History Series / MythBusters

** A minor one at first blush, but really serious [[FridgeLogic when you think about it.]] One early myth the build team tackles solo involves some gunplay. So for a control, they head out to the parking lot and start firing guns. It doesn't take long for someone to start yelling at them, asking if they have permission to be firing guns in a commercial parking lot shared with several other businesses. That particular test comes to a very quick halt. [[RecklessGunUsage Discharging a firearm within city limits]], without a ''really'' good reason, is a rather serious offense.

* RecklessGunUsage: Generally averted; the Mythbusters frequently have firearms experts on hand to ensure their gunplay myths are carried out safely. During the "Curve a Bullet" tests Kari even wore a bulletproof vest, since she was pregnant at the time. However, one myth saw the Build Team head out to their parking lot and start shooting some low-caliber handguns to get some preliminary data; it didn't take long for someone else in the complex to start berating them (rightfully) for firing off guns in a parking lot. Discharging a firearm within city limits is [[{{Understatement}} something of a no-no]]. Since then, the Mythbusters utilized a wide range of indoor and outdoor firing ranges where they can shoot off their assorted ordnance legally and safely.

* ScienceShow: ''Mythbusters'' wasn't designed for the expressed purpose of being one -- as the hosts and producers can attest, it was pitched simply as "a show about seeing if myths are true or not" -- the show inadvertently became one as the consideration of various relevant factors, from physics to chemistry to psychology and so-on, became integral to the whole testing process, which is itself a solid introduction to UsefulNotes/TheScientificMethod.

* PowerWalk: Most episodes usually end this way, with Adam and Jamie and/or Kari, Grant, and Tory walking away from the smoldering aftermath of their main event myth.

** The (1st) attempt to retest the JATO Rocket Car myth ended with the entire car exploding once the rocket engine is activated. The [=MythBusters=] seemed on the verge of tears during the wrap-up. Jamie even flatly said "The rocket car sucked" during the episode close-out. Especially so since they'd already mentioned that they hired a experienced company to build the rocket and that said custom rocket cost the show ''$10,000''.

* GenderBlenderName: Jamie and Tory (both male). Former cast members Scottie, Jessi, and Jess the Mythtern (all female). Also Robin Banks (male), the narrator on the European version of the show.

** Alton Brown of ''Series/GoodEats'' once did a ''[=MythBusters=]'' parody on his show as he ran an episode dedicated to picking apart cooking myths. He has now appeared on the show proper on the "Food Fables" episode by preparing a Thanksgiving dinner and cooking it using only a car's engine. [[DreamTeam And he fits in with them just as awesomely as fans of both shows would expect.]]

* DreamTeam: Occasionally all five [=MythBusters=] will come together to work on a single myth like "Compact Compact", "Border Slingshot" and "Seesaw Saga".
** More of a modern variant as the "build team" used to merely help out and handle smaller aspects of the myth. Eventually they spun them off into their own workshop in order to generate more content faster.
** [[Series/GoodEats Alton Brown]] teamed up with Adam and Jamie to test several culinary myths. Unlike some of the other guest stars that have been on the show, A.B. actually had an important and active role in the testing of the myths.

* WaterTorture: The team tested the Chinese water torture in one episode, restraining and racking Kari while leaving Adam unrestrained as a control subject. After an hour or so, poor Kari was so rattled the team called a halt early; they declared it plausible and too dangerous to go for full confirmation.

[[caption-width-right:350:Left to right: [[TheSmartGuy Grant]], [[TheLeader Jamie]], [[TheChick Kari]], [[TheLancer Adam]] and [[TheBigGuy Tory]].\\

** TheChick -- Kari. The only (permanent) girl of the group. Known mostly for her artistry skills, but she's more than willing to get her hands dirty when the situation calls for it. [[WomenAreWiser Usually more reasonable]] than the others but is [[NotSoAboveItAll just as fond of explosives as everyone else on the show.]]

