MythBusters is a science entertainment television series created by Peter Rees, and produced by Beyond International, in Australia. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel in 2003. It was broadcast on television networks and other Discovery channels worldwide. The show's original hosts, special effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, used elements of the scientific method to test the validity of rumors, myths, movie scenes, adages, Internet videos, and news stories.
Filmed in San Francisco, MythBusters aired 296 episodes before cancellation at the end of the 2016 season.Beyond Productions score Emmy nomination for Mythbusters Mumbrella July 15, 2011 Planning and experimentation took place at Hyneman's workshops in San Francisco. Experiments requiring more space or special accommodations were filmed on location, typically around the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere in Northern California, going to other states, or even countries, when required. During the second season, members of Savage and Hyneman's behind-the-scenes team were organized into a second team of MythBusters, "The Build Team". They generally tested myths separately from the main duo and operated from another workshop. This arrangement continued until 2014, when it was announced at the end of "Plane Boarding" that Tory Belleci, Kari Byron, and Grant Imahara would leave the show. Savage and Hyneman hosted the final two seasons alone. In October 2015, producers announced that MythBusters would air its 14th and final season in 2016. The show aired its final episode with the original cast on March 6, 2016.
Byron, Belleci, and Imahara led the Netflix show White Rabbit Project, which premiered in December 2016. Through experiments and tests, they delve into topics such as jailbreaks, superpower technology of fictional heroes, heists, and WWII weapons. The series was canceled after one season. In November 2017, sister network Science Channel revived MythBusters with new hosts Jon Lung and Brian Louden, who were selected by the competition spin-off MythBusters: The Search. The revival was filmed in Santa Clarita and other parts of Southern California, airing for two seasons until 2018. Savage returned in MythBusters Jr., a spin-off featuring children.
In 2021, Beyond Television produced and aired a new title of the franchise, Motor MythBusters, for Motor Trend. Belleci returned for the series and was joined by engineer Bisi Ezerioha and mechanic Faye Hadley. The series focused on testing myths and urban legends about automobiles. Excerpts of the original seasons (2003–2016) were used to produce MythBusters: There's Your Problem! for streaming services. In this repackaging, each episode is summarized to include only the experiments and conclusions.
The term MythBusters may be used to refer to both the program, and the cast members (without the italics) who test the experiments.
History The series concept was developed for the Discovery Channel as Tall Tales or True by Australian writer and producer Peter Rees of Beyond Productions in 2002. Discovery rejected the proposal initially because they had just commissioned a series on the same topic. Rees refined the pitch to focus on testing key elements of the stories rather than just retelling them. Discovery agreed to develop and co-produce a three-episode series pilot.
Jamie Hyneman was one of a number of special-effects artists who were asked to prepare a casting video for network consideration. Rees had interviewed him previously for a segment of the popular science series Beyond 2000 about the British–American robot combat television series Robot Wars. Adam Savage, who had worked with Hyneman in commercials and on the robot combat television series BattleBots, was asked by Hyneman to help co-host the show because, according to Savage, Hyneman thought himself too uninteresting to host the series on his own.
During July 2006, an edited 30-minute version of MythBusters began airing on BBC Two in the UK. The episodes shown on the European Discovery Channel sometimes include extra scenes not shown in the United States version. Some of these scenes are included in "specials", such as "MythBusters Outtakes".
The 14th season, which premiered in January 2016, was the final season for the series with Savage and Hyneman.
Adam Savage returned to TV with the show MythBusters Jr., without his original co-host Jamie Hyneman, but with a cast of teenagers, hence the name. The show debuted on the Science Channel on January 2, 2019 with rebroadcasts every Saturday morning on Discovery, as well as international broadcasts.
Cast
Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman are the original MythBusters, and initially explored all the myths of the series using their combined experience with special effects. The two worked at Hyneman's effects workshop, M5 Industries. They made use of his staff, who often worked off-screen, with Hyneman and Savage usually shown doing most of the work at the shop. The show is narrated by Robert Lee, though in some regions, his voice is replaced by a local narrator.
As the series progressed, members of Hyneman's staff were introduced and began to appear regularly in episodes. Three such members, artist Kari Byron, builder Tory Belleci, and metal-worker Scottie Chapman, were organized as a second team of MythBusters during the second season, dubbed the "Build Team". After Chapman left the show during the third season, Grant Imahara, a colleague of Hyneman's, was hired to provide the team with his electrical and robotics experience. Byron went on maternity leave in mid-2009, with her position on the Build Team temporarily filled by Jessi Combs, best known for co-hosting Spike's Xtreme 4x4.
