considered using a sieve, a
metal detector, and a
bloodhound to find the needles.
* "
Escape From Alcatraz", where the MythBusters theorized that the escapees used the tides to go to a different location. The makeshift raft crafted and crewed by the MythBusters team successfully made it across the bay and made it to the
Marin Headlands
The Marin Headlands is a hilly peninsula at the southernmost end of Marin County, California, United States, located just north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge, which connects the two counties and peninsulas. The entire area is pa ...
. They declared it "Plausible" because the fate of the prisoners remains unknown. A portion of the scale tests (cut for time but later shown here) also shows that belongings of the prisoners' found in the bay afterwards could have been released by the prisoners and washed up where they were found through strategic use of the Bay's
tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravity, gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide t ...
s to throw the authorities off their trail. Adam and Jamie explored the idea that the escape raft washed ashore on
Angel Island Angel Island may refer to:
*Angel Island (California), historic site of the United States Immigration Station, Angel Island, and part of Angel Island State Park, in San Francisco Bay, California
* Angel Island, Papua New Guinea
* ''Angel Island'' (n ...
after making it to the
Marin Headlands
The Marin Headlands is a hilly peninsula at the southernmost end of Marin County, California, United States, located just north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge, which connects the two counties and peninsulas. The entire area is pa ...
as a way to throw the FBI off the convicts' trail. Using a scale model of the San Francisco Bay area, the tide could have washed the raft onto Angel Island if released from the Marin Headlands, but as with their theory of the how the escape could have succeeded, no concrete evidence existed to prove or disprove the theory.
* "
Carried Away", in which the Build Team used a pressure chamber to determine the height above sea level at which party balloons would pop. The balloons burst at an altitude between .
* "
Eelskin Wallet", in which Adam and Jamie tested
neodymium
Neodymium is a chemical element with the symbol Nd and atomic number 60. It is the fourth member of the lanthanide series and is considered to be one of the rare-earth metals. It is a hard, slightly malleable, silvery metal that quickly tarnishes i ...
magnets to see whether they had the desired effect. The data were successfully erased in just one swipe. This segment was left out due to them not being able to properly assess the power of the magnets. The magnetometer used in testing the strengths of the other items ceased functioning when a neodymium magnet was held near it.
* "
Bug Bomb A fogger is any device that creates a fog, typically containing an insecticide for killing insects and other arthropods. Foggers are often used by consumers as a low cost alternative to professional pest control services. The number of foggers neede ...
", in which Adam and Jamie tested whether
sawdust,
flour
Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...
,
straw
Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has a number ...
, or fake smoke could have also caused an explosion if a spark was nearby. None of the materials tested could fully ignite, though sawdust and flour did burn slightly, and reports of flour and saw mill explosions have been confirmed.
* "
Elevator of Death", in which the elevator expert answered questions on whether pressing elevator buttons can make the elevator move faster, whether someone can be decapitated by a closing elevator door, and whether
zero gravity can be attained by jumping in an elevator. All three questions were answered in the negative.
Six of the deleted segments, titled as the "Lost Experiments", are available on the
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
website
Original myths that were completely edited out include:
Episode 29 – "Cooling a Six-Pack"
* Original air date: March 23, 2005
From this episode, the Build Team operates from their new M7 workshop.
Also featured in this episode is the first test of Buster 2.0, built during the
MythBusters (2005 season)#Episode SP2 – "Buster Special", Buster special, as well as the final test of "Earl the MythBusters Caddy," which was dropped from a crane to fulfil a promise to its previous owner that it would be destroyed on the show.
While preparing Earl to be dropped from the crane, Scottie encountered a problem in that the rear windows needed to be opened to loop a chain through the passenger compartment, but the mechanism was jammed. She therefore took the chance to test out a mini-myth:
Cooling a Six-Pack
Reference:
Baghdad Battery
The Build Team created several copies of the
Baghdad Battery, an archaeological find which seems to suggest that ancient
Babylon
''Bābili(m)''
* sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠
* arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel''
* syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel''
* grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn''
* he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel''
* peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru''
* elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
ians were the first to use batteries.
The ancient people of Babylon created a crude
battery
Battery most often refers to:
* Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power
* Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact
Battery may also refer to:
Energy source
*Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
for use in...
Episode 30 – "Son of a Gun"
* Original air date: March 30, 2005
This episode marks the final appearance of Mythtern Christine Chamberlain.
