Mythbusters - The one about jumping the shark?

[The Hypno-Toad]

I'm afraid its not an actual a myth but what is happening to the show.

It was announced in a rather shoddy way at the end of last nights show that Kari, Tory and Grant will "not be returning" for the next series. Just announcement from the other two, no chance for the trio to even say goodbye on the air.

I'm guessing they probably went to the bosses for more money as a group like the TBBT guys and got turned down or Discovery is taking chunks out of the budget.

Whatever the cause, a terrible way to end a great partnership within a show and basically ruin a programme that at its finest easily out-entertained Top Gear with its fun look at science linked to massive explosions. Not giving them the chance to say goodbye to the fans was a really stty thing to do.

But I'm sure Discovery has worked out it can make more money with programmes about mechanics yelling at each other while pretending to totally rebuild cars in a week or fake mockumentary shows investigating animals that don't actually exist.

Bye guys, thanks for all the memories.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRw4ZRqmxOc

[KemP]

That's pretty rubbish. I thought the three of them were great.

[Regiment]

I've always like Carrie and Grant, both added a great deal to the show. They'll be missed.

[kowalski655]

That sucks. Wonder how the other two feel about it?
Hopefully they will get their own show on another network

[MartG]

Bad move IMHO - the first series with just Adam and Jamie was OK, but it only really took off when they added the other three.

I suspect money issues, and I think it'll die after another series without them

[Truckosaurus]

A strange decision if they were pushed rather than jumped. It would make sense if they were getting their own show but otherwise I can't see a reason for getting rid of them.

[Mastodon2]

Mythbusters has always been a good watch, but the first few seasons were the best, when they actually tested a myth or urban legend, rather than the "can you do x with y" formula they adopted somewhere around season 4 or 5, where "x" is usually "cause an explosion" and "y" is usually "explosives".

I look forward to a stripped back and more focused Mythbusters, where they will hopefully rediscover the magic that made the show so compelling in the early part of it's life.

[hairykrishna]

It makes sense if they're going back to more in depth builds and less 'excuses for explosions'. It'll cut costs enormously. I wouldn't be surprised if the other three get a spin off.

[PanzerCommander]

Possibly, or their own shows entirely.

Interestingly the announcement on FB appeared alongside them introducing Kari Byron starting up her own FB page too. There is bound to be something in the works.

[JonRB]

PW said:

Apparently Adam & Jamie have said they want to go back to how the series started, with more focus on science, engineering and building things, rather than finding a vague excuse to blow something up.

That's a laudable aim, to be honest. I have been getting increasingly annoyed with them doing ever more tenuous stuff which concludes with someone saying "THAT was AWESOME".

The "sexual attraction" episode with Kari wearing a succession of prosthetic breasts sunk to new depths for me.

To be honest, Jamie and Adam very rarely seem to interact with Kari, Tory and Grant these days anyway; it's almost as if they are filmed completely separately. So maybe splitting them off makes some degree of sense.

[JonRB]

Mastodon2 said:

rather than the "can you do x with y" formula they adopted somewhere around season 4 or 5, where "x" is usually "cause an explosion" and "y" is usually "explosives".

I think half of the problem is that they have literally run out of myths to debunk.

[The Hypno-Toad]

JonRB said:

Mastodon2 said:

rather than the "can you do x with y" formula they adopted somewhere around season 4 or 5, where "x" is usually "cause an explosion" and "y" is usually "explosives".

I think half of the problem is that they have literally run out of myths to debunk.

I would totally agree that this is becoming a problem especially in the current series. I would also agree that episode with Kari's false blouse bunnies was really scrapping the barrel bottom.

[h0b0]

JonRB said:

The "sexual attraction" episode with Kari wearing a succession of prosthetic breasts sunk to new depths for me.

I saw the show info and just deleted it.

[JonRB]

h0b0 said:

I saw the show info and just deleted it.

It was without a shadow of a doubt the low point of Mythbusters for me

[David87]

I'm going to miss Kari. Liked the other two (in a different way) as well, mind.

[JonRB]

David87 said:

I'm going to miss Kari. Liked the other two (in a different way) as well, mind.

Yes, I will miss Kari, Grant and Tory; don't get me wrong. But at the same time, I welcome the idea of getting more sciency again.

[Mastodon2]

I have always sensed a tension and unease between the two camps tbh, Adam and Jamie are very experienced, old hands of their industry, whereas the "build team" were young and imo, lacking in nouse - although admittedly, Grant is a talented robotics engineer. You could see the obvious frustration and annoyance from Jamie in an early series when one of the juniors (not Kari, Tori or Grant though) nearly damaged a lathe in Jamie's workshop, and he explains that it cost him $30,000 and should be treated with respect. Then of course, there is one of the most uncomfortable moments in TV history as the build team electrocute Adam to see if he has a "religious experience". The only one having a religious experience was me, asking "please god, make this cringe-inducing segment be over".

[JonRB]

Mastodon2 said:

I have always sensed a tension and unease between the two camps tbh, Adam and Jamie are very experienced, old hands of their industry, whereas the "build team" were young and imo, lacking in nouse - although admittedly, Grant is a talented robotics engineer.

Yes, indeed. You get the impression that Jamie, at least, is genuinely interested in the Scientific Method (Adam perhaps less so), and the Build Team not at all.

Whether that is by direction or reality, I don't know. Kari is an artist, Grant is (as you say) an engineer, and I don't know what Tory is.

Mastodon2 said:

Then of course, there is one of the most uncomfortable moments in TV history as the build team electrocute Adam to see if he has a "religious experience". The only one having a religious experience was me, asking "please god, make this cringe-inducing segment be over".

Oh gods I remember that. The look of total betrayal on Adam's face was bowel-twistingly awkward.

[hairykrishna]

Mastodon2 said:

I have always sensed a tension and unease between the two camps tbh, Adam and Jamie are very experienced, old hands of their industry, whereas the "build team" were young and imo, lacking in nouse - although admittedly, Grant is a talented robotics engineer. You could see the obvious frustration and annoyance from Jamie in an early series when one of the juniors (not Kari, Tori or Grant though) nearly damaged a lathe in Jamie's workshop, and he explains that it cost him $30,000 and should be treated with respect. Then of course, there is one of the most uncomfortable moments in TV history as the build team electrocute Adam to see if he has a "religious experience". The only one having a religious experience was me, asking "please god, make this cringe-inducing segment be over".

I think the 'junior' thing is a bit of an illusion- Both Grant and Tory worked at ILM for almost a decade prior to mythbusters. If you're thinking of the same incident, I watched the episode the other night, the frustration and annoyance with the damaged $30k lathe was actually with Adam - he took a chunk out of the bed and then left it covered in sawdust.

[HairyMaclary]

h0b0 said:

JonRB said:

The "sexual attraction" episode with Kari wearing a succession of prosthetic breasts sunk to new depths for me.

I saw the show info and just deleted it.

Sky+ does have an delete function now! It does have some interesting pop science in it.

I was thinking recently how much more they would do with mythbusters given that it's 10 years old now. The production/director must have changed to as it has a different feel to it now. I had a feeling the whole thing would be binned.