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Narrative
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Describe Myth Busters Discussion here.
Nlpnt From the Google cache;
Something seems to be wrong with our Death Ray. I'm standing right in it, and I'm not dead yet. — Jamie Hyneman
I reject your reality and substitute my own! — Adam Savage
Paramedics are... nowhere to be found. — Tory Belleci
These will explode, these will melt, this will kill you — this is great. — Kari Byron
I hope that my head doesn't explode. — Grant Imahara
Gonzo pop culture meets off-beat science as Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman — two special effects guys with nearly thirty years of experience between them — take on urban legends, ancient myths and tall tales of all kinds to debunk (or confirm!) them. With the help of their crack team of smart-ass builders (Kari Byron, Tory Belleci and Scottie Chapman, who was replaced by Grant Imahara when she left the show), as well as crack crash-test dummy Buster, Adam and Jamie meticulously take apart popular myths ranging from the legend of Archimedes' solar "death ray" to "free energy" to the most common Hollywood exaggerations (exploding cars, the knockback from a bullet). They render each myth down to its component elements, then apply a goofball scientific rigor to reproducing those elements. And when a legend fails to pan out, as it often does, they usually escalate matters to the point where the legend's results do occur — usually at a point far beyond anything that is likely to happen on its own or "by accident". Usually these escalations involve entertaining explosions (such as the one in a March 2005 episode which effectively vaporized a cement mixer truck). Not every myth is busted, though — they are happy (although frequently surprised) when they prove that a story, however wild, is at the very least plausible. In "Big Rig Myths", they managed to confirm all three myths, which is practically unheard of.
The show has a geek-chic atmosphere that is almost irresistable. Part of the attraction is the Odd Couple pairing of Adam and Jamie, with their frequent jibes and competitions. Part of it is the kind of "intellectual Three Stooges" vibe that the build team emits. And a large part of it is a combined mechanical imagination worthy of Rube Goldberg (they once built not one, not two, but three different machines designed to drop buttered toast on the floor; and for Christmas 2006 they built a literal Rube Goldberg machine to celebrate the holiday). But a great deal of it is the humor and wacky sense of fun with which they all go about their mission. (The fact that Scottie and Kari are two of the most attractive genuinely intelligent women on TV doesn't hurt with the male viewership either...)
This show provides examples of: Blown Across The Room (subverted) Brand X Dont Try This At Home Edited For Syndication Education Through Pyrotechnics Edutainment Show Every Car Is A Pinto (subverted) Failsafe Failure: Straight: Usually equipment built by the Mythbusters themselves. The radio-controlled real cars are supposed to apply brakes when they get out of radio range. Subverted: More than one "Busted" verdict has come about due to the presence of failsafes on equipment such as washing machines and elevators, and the sometimes absurd measures needed to defeat them in order to replicate the myth's results. Firing In The Air A Lot (tested) Five Man Band Hard Work Montage Mascot: Buster, the crash test dummy Doubles as a sort of Butt Monkey, of science! My Car Hates Me (substitute R/C car, rocket, rig, death ray etc...) Odd Couple Parental Bonus ("Santa's little helper" in a Christmas Special to refer to Viagra) Pixellation Power Trio (The build team, when they handle a myth on their own) Powerwalk Promotion To Opening Titles Reality Show Truth In Television Two Lines No Waiting Urban Legends Wrench Wench (Kari and Scottie, in a real-world incarnation) Tropes Examined By The Myth Busters Seanette: Changed Adam's quote to one I think is funnier. :-) Silent Hunter: Changed Tori's because, while funny, they do have paramedics most of the time. HeartBurn Kid: Changed Grant's, because I'm re-watching the snow show and that is the best line ever. Here's the original: I hope that my head doesn't explode. — Grant Imahara Fast Eddie: Pulled the quotes. They are just examples. The article has a solid lead which should not be buried. //later: on second thought, I just moved them down to their own section. KJMackley: I did some work on the Five Man Band page and then watched the show afterward, and I realized that the show follows that pattern pretty well. It might be Square Peg Round Trope, which is why I bring it here first.
Inkblot: The quotes are taking over the rest of the page. HeartBurn Kid: Axed this:
Idler: Do we have a trope for what happened in the snowplough episode when everything possible went wrong, even more so than in normal Mythbusters episodes, to the point where they started saying that the plough was cursed and took great pleasure in demolishing it? KJMackley: With the long list of dialogue quotes moved to the quotes page, I felt it was okay to put a header quote back at the top. Willbyr: Is there a trope for when people appear on a TV show independently of each other and then appear on another show to work together in completely different circumstances? I was specifically thinking about how Adam, Jamie, and Grant all appeared on Robot Wars and now are working together on Myth Busters. Freezer: Removed Tim Taylor Technology. The idea of that trope is that things work better with MORE POWER!™ When the Myth Busters do it, it's generally with the intent on making it fail and/or explode. That's No Kill Like Overkill. KJMackley: I moved a few Catch Phrase quotes to Memetic Mutation because it isn't really a catch phrase if they only say it once on the show. If it becomes a popular quote because of the Opening Sequence it fits better as Memetic Mutation. Antigone2: Given that "Cool Hat" and "Nice Hat" lead to the exact same page, is there some reason we need both entries on the list? |
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