INTRO: Remember Mythbusters?
Throughout the 2000s and early 2010s, Mythbusters was one of the most popular science based
shows in the entire world.
Every week, we got to see the cast put popular myths and urban legends to the test.
Is it likely that the Alcatraz prison escape was successful?
If you drink diet coke and instantly eat mentos right after, would your stomach explode?
And most importantly, could Jack and Rose have shared the door in Titanic?
Myths like these kept many of addicted to the show for several years.
But, out of nowhere, in late 2015, the Mythbusters announced the the longest running show on
the Discovery Channel was coming to an end in 2016.
For most of us, this was a complete surprise given that the show was still as entertaining
as ever.
Since then, we’ve seen multiple spinoffs emerge including MythBusters: The Search,
White Rabbit Project, Mythbusters Jr., and Motor Mythbusters.
While some of these were great in their own right, it was of course never as good as the
original.
So, what happened to MythBusters and why was the show cancelled?
INTERNAL STRAINS: While it may seem like MythBusters ended abruptly,
there was actually a slew of fundamental issues that plagued the team for years.
One of these issues was the chemistry between the team members themselves, specifically
Adam and Jamie.
Now, this might come as a surprise to many of you, but Adam and Jamie aren’t actually
friends.
And this isn’t speculation or a fan theory.
Both of them have actually been extremely transparent about how they don’t actually
get along in real life.
Adam said quote “We don't get along very well together on a personal level.
In 25 years we've known each other, we've never had dinner alone together.”
Similarly, when asked if it would be an exaggeration to say that Jamie didn’t really like Adam,
Jamie replied, “No.
We certainly had respect for each other, but we really weren’t friends.”
Considering this, it’s extremely impressive that this duo was able to sustain such a productive
professional relationship for so long.
But, if it was up to them, they wouldn’t voluntarily work with each other.
In other words, the opportunity to work together didn’t keep them on the show by any menas.
They each had their own independent reasons to do the show and when those reasons dissolved,
they didn’t hesitate to split ways.
If you’re wondering about the relationship betwen Tori, Kari, and Grant, these guys were
basically the exact opposite of Adam and Jamie.
They got together extremely well.
In fact, here’s what Grant had to say about it.
“The three of us—you, Tory and I—we are beyond friends.
We are siblings.
We shared a long, wild adventure, learning from each other the whole way.
Our cameraman nicknamed us Technical, Practical, and Logical because we were so different,
but we could solve any problem together.”
Clearly, this trio liked working with each other, but that wasn’t enough to deter them
from leaving the show when the time came.
You see, interest in Mythbusters was slowly declining over the years.
Now, I know it makes a lot of you guys upset when I say things like this because yes, even
after the decline, Mythbusters was still super popular.
However, when you’re constantly trying to produce bigger seasons with bigger myths and
bigger budgets, it’s not really sustainable when viewership and ratings are declining.
And according to data, the decline was pretty clear.
Take a look at Google Trends for example.
The search data says that interest in Mythbusters peaked between 2006 and 2008.
There were two peaks in 2009 and 2011, but for the most part, the underlying decline
continued.
And, by the time the show ended, it was only pulling in 20-30% of interest that it was
pulling in during its peak.
And if you don’t believe me, just listen to Adam himself describe the issue.
So, while Mythbusters was still quite popular and adored by its super fans, the average
viewer was starting to tune out.
And this makes sense given that the Mythbusters had already tested most of the super popular
myths.
There’s only so many Jack and Rose scenes and Walter White scenes that everyone knows.
Sooner or later, you’re gonna have to tackle less popular myths that aren’t as appealing
to the general audience.
Eventually, this led to declining ratings which started to take a toll on the show.
THE COLLAPSE: One of the first shortfalls that was extremely
evident to viewers was what happened to Tori, Grant, and Kari.
In 2014, it was announced that the B cast would be eliminated and that the show would
simply focus on Adam and Jamie.
According to the producers, what Grant, Kari, and Tory were asking for was unreasonable.
We never really got a solid explanation as to what exactly they asked for or why negotiations
didn’t end up fruitful.
At first, there was some speculation that this trio might’ve grown some resentment
for each other just like Adam and Jamie.
But, they would soon turn around and star in the White Rabbit Project together, so this
likely wasn’t the case.
The more likely scenario is that the trio wanted to maintain their compensation or increase
it.
And given that viewership was declining, this simply wasn’t feasible.
Something else to note is that it seems like the trio also didn’t agree with the direction
that the producers were taking Mythbusters.
Instead of myths being at the center of each episode, it felt like the producers wanted
more explosions and theatrics.
They probably thought that this would help retain viewers, but it kind of just caused
the show to lose its original appeal.
Once Kari, Tori, and Grant were removed from the show, ratings just declined even faster.
While some viewers were indifferent to the change, most viewers were upset that they
were cut from the show.
They felt that the trio gave a healthy break from the antics of Adam and Jamie.
Also, Kari was the only woman on the show.
And given that STEM fields are generally skewed towards men, many young girls looked up to
Kari.
But, this ended with the elimination of the B team.
Moving onto the last two seasons of Mythbusters, given that half the show was cut, the number
of myths tested per show was also cut in half.
