I'm a big fan of urban myths, and while The Learning Channel floats its urban myth series around looking for a place in its schedule, I still at least have Mythbusters! The show stars Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman as sort of the intellectual version of Abott and Costello, two obviously gifted guys who expose crazy urban myths born out of society and make it funny while trying to tick each off. Deep down, these guys really are buddies, but the humor mixed in with the science actually makes the show work. Adam sometimes gets too cartoony and Jamie a bit stodgy, but when they bounce off each other and an experiment goes right, or even funnier goes wrong, it's interesting as they scratch their heads and try to figure out why gasoline won't erupt into flames or their washing machine won't explode. Rounding out the cast is folklorist Heather Joseph-Witman giving the facts or history of the myths, Tory the builder and comic straight man and Kari the redheaded sexpot, a very talented artist in her own right. Of course, the true star is Buster the resident victim. A sort of human-sized articulated mannequin dummy, he's been blown up, set on fire, dropped from the sky and in an elevator and the mute witness to things blowing up in his face. I imagine this series will stay available as long as they can find myths that can be tested scientifically, or at least be able to blow up. This show has to have created the biggest explosion short of a nuclear blast - a concrete truck filled with dynamite. I hear Adam is still looking for where he parked it!
Review of MythBusters