Son of a Gun
Phone in a Thunderstorm
Trailer Troubles
Episode SP5 – "Shop 'til You Drop"
* Original air date: April 6, 2005
This episode explored some of the MythBusters' favorite stores and vendors they use when buying supplies for the show. The episode also included a tutorial on how to make
ballistics gel
Ballistic gelatin is a testing medium designed to simulate the effects of bullet wounds in animal muscle tissue. It was developed and improved by Martin Fackler and others in the field of wound ballistics. It is calibrated to match porcine muscl ...
by Adam and Kari (which is frequently used in the MythBusters' experiments), and revealed the source of the often referenced "Little Black Book", the ''
Pocket Ref''.
Episode SP6 – "MythBusters Revealed"
* Original air date: April 27, 2005
This episode took a behind-the-scenes look at the show. It featured insights from and interviews with Adam, Jamie, Kari, Tory and producer
Peter Rees, about various aspects of MythBusters, as well as explored personal issues between the hosts.
Episode SP7 – "Hollywood on Trial"
* Original air date: May 11, 2005
The MythBusters test some of the pervasive myths that are created by
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
, as well as recall some of their past Hollywood-inspired myths. This special also marks the debut of
Grant Imahara as the third member of the Build Team, though the next two regular episodes ("Breaking Glass" and "Jet Pack") did show Scottie Chapman in that capacity instead.
Episode 31 – "Breaking Glass"
* Original air date: May 18, 2005
Breaking Glass
Adam and Jamie investigate whether a human voice could shatter glass, as perpetuated in stories of opera singers and demonstrated by
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...
in a commercial for
Memorex and
Jim Gillette
James "Jim" Gillette (born November 10, 1967) is an American singer, notable for being the frontman of glam metal band Nitro. Originally a member of the band Tuff, Gillette released a solo album in 1987 and then formed Nitro with guitarist Mich ...
in the music video for
Nitro
Nitro may refer to:
Chemistry
*Nitrogen, a chemical element and a gas except at very low temperatures, with which many compounds are formed:
**Nitro compound, an organic compound containing one or more nitro functional groups, -NO2
**Nitroalkene, ...
's
Freight Train.
Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss
The Build Team takes on another old adage, and sees if it remains relevant in modern use. This became the longest ''MythBusters'' experiment on record—over six months long.
Jet Engine Vacuum
Episode 32 – "Jet Pack"
* Original air date: June 9, 2005
This episode marks the final appearance of
Scottie Chapman as a Build Team member.
Jet Pack
Pyramid Power
Episode 33 – "Killer Brace Position"
* Original air date: June 22, 2005
Killer Brace Position
The ''MythBusters'' take on an airline conspiracy theory. The episode is notable for the introduction of the simulaid family.
Cell Phones vs. Drunk Driving
Adam and Kari take on a contemporary issue in driving, one that has given conflicting scientific data. To do so, Adam and Kari perform a general-purpose road safety test three times (initially sober without a cellphone, then while talking to Jamie on a cell phone, and finally while slightly intoxicated but under the legal
blood alcohol content limit of 0.08%) and compare the three results.
Episode 34 – "Bulletproof Water"
* Original air date: July 13, 2005
Bulletproof Water
The ''MythBusters'' take on a Hollywood action staple, where a hero dives into water to avoid being hit by bullets. An alternate scenario of this myth was retested in
"Guns Fired Underwater".
360° Swing Set
Episode SP8 – "Jaws Special"
* Original air date: July 17, 2005
As part of
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
's ''
Shark Week'' (which Adam and Jamie hosted in 2005), the MythBusters test myths relating to the movie ''
Jaws
Jaws or Jaw may refer to:
Anatomy
* Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth
** Mandible, the lower jaw
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker''
* ...
'' with the help of a "ShaRammer" designed to simulate the force of a great white shark. This is also the first ''MythBusters'' special to run for two hours rather than one. More recent reruns have tended to show a version edited down to one hour. The episode was also referred to as the "Shark Special" in the ''
22,000 Foot Fall'' episode.
The sequel, ''
Shark Week Special 2'' aired in 2008.
Exploding Scuba Tank
Shark Strength
Barrel Pull Down
Boat Pull
Shark Punching
Mini Myths
The mini shark myths, while related to Discovery Channel's Shark Week, are not related to the movie ''Jaws'' in particular.
