Mythbusters special ranks transportation myths

     Discovery Channel's Mythbusters did a special episode last night entitle "Mythbusters Dirty Dozen: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles." In it, the Mythbusters rank their favorite transportation-related myths from 12 to 1, though there are five #1's, one for each of the Mythbusters team. Besides showing clips of those moments, there is new footage and behind the scenes stories told by the cast, to give something new to loyal viewers.

     Including trains is a stretch, because there is only one myth covered that is loosely based on trains. And it's not all that exciting, so it may have been included just to justify the nicely flowing episode title. The myth in question involves Adam Savage peeing on the electrified third rail. Although handled as tastefully as possible, it's still disturbing to see the yellow liquid flowing freely. This is a family show, and it stays family appropriate, but the gross out factor is high.

     Airplanes fare better, taking a handful of spots, including when the Mythbusters use a jet engine to overturn a bus. Combining a few forms of transportation into one stunt, it's a thrilling ride, but is surprisingly not any of the team's #1. Surprisingly, because it is such a huge production, and one of the coolest demonstrations of wind power ever staged. Unlike explosions, the carnage is not obscured by smoke and fire, but laid bare for all to see.

     Motorcycles and bicycles also make an appearance. While not technically fitting the title of the special, they are forms of transportation. Plus, the Indiana Jones motorcycle myth is one of the few instances where Jamie Hyneman actually gets into character for the movie. Even the stoic Jamie is excited by going after such a classic movie.

     Most of the myths are, not surprisingly, about cars, as Mythbusters do a ton of car myths. Ranking #11 is a stunt gone wrong, as a car careened over an embankment and off camera. Kari Byron gets a lock of utter shock and fear on her face. Apparently, there is a freeway nearby, and if nothing else, the crash provides quite the distraction. For the normally enthusiastic, but pretty brave Kari, this may be the best facial expression she's ever delivered, and deserves a slightly higher rank than #11.

     There could be much debate over how the twelve (actually sixteen) myths are ranked, and Mythbuster fans love to debate. But there is no question that this is a good list of myths, and a fascinating episode, even if you've seen all the episodes they are talking about before.

     Catch news episodes of Mythbusters Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. ET on Discovery.

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Mythbusters makes a "Mission Impossible Mask"

     Discovery Channel's Mythbusters is back for a fresh batch of new episodes. To kick things off, they tackled one of their weirdest challenges yet. Inspired by the Mission Impossible movies and TV series, Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, the coloful hosts, decide to test whether those realistic-looking masks would be enough to fool people. Jamie and Adam build masks of themselves, and then dress as the other. Then they hire a professional coach to teach them to act alike.

     Testing it proves a bit complicated. First, they bring in fans of the show and ask them to shine a laser at a target that a false Jamie or Adam is standing next to. In these early round, Jamie or Adam talk to the participants, and all say the voice immediately gave them away as an imposter. A second test where Jamie and Adam don't talk proved much more successful. Fans did not realize until they turned and looked the host straight in the face that something is amiss. A final test, posed as an observational challenge for Kari Byron and Grant Imahara is the best. Kari picks up on the imposter from seventy feet away, though isn't sure until she gets close. Grant is fooled all the way up until the five foot mark.

     Besides proving the myth plausible, depending on circumstances, how well people know you, and if you have to talk, the scene was thoroughly enoyable, if a bit creepy. Because the molds are generic, and not fitted to the wearer's head, Adam's Jamie worked a lot better than Jamie's Adam, because Jamie has a bigger head and it stretched out Adam's face. Still, I'd love to have been a fly in the room as they did the test. I could not get enough of watching the pair impersonate each other. I'm so glad these two have a television show.

     The second team, consisting of Kari, Grant, and Tory Belleci, did what seems like the two thousandth gun myth on the series. Despite frequent testing of firearms, though, this one, as many are, is still fresh and exciting. They were testing movie scenarios (of course!). One had them trying to spin a playground merry-go-round by shooting it with bullets, while the other consisted of shooting guns on the ground to knock them away from their disarmed owner. The latter proved surprisingly true, and worked well no matter what surface.