Byron returned in the third episode of 2010 season. The Build Team worked at its own workshop, called M7, investigating separate myths from the original duo. Each episode typically alternated between the two teams covering different myths. During the Build Team's tenure, Belleci was the only member to appear in every myth that the team tested. At the end of the 2014 season finale "Plane Boarding", Savage and Hyneman announced that Byron, Belleci, and Imahara would not be returning in the 2015 season. This was reportedly over salary negotiations due to the rising cost of five hosts, however in a June 2025 podcast both Byron and Belleci confirmed that due to budget cuts they were offered contracts that comprised only three weeks of work, which when coupled with an exclusivity clause would have left them effectively unemployed. Hyneman and Savage returned to being the sole hosts. Byron, Belleci, and Imahara went on to host Netflix's White Rabbit Project.
The series had two interns, dubbed "Mythterns": Discovery Channel contest winner Christine Chamberlain and viewer building-contest winner Jess Nelson. During the first season, the program featured segments with folklorist Heather Joseph-Witham, who explained the origins of certain myths, and other people who had first-hand experience with the myths being tested, but those elements were phased out early in the series.
The MythBusters commonly consulted experts for myths or topics for which they needed assistance. These topics included firearms, for which they mostly consulted Lt. Al Normandy of the South San Francisco Police Department, and explosives, for which they consulted retired FBI explosives expert Frank Doyle and Sgt. J.D. Nelson of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. The MythBusters often asked other people, such as those supplying the equipment being tested, what they knew about the myth under investigation. When guests were on the show, the MythBusters generally consulted them or included them in the experiments.
Episodes
No consistent system was used for organizing MythBusters episodes into seasons. The program has never followed a typical calendar of on- and off-air periods. The official MythBusters website lists episodes by year. Discovery sells DVD sets for "seasons", which sometimes follow the calendar year and sometimes do not. Discovery and retail stores sell "collections", which divide up the episodes in a different way. Each collection has about 10 to 12 episodes from various seasons.
The following table is organized according to year of first broadcast.
Format Each MythBusters episode focuses typically on two or more popular beliefs, Internet rumors, or other myths. Many of the myths are on mechanical effects as portrayed in live-action films and television of fictional incidents. The list of myths tested by the series is compiled from many sources, including the personal experiences of cast and crew, as well as fan suggestions, such as those posted on the Discovery Channel online MythBusters forums.
Occasionally, episodes are produced in which some or all of the myths are related by theme, such as pirates or sharks, and occasionally these are dubbed as "[Theme] Special" episodes. As of May 2009, four myths have required such extensive preparation and testing that they had entire episodes devoted solely to them, and four specials have been double-length. Several episodes, including the 2006 Holiday Special, have included the building of Rube Goldberg machines. Before a myth is introduced by the hosts, a myth-related drawing is made on a blueprint, save for in the final two seasons featuring Adam and Jamie. After the hosts introduce the myth, a comical video explaining the myth is usually shown.
Experiment approach The MythBusters typically test myths in a two-step process. In early episodes, the steps were described as "replicate the circumstances, then duplicate the results" by Savage. This means that first the team attempts to recreate the circumstances that the myth alleges, to determine whether the alleged result occurs. If that fails, they attempt to expand the circumstances to the point that will cause the described result, which often reveals that the claims of the myth are objectively ridiculous or impossible to achieve without specialized training or equipment. Occasionally, the team, usually Savage and Hyneman, holds a friendly competition between themselves to see which of them can devise a more successful solution to recreating the results. This is most common with myths involving building an object that can accomplish a goal. For example, rapidly cooling a beer, or finding a needle in a haystack.
While the team obeys no specific formula in terms of physical procedure, most myths involve construction of various objects to help test the myth. They use their functional workshops to construct whatever is needed, often including mechanical devices and sets to simulate the circumstances of the myth. Human actions are often simulated by mechanical means to increase safety, and to achieve consistency in repeated actions. Methods for testing myths are usually planned and executed in a manner to produce visually dramatic results,This is self-acknowledged in season two's bathtub electrocution myth: [Announcer:] "...but it wouldn't be MythBusters without pyrotechnics, so Adam's rigged up a flashpot to ignite when [a lethal electrocution occurs]." Tory also dubs this "the MythBuster way", which generally involves explosions, fires, or vehicle crashes. Thus, myths or tests involving explosives, firearms, and vehicle collisions are relatively common.
Results are measured in a manner scientifically appropriate for the given experiment. Sometimes, results can be measured by simple numerical measurement using standard tools, such as multimeters for electrical measurements, or various types of thermometers to measure temperature. To gauge results that do not yield numerical quantities, the teams commonly make use of several types of equipment that can provide other forms of observable effects. When testing physical consequences to a human body, which would be too dangerous to test on a living person, the MythBusters commonly use analogues.