Mythbusters will return, but without Jamie and Adam
Their replacements will be found through a reality show
Forget Top Gear, this is a real scandal. Fans were bereft to learn that Mythbusters – the popular science and explosions show Discovery has been airing since 2003 – would not be returning after this series.
And yet Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage had no sooner said goodbye than Discovery announced Mythbusters would be returning, just without these two. Instead replacement hosts will be found through a reality show, The Search for the Next Mythbusters on their subsidiary Science Channel.
Variety reports that special effects artists Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman are supportive of the next generation, but for some replacing this dynamic duo – The Walrus and the Carpet Bomber, to use a nickname they never had – is as unthinkable as Top Gear without Clarkson, Hammond and May.
It’s true that Mythbusters had declined in the ratings, and the spirit had gone out of it since the B-Team (Kari Byron, Grant Imahara and Tori Bellici) were laid off a couple of series ago. It was an unpleasant turn for a show that predicted and inspired the rise of DIY Internet culture, from ‘makers’ to backyard science videos.
I’ve been dipping into the first few series on Netflix and have realised the draw isn’t so much the explosions as the atmosphere. This is the most San Franciscan show ever: a bunch of smart, attractive hipsters being creative under the featureless Californian sky. Watching it makes you want to drink red wine in a park, get a non-threatening tattoo and put a fork in the microwave to see what happens*.
Oh well, we’ll always have Tested…
(*Don’t do the last one.)