Each episode only covered 2 myths instead of 3 or 4 like before.
On the brightside, this allowed the producers to spend more time showing the engineering
behind each project.
Adam and Jamie also had more time to explain the science behind each experiment.
While these facets were welcomed by superfans, to the average viewer, this likely just felt
slower paced and not as exciting.
And soon enough, Adam and Jamie’s 5 year contract was coming to an end as well meaning
that that it was time to renegotiate terms.
Adam was actually super transparent about this stating that he simply wasn’t willing
to the do show for less compensation.
And given that Discovery wasn’t willing to allocate a bigger budget, the only option
was to shut it down.
The silver lining is that Discovery let Jamie and Adam end the show on their terms.
They were allowed to call it a final season and they were able to test some of the biggest
myths yet.
But, the best part of it all was that they were able to invite Kari, Tori, and Grant
to do a wrap up episode.
This conclusion was extremely well received by the fans given that it was the highest
rated Mythbusters episode period.
So, while it was a shame that Mythbusters came to an end earlier than people wanted,
it’s nice that the show atleast got the ending that it deserved.
MYTHBUSTERS TODAY: In terms of what the mythbusters are up to
today, they’ve all gone down their own paths.
Starting with Adam, while he left mythbusters, he never really left the show business.
He went on to host two more shows called Mythbusters Jr. and Savage Builds.
Given the name Mythbusters Jr., I don’t think you’d be surprised to hear that it
had a similar premise to the original show.
Instead of having adults test these myths, however, we had teenagers test these myths.
And Adam was basically their mentor, leading them through the design, assembly, and testing
processes.
As for Savage Builds, this show was focused on a new inventions and restoration projects.
Adam collaborated with industry experts and friends to make things like the Iron Man suit
and the Wheel of death.
Savage Builds actually performed quite well while Mythbusters Jr. performed alright.
However, both of these shows were cancelled after just 1 season.
Adam wasn’t just involved in TV shows either.
He also had a cameo in 2048: Nowhere to Run and he published a book called Every Tool’s
a Hammer: Life is what you make it.
Likely, his most significant project over past several years, however, is his YouTube
channel.
Adam became the face of the YouTube channel “Tested” and they even renamed the channel
to Adam Savage’s Tested.
The channel has nearly 6 million subscribers and they post a new video almost everyday
about science and building.
Anyway, moving onto Jamie Hyneman, his life after Mythbusters hasn’t been nearly as
eventful.
He has more or less left the show business and has mainly focused on personal projects.
For example, he built a tank that’s specifically designed for firefighting.
He also received an honorary doctorate in technology from Lappeenranta University of
Technology in 2017.
This was actually his third honorary doctorate.
He had previously received one from Villanova University and the University of Twente.
More recently, he was appointed as a professor at LUT University in November of 2021.
This was a five year contract, so this is probably where he’ll be spending the majority
of his time in the coming years.
Moving onto Tory Belleci, he’s basically just jumped from one show to another.
Shortly after Mythbusters ended, he started hosting a show called Thrill Factor with Kari.
The show focuses on the science and engineering behind roller coasters and amusement parks
and explains why certain attractions are so thrilling.
After Thrill Factor, Tory went onto host White Rabbit Project with of course Kari and Grant.
He took a few years off from the show business after White Rabbit Project, but he eventually
returned in 2019 with The Great Escapists.
Since then, he’s also appeared on The Explosion Show and Jackass Forever.
So, things haven’t really changed all that much for Tory.
The same thing can be said about Kari as well.
She of course also hosted Thrill Factor and White Rabbit Project, but she’s done a few
things on her own as well.
For example, she hosted Crash Test World.
This show focuses on the tech capitals of the world and how these various cities are
helping build our future.
Aside from starring in these shows, Kari also helped found an educational streaming service
called EXPLR Media.
The streaming service is still super new, so we’ll have to see how it plays out.
And finally, last by not definitely not least, we have Grant.
After mythbusters and White Rabbit Project, Grant went on to host the second season of
The Home of the Future.
As the name suggests, this show focuses on futuristic homes filled with the newest tech.
Grant also had a Cameo in the TV movie Sharknado 3.
Grant hasn’t just been working on the front end of moves and TV shows either.
He has also spent a lot of time on the backend as well.
For example, in 2017, he consulted with Disney for six months to help them build better animatronics.
While things were going pretty good for Grant, he would unfortunately be hit with a intracranial
aneurysm in July of 2020 which took his life.
He was only 49 years old at the time which leaves him with the most tragic ending.
THE MYTHBUSTERS EFFECT: While its already been several years since
Mythbusters shut down, I’d be willing to bet that the effect of Mythbusters will live
on for decades.
Mythbusters likely inspired millions of kids and teenagers to persue careers in science
and engineering.
And who knows what these young minds will come up with in the coming decades.
In terms of the show itself ending, it really just came down to declining viewership and
a limited budget.
But, honestly, I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing.
More times than not, we see shows go on far way too long.
Mythbusters was able to end off at a time where viewers still wanted more which is why
all of us still remember it in such a positive light even after all these years.
And I’m not sure if any other ending could’ve have created such a lasting effect, but that’s
just what I think.
Did you watch Mythbusters growing up?
Comment that down below.
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