* ProductionForeshadowing: During one of the "Seconds from Disaster" tests, Tory pretends to check the terms of his contract. Little did we know that right around the time the episode aired, contract terms for the Build Team were getting checked [[PutOnABus for realz...]]

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The myths that get confirmed aren't always those you'd expect. For example, one experience seemed to confirm that elephants are indeed scared of mice (or will at least go out of their way to avoid them). Adam himself was amazed by this and admitted that he knew this couldn't be possible, and yet, evidence was here. (According to Adam, they'd tested and filmed the myth while in Africa purely to make use of time that would otherwise have been wasted while they waited to be able to do the myth they'd traveled to Africa for in the first place.)

* AndSomeOtherStuff: The [=MythBusters=] will often censor ingredients or leave out crucial steps for certain processes they [[DontTryThisAtHome don't want viewers to try at home]]. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d during the ''Hindenburg'' experiment (see {{Pixellation}} below).

** Another jarring incident from the show's early days that demonstrates similar unprofessionalism, as well as a lack of safety considerations, is when the other members of the team played a potentially very dangerous prank on Adam by shocking him with a battery left over from a prior episode. Adam was ''not'' happy about this incident, which can be clearly seen in the footage. It was yet another order from the producers in order to create "drama" on the show, which Adam and Jamie balked at, and since then the show's production operated with a strict "no pranks" rule.

** Another jarring incident from the show's early days that demonstrates similar unprofessionalism, as well as a lack of safety considerations, is when the other members of the team played a prank on Adam by shocking him with a battery left over from a prior episode. Adam was ''not happy'' about this incident, which can be clearly seen in the footage. It was yet another order from the producers in order to create "drama" on the show, which Adam and Jamie balked at, and since then the show's production operated with a strict "no pranks" rule.

* CriticalResearchFailure: After failing to nail down a cannon and almost being seriously harmed by the recoil, the build team berates themselves [[invoked]] for forgetting Newton's third law. Tory notes this to be the most dangerous moment in his history of working on the show.

The show has a geek-chic atmosphere that is almost irresistible. Part of the attraction is the OddCouple pairing of ClassClown Adam and [[TheStoic stolid]] Jamie, with their frequent jibes and competitions, and the kind of "intellectual ''Film/TheThreeStooges''" vibe that the build team emits. Also, it's the humor and wacky sense of fun with which they all go about their mission. They once built not one, not two, but ''three'' different machines designed to drop buttered toast on the floor. For Christmas 2006 they built a RubeGoldbergDevice to celebrate the holiday. The fact that Scottie, Kari and Jessi are three of the most attractive, genuinely ''intelligent'' women on TV doesn't hurt with the male ([[LGBTFanbase or gay]]) viewership, either. Grant and Tory also have their fans. (This series is a shining example of [[NerdsAreSexy Geeky Is Sexy]].) Grant has a growing fanbase in the {{Steampunk}} community, having even appeared in an webisode of ''The Adventures of Theatre/TheLeagueOfSTEAM'' and building a robotic ringbearer for the steampunk wedding of two of their members.

* BrassBalls:

* TurbineBlender: In one of the earlier seasons, they confirmed that an aircraft propeller Could shred a metal airplane fuselage like so much paper.

** A minor one at first blush, but really serious [[FridgeLogic when you think about it.]] One early myth the build team tackles solo involves some gunplay. So for a control, they head out to the parking lot and start firing guns. It doesn't take long for someone to start yelling at them, asking if they have permission to be firing guns in a commercial parking lot shared with several other businesses. That particular test comes to a very quick halt. [[RecklessGunUsage Discharging a firearm within city limts]], without a ''really'' good reason, is a rather serious offense.

* FingerInABarrel: They tested this trope, and it's busted. The victim will lose his finger if not his hand, the gun still works if not a bit damaged, and the shooter is always uninjured. They also made a parody of this trope: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d_4BY9dLtA]]