The cast of the television series MythBusters perform experiments to verify or debunk urban legends, old wives' tales, 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 airdate: February 2, 2005
In this episode, Adam and Jamie re-lived 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 Drop
- Raccoon Rocket
- The Mad Trombonist
- Forest Fire Scuba Diver
- Elevator of Death
- Boom Lift Catapult
- Plywood Builder
- Ming Dynasty Astronaut
Episode SP3 – "Ultimate MythBuster"
- Original airdate: 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, Blown Away, Water Torture"
- Original airdate: February 16, 2005
Blown Away
Someone who is shot and thrown backward a significant distance is a staple Hollywood visual effect.
- Revisited in MythBusters Revisited , Season 3, episode 38
Brown Note
Chinese Water Torture
Episode 26 – "Salsa Escape, Cement Removal"
- Original airdate: February 23, 2005
Salsa Escape
Cement Mix-Up
Episode 27 – "Exploding Port-a-Potty, Car Pole-Vault"
- Original airdate: March 2, 2005
Exploding Port-a-Potty
See also Exploding Toilet .
Driveshaft Pole Vault
Episode 28 – "Is Yawning Contagious?"
- Original airdate: March 9, 2005
Toy Car Race
Is Yawning Contagious?
Toast - Butter Side Up or Down?
Episode SP4 – "MythBusters Outtakes"
- Original airdate: 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:
- Ping Pong Rescue , in which a sea otter managed to interfere with the experiment by stealing some of the ping-pong balls.
- 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's 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 able to match Jamie's time in the coffin.
- Cement Removal , where Tory tried to remove concrete from Twister I with a jackhammer, and only barely filling 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 Adam and Jamie explored the idea that the escape raft washed ashore on Angel Island after making it to the Marin Headlands as a way to throw the FBI off the convicts' trail. Using a scale model of the San Francisco Bay area, it was determined the tide could have washed the raft onto Angel Island if released from the Marin Headlands, but as with the theory of the escape's success, 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 of between 23,000 and 25,000 feet (7,000 and 7,600 m).
- Eelskin Wallet , in which Adam and Jamie tested neodymium 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 , in which Adam and Jamie tested whether sawdust, flour, straw, 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.
At the end (or beginning) of each chapter, Adam and Jamie destroy the tapes supposedly containing the relevant outtakes. Ways they destroyed them included cutting them with a chainsaw, smashing it with a sledgehammer, freezing them in liquid nitrogen and smashing them to the floor, firing a bullet through a long row of tapes, using black powder to blow it up and finally simply burning the whole pile. As they were standard VHS cassettes, it is very unlikely they contained any useful production footage on them (Digital Betacam tapes were probably used for actual recordings).
Six of the deleted segments, titled as the "Lost Experiments" are available on the Discovery Channel website.
Original myths that were completely edited out include:
Episode 29 – "Cooling a Six pack"
- Original airdate: March 23, 2005
Also featured in this episode is the first test of Buster 2.0, built during the Buster special, as well as the final test of "Earl the MythBusters Caddy".
Cooling a Six pack
- With this myth quickly busted, Adam and Jamie each tried to build devices which could rapidly cool a six pack, but neither device was effective enough. A carbon dioxide fire extinguisher, however, was able to cool a six pack to a satisfactory temperature in approximately three minutes. In terms of practicality, though, one's best bet is to use icy salt water, which cooled the beer to an ideal temperature in 5 minutes. Barring that, normal ice water was next fastest at 15 minutes. The other methods tested (the freezer, ice only, and the refrigerator) did not cool the beer rapidly enough to warrant their use in a spur-of-the-moment event.
Reference:
Baghdad Battery
The Build Team created several copies of the Baghdad Battery, an archaeological find which seems to suggest that ancient Babylonians were the first to use batteries.
The ancient people of Babylon created a crude battery for use in...
Episode 30 – "Son of a Gun"
- Original airdate: March 30, 2005
Son of a Gun
Phone in a Thunderstorm
Trailer Troubles
Episode SP5 – "Shop Till You Drop"
- Original airdate: April 6, 2005
This episode explored some of the MythBusters' favorite stores and vendors that they use when buying supplies for the show. The episode also included a tutorial on how to make ballistics gel 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 airdate: 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.
Episode SP7 – "Hollywood on Trial"
- Original airdate: May 11, 2005
The MythBusters test some of the pervasive myths that are created by 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.
Episode 31 – "Break
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