     The merry-go-round did not work at all. That did not stop Kari, though, from making it into the merry-go-round of death by adding barbed wire and lighting gasoline-soaked rope on fire. It is a sight I will not soon forget, and definitely made the whole myth worth it. Leave it to Mythbusters to ramp things up until they are hilarious, and a bit frightening, rather than being satisfied with status quo.

     Reruns air constantly, but new episodes of Mythbusters can be found Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Discovery Channel.

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Preview: Mythbusters Tackle "President's Challenge"

    Discovery Channel's Mythbusters has been on the air since 2003, and has rarely produced a bad episode, though admittedly the series improved markedly once the second team of three younger 'busters was formally introduced. That's a feat to be proud of. I know I caught occasional episodes over the years, and have devoured at least a few dozen episodes in the past few months alone.

     This week they revisit Archimedes's Solar Ray, a myth that they have put to the test twice before. Though I can't recall the team tackling a myth thrice before (twice, yes), this comes at the special request of President Barack Obama, who guest stars in the episode. POTUS's theory is that the mistake made in the past is the lack of human element. Though hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman have used actual people on small scale tests, their larger scale experiments were done by computer and mirrors mounted on a board. The President asks them to give it one more shot and report back to him. The episode is part of Discovery Communications's support for the current administration's STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) campaign.

      Admittedly, the scenes featuring President Obama are a little cheesy. The series is no stranger to corniness, but usually that's done in the name of humor, whereas in this instance it's supposed to be more serious. In fact, it seems likely to me that the scene where Obama makes the request and the scene where the Mythbusters give him the results were probably done on the same day, and that slightly ruins the magic. However, everything outside of the White House is classic Mythbusters stuff, and as thoroughly enjoyable as most episodes. I won't ruin the results, but the guys seemed to be having an absolute blast staging the test with a group of 500 middle and high school students. Perhaps even more fun than the kids themselves.

     The question is, was this worth the effort of revisiting the same thing for the third time? Probably not. To be honest, I would have rather liked to see something new. The night before I had watched the episode "Hidden Nasties", which featured a car being skipped across water, and I thought that was way cooler than seeing sun beams on a sail... again. However, I am all in favor of the STEM push, and Discovery and Mythbusters surely deserve credit for helping in something vital to America's future. As an educator myself, I may be biased in that regard.

     The second part was a bit more action packed. Tory Belleci, Grant Imahara, and Kari Byron, the second team, attempted to see if the scene from Hellboy where the titular character flipped a car by punching it was realistic. Well, of course, the devil boy isn't, but they were checking force and fulcrums. It's physics, of course. Again, no results will be spoiled, but watching a number of SUVs crushed as the trio tried over and over again to get things right was thoroughly enjoyable. My impression was they tried far more variations and adaptations than usual, or at least more were shown, really putting this myth through its paces.

     My one caveat is, is something shown in a movie really a myth? Sure, it may be decades from now if people remember what happened. The Archimedes story fits the title better than the Hellboy thing. But after eight years of making episodes, I doubt they could survive on myths alone, and the point of the show is not semantics, it's science, so that can be overlooked.

     As I said, this was not the most enjoyable Mythbusters ever, but as always, it was entertaining and fully rooted in science. Any children watching it (and I'll bet there are at least 500 that will be) will learn something cool. The hosts were as engaging as always, and their enthusiasm always seems genuine, even after all of these years. Even neater, next week the Mythbusters will meet up with Seth Rogen in "Green Hornet Special", looking at myths from the upcoming movie. I'm really looking forward to that one.

     Mythbusters "President's Challenge" airs this Wednesday night at 9pm on Discovery Channel. Check it out.


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Article first published as TV Preview: Mythbusters Tackle "President's Challenge" on Blogcritics.