These are all included on the Jaws Special DVD, and some were included on Discovery's website.
Sharks Prefer Yellow?
It is also referred to as "Seeing Red."
Drop in the Ocean
It is also referred to as "Bloody Taste Test" and "Drop of Blood in an Olympic-size Pool."
Shark Skin = Sandpaper?
It is also referred to as "True Grit?"
"It was THIS BIG! I swear."
It is also referred to as "Rule of ... Fin."
Are Sharks Afraid of Their Own Image?
Episode 35 – "Border Slingshot"
* Original air date: July 27, 2005
This was the first episode in which the entire hour was devoted to testing a single myth.
Episode 36 – "Killer Tissue Box"
* Original air date: August 3, 2005
Killer Tissue Box
Splitting an Arrow
The Build Team take on a myth stemming from the film ''
The Adventures of Robin Hood'', where the most famous stunt is one where an arrow was split in half, from
nock
Nock may refer to:
Archery
* In a bow and arrow, two notches near the bow's respective ends, for attaching the bowstring
* Nock (arrow), in an arrow, the notch in the fletched (feathered) end of the arrow, for engaging the bowstring
People
*H ...
to tip. The Build Team explores whether this was at all possible, and also challenges fans at a medieval fair to duplicate this feat. This myth was retested in
"Splitting an Arrow".
Episode 37 – "Escape Slide Parachute"
* Original air date: August 10, 2005
Escape Slide Parachute
Inspired by a scene from ''
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'' is a 1984 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second installment in the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise, and a prequel to the 1981 film ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'', fea ...
'' where Indy (
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient o ...
), Willie Scott (
Kate Capshaw) and Short Round (
Jonathan Ke Quan
Ke Huy Quan (born August 20, 1971), also known as Jonathan Ke Quan (), is a Vietnam-born American actor and stunt choreographer.
Quan played Short Round in ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'' (1984) and Data in ''The Goonies'' (1985)''.'' ...
) successfully evacuate a pilotless plane using a life raft.
Exploding Hair Cream
Episode 38 – "MythBusters Revisited"
* Original air date: October 12, 2005
This episode is the second episode where the ''MythBusters'' team focus on retesting earlier myths, based on fan reaction (the first is ''
Myths Revisited''). Grant Imahara is also introduced in this episode.
Blown Away 2
Explosive Decompression
Who Gets Wetter?
Plywood Builder
Biscuit Bazooka Spinoff
AC vs. Windows Down
Car Capers – Exploding Gas Tank
Episode 39 – "Chinese Invasion Alarm"
* Original air date: October 19, 2005
Chinese Invasion Alarm
Five-second Rule
Episode 40 – "Confederate Rocket"
* Original air date: October 26, 2005
This was the second episode in which the entire hour was devoted to testing a single myth. Because the myth dealt with the making of explosive and or dangerous materials, the ingredients used to make
nitrous oxide
Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or nos, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula . At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, and has a ...
and
gun cotton were censored by substituting animal sounds for the chemical names. This myth was revisited in
"Salami Rocket".
Episode 41 – "Vodka Myths"
* Original air date: November 2, 2005
Compact Compact
Vodka Myths I
Vodka...
Episode 42 – "Steel Toe-Cap Amputation"
* Original air date: November 9, 2005
Steel Toe-Cap Amputation
Bottle Rocket Blast-Off
The Build team attempt to recreate thi
water bottle jetpack from a Japanese game show
Episode 43 – "Seasickness – Kill or Cure"
* Original air date: November 16, 2005
Seasickness – Kill or Cure?
Because Adam and Grant are very susceptible to
motion sickness, they test
non-pharmaceutical remedies for
seasickness
Motion sickness occurs due to a difference between actual and expected motion. Symptoms commonly include nausea, vomiting, cold sweat, headache, dizziness, tiredness, loss of appetite, and increased salivation. Complications may rarely include de ...
by...
Tailgate Up vs. Tailgate Down
This was revisited in ''
More Myths Revisited''.
Finger in a Barrel
The Build Team take on a myth that forms a staple of
cartoon physics
Cartoon physics or animation physics are terms for a jocular system of laws of physics (and biology) that supersedes the normal laws, used in animation for humorous effect.
Many of the most famous American animated films, particularly those from ...
. This was revisited in ''
Myths Redux''.
References
External links
MythBusters Official site*
{{MythBusters
2005 American television seasons
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...