I loved MythBusters early on, but I haven't been able to stand watching the show for several years, save for the occasional episode. You know the drill: the heavy editing, the grating narrator, the scripted conversations, the sponsored "myths", the filler explosions.
The fun for me was always in seeing Adam and Jamie doing the actual research and building in order to test a myth. I liked being able to follow their thinking process. They would sometimes run into dead ends before even getting to the building stage, forcing them to rethink their approach. That gives a better picture of what science and engineering really is like, too. I suppose there's always been some scripting and editing, and the early seasons were flawed in other ways, but it definitely seemed to be a lot more genuine early on.
It's not about an entertainment tradeoff for me, as I simply don't find the current show format entertaining. But then, I guess I'm just not in the show's target audience anymore. I can accept that. Some good news, though, is that Adam and Jamie have started a website [1] where they (primarily Adam) show off builds and gadgets, without the shackles of the TV show format. For example, [2] is a video in which Adam Savage explains a tool stand for 14 minutes, which I honestly found more entertaining and interesting than any MythBusters episode I can remember seeing recently. I like seeing the nuts and bolts of their builds and experiments, quite literally.
I hope the final season ends on a high note. All things considered, it's been a good run, and the team behind MythBusters deserve a huge amount of credit for what they've done.
Not to nitpick, but Tested.com was its own entity prior to WhiskeyMedia being bought out by BermanBraun. [1] The Mythbusters were added to it later, much to the chagrin of original Tested fans. [2]
While I have appreciated the additional content Adam has provided to Tested, he is a very small part of the overall product and it is disappointing seeing the hard work that Norm and Will have put in over the years get overshadowed by the addition of a couple big names.
All of that being said, like you, I also enjoyed Mythbusters greatly before it got turned into heavily scripted, formulaic shell of its former self.
here here. got big love for Will and Norm and have been a fan of tested for a long time. In recent times they've been responsible for some of the most comprehensive VR news and coverage, and now Will is going on to do his own thing in the VR space whilst Norm continues on at the head at Tested.
I think/hope that their association with the mythbusters has promoted Tested to many who haven't heard of it before - and it's worth HN users knowing that they actually had a podcast with Adam called Still Untitled http://www.tested.com/still-untitled-the-adam-savage-project... as well as their regular thursday podcast which is usually great fun.
In retrospect, my comment's language was probably a bit harsh. I just always felt like Norm and Will got trampled a little during the buyout and made the best of a tough situation (from an "ego" point of view, given what they had turned the site into).
To be honest, adding the Mythbusters most likely gained them quite a few new fans and, at a minimum, more page views than they were receiving previously.
The season that recently ended reformatted the show somewhat. They removed the B team this allowing Jamie and Adam much more time to show the process. I thought it was a large improvement, even though I had liked the co-hosts.
I've been hoping for a Junkyard Wars reboot starring a rotating cast of Mythbusters cast/alumnae (including the B Team members). I love the crazy builds and seeing their thought process in how/why they build what they do. A show like Junkyard Wars would be a perfect venue for this.
Kari from the build team said on Twitter that this was really close to happening but ultimately it didn't get picked up. Discovery is going to need to fill the hole in their lineup somehow, so maybe it'll come around again. I'd love to see that revived.
The fun for me was always in seeing Adam and Jamie doing the actual research and building in order to test a myth. I liked being able to follow their thinking process. They would sometimes run into dead ends before even getting to the building stage, forcing them to rethink their approach. That gives a better picture of what science and engineering really is like, too. I suppose there's always been some scripting and editing, and the early seasons were flawed in other ways, but it definitely seemed to be a lot more genuine early on.
It's not about an entertainment tradeoff for me, as I simply don't find the current show format entertaining. But then, I guess I'm just not in the show's target audience anymore. I can accept that. Some good news, though, is that Adam and Jamie have started a website [1] where they (primarily Adam) show off builds and gadgets, without the shackles of the TV show format. For example, [2] is a video in which Adam Savage explains a tool stand for 14 minutes, which I honestly found more entertaining and interesting than any MythBusters episode I can remember seeing recently. I like seeing the nuts and bolts of their builds and experiments, quite literally.
I hope the final season ends on a high note. All things considered, it's been a good run, and the team behind MythBusters deserve a huge amount of credit for what they've done.
[1] http://www.tested.com/ [2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWQAYfGxsPE