Heads up! MYTHBUSTERS season premiere tonight at 9 Eastern!

[Forbin]

Jamie's a year older than me (56)!! Hell, I hurt myself just getting out of my recliner!

[Trekker4747]

Nearly a year for a turn-around time from producing the myth to when it makes to air seems like a terribly long time. In fact, I'm fairly sure it's a lot shorter than that given other evidence we've seen of them doing production of a myth and when we see the episode. I guess for the cannonball myth they waited longer for things to settle down a bit given the mishap to make it a bit more in the "forgotten past." It was nice they addressed the issue up front and in the episode itself, though as Christopher said it also would have been nice for them to address how much of an absolute fluke this was.

Myths tested were all pretty interesting overall. I do wonder how the "SimDaver" would have survived the initial myth tests rather than the more rigid dummy. I also wonder why they didn't test the dummy in different falling positions. I can see all of the pelvis and spine damage coming from the fact that it was landing directly on those parts as opposed to trying to "land flat" to disperse the damage more, a "cannonball" type landing or something else. Landing directly on your ass, sure, makes sense you're going to mess up your pelvis and thus lumbar spine.

[davejames]

Yeah I was really surprised they showed that myth, especially with how definite Adam sounded at the time of the incident that they never would, and how generally uncomfortable the hosts all acted anytime the subject was brought up.

Makes me think the network might have pressured them to show it for ratings or something. Or maybe they just needed a second myth for the episode and that was the only one available.

In any case, it was kind of impressive that Tory's little homemade cannon was capable of such a powerful blast. It looked like the cannonball shot through the concrete wall like it wasn't even there!

[Christopher]

Trekker4747 wrote:

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I guess for the cannonball myth they waited longer for things to settle down a bit given the mishap to make it a bit more in the "forgotten past."

Kari said as much in the episode. After the misfire and the accident, they suspended testing on the myth, then spent months engaged in community outreach and reassessing their safety procedures, and only when they were confident that they could proceed safely, they resumed testing in a more remote location and using a more reliable cannon.

I do wonder how the "SimDaver" would have survived the initial myth tests rather than the more rigid dummy.

It's SynDaver, short for "synthetic cadaver." A representative of SynDaver Labs has been posting here under their company name for a few weeks.

I also wonder why they didn't test the dummy in different falling positions. I can see all of the pelvis and spine damage coming from the fact that it was landing directly on those parts as opposed to trying to "land flat" to disperse the damage more, a "cannonball" type landing or something else. Landing directly on your ass, sure, makes sense you're going to mess up your pelvis and thus lumbar spine.

I think the idea was to land relatively flat to distribute the weight, but from the way the stunt diver did it, I don't think that would be the right way to go. The stuntman had Jamie go in feet-first, minimizing the contact with the water surface, and then flattening out once he was under to maximize his deceleration. That suggests that landing flat on one's back in the water would create too much resistance and impart too much deceleration to the body all at once.

davejames wrote:

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Yeah I was really surprised they showed that myth, especially with how definite Adam sounded at the time of the incident that they never would, and how generally uncomfortable the hosts all acted anytime the subject was brought up.

Makes me think the network might have pressured them to show it for ratings or something. Or maybe they just needed a second myth for the episode and that was the only one available.

I'm willing to take what the hosts said at face value -- that once they'd rebuilt their relationship with the community and tempers had cooled, it was deemed all right to proceed. Wikipedia says:

The Dublin Film Commission declared December 6 "Victory in the battle for Dublin", poking at the rogue cannonball incident, and plans to host a Film Festival every December 6 to honor Dublin's fallen cannonball.

I assume that sentence is supposed to say "poking fun at" the incident. Apparently the community is being good-humored about it in retrospect, and presumably gave the show the okay to proceed with the experiment.

I think showing the experiment and making a public apology was a better, more responsible approach than trying to pretend it had never happened.

In any case, it was kind of impressive that Tory's little homemade cannon was capable of such a powerful blast. It looked like the cannonball shot through the concrete wall like it wasn't even there!

The official report said the cannonball missed the water barrels, went through the cinderblock wall, and skipped off the hillside that was supposed to stop it. I'm a bit surprised the bed liner didn't stop it. From what I've seen, that's pretty amazing stuff.

[Forbin]

'Twas humorous how the gang tried to blend their new blueprint-room discussion with the ones apparently shot at the time of the cannonball mishap. Kari even wore the same outfit, but she was missing the earrings. And Tory kept alternating from clean-shaven to bearded!

[Christopher]

^I thought they didn't shoot the blueprint segments until after the myth was completed. They pretend they haven't started yet and are discussing what they're going to do, but that's just a figurative way of introducing the segment, and the opening and closing blueprint segments are shot together after the fact. So since this was a myth that was aborted halfway through and that for a while they didn't expect to air, I'm not sure they would've gotten around to recording any blueprint intros at the time.

As for Tori, he was only bearded in the actual (later) experiment portions, wasn't he?

[davejames]

It was interesting in the "Aftershow" how Grant said he thought the whole thing was some kind of prank at first, because he knew people had seen the tweets sent out earlier that day from the test site.

I remember those (somewhat racy) tweets being deleted immediately afterwards, so it was kind of nice seeing them acknowledged.

[Trekker4747]

It seems Discovery has... "redesigned" their website. It took me some exploring to find the new aftershow segments as they're not at the link I had. It also seems that they no longer have discussion forums (for good or bad, I guess.) I used to know of another really good (un-affiliated) discussion forum for Mythbusters but can't seem to find it. Anyone know of it?

[Christopher]

Could you provide the new link to the aftershow?

[Trekker4747]

Unfortuantely near as I can tell right now there's no good "one link" going to just the Aftershows with them ordered properly like they were before. Because that made too much sense.

Going to the Mythbusters/Videos page and clicking around on the "link folders" below will reveal them but I'm not sure how (or even if) they're organized. I hope this is a WIP since the old way was much more straight forward.

Here's a link for the Episode-Specific Videos which includes the two Aftershows for the two teams (Kari, Tory and Grant spend a good deal of their segment explaining more BTS stuff on what happened) as well as some more high-speed shots, some stuff on the SynDaver and other angles on some of the tests.

[Forbin]

Christopher wrote:

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^I thought they didn't shoot the blueprint segments until after the myth was completed. They pretend they haven't started yet and are discussing what they're going to do, but that's just a figurative way of introducing the segment, and the opening and closing blueprint segments are shot together after the fact. So since this was a myth that was aborted halfway through and that for a while they didn't expect to air, I'm not sure they would've gotten around to recording any blueprint intros at the time.

As for Tori, he was only bearded in the actual (later) experiment portions, wasn't he?

They must have started it before the abort, then done some fill in shots afterward. Tory definitely has a magically disappearing/reappearing beard, and Kari's earrings do the same.

[Christopher]

Trekker4747 wrote:

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Here's a link for the Episode-Specific Videos which includes the two Aftershows for the two teams (Kari, Tory and Grant spend a good deal of their segment explaining more BTS stuff on what happened) as well as some more high-speed shots, some stuff on the SynDaver and other angles on some of the tests.

Thanks for the link. I like the Air Force One analogy Adam made: any human analog they test to destruction is Buster.

I do wonder how they have these viewer questions ready to go as soon as the episode airs. Does it air earlier in Australia with the questions coming from there? Or do they show the episodes to focus groups or something and get questions from them?

Forbin wrote:

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They must have started it before the abort, then done some fill in shots afterward. Tory definitely has a magically disappearing/reappearing beard, and Kari's earrings do the same.

Do you mean specifically in the blueprint-room segments, nothing else? Because I only remember Tory having a beard during the actual experiment portion (some parts of which did take place in the shop as they were preparing the cannonballs, but those are distinct from the blueprint intros/wrapups which are shot after the fact).

[Trekker4747]

I do wonder how they have these viewer questions ready to go as soon as the episode airs. Does it air earlier in Australia with the questions coming from there?

Precisely.

[Christopher]

Huge event: tonight's episode teams up the Mythbusters with the Food Network's Alton Brown! It's the merger of my two favorite nonfiction cable shows! I'm positively giddy with anticipation.

[Trekker4747]

Loved "Good Eats", though I think it lost steam once Alton went on a health-craze, got really thin and gaunt looking and the last season or so of episodes sort of reflected that. But I still really like him and him and the Mythbusters tonight should prove fun.

EDIT:

I want that Whack-a-Mythbuster game!

Overall a very enjoyable episode, I've no major complaints in everything that happened, though the "fastest way to pop popcorn" mini-myth seemed an odd one. I mean it already takes just a few minutes to pop popcorn, how much faster does it need to be?! Though I would have liked to see them test that contraption again under better controlled conditions, getting it hot faster and maybe a mechanical system for turning the device at a faster or more consistent rate.

The turkey/tryptophan myth I knew already. It's already pretty well documented and said in plenty of places that tryptopahn levels in turkey is pretty low (it's high, in fact in many other common foods) and that it's the levels of food we eat at Thanksgiving dinner that causes sleepiness. Particularly since many of the foods we eat are heavy in starches and carbs (like potatoes, rolls, stuffing, etc.) Still neat to see them test it.

The "tastes like chicken" one was also an interesting one to see tested. I never bought 100% into it but the "idea" of it was always sound. White meat just being fairly bland so all white meats "taste the same" was the idea and chicken is the most common white meat. Seeing that variety they ate was interesting and the final test in eliminating seasonings, texture and consistent was probably the best route to go. Eliminated variables.

The myth with Alton, Jamie and Adam was great to see and classic Alton Brown it was almost the perfect Mythbuster-meets-Good Eats type route to go. On the gravy I'm suspect Alton for-saw the gravy getting thicker the longer it took them to get to their destination. He's recommended on his own show to make the gravy thinner at the stove than you want it at the table because it'll thicken as it cools (starches or something like that.) So I suspect he over-compensated by making the gravy TOO thin for their long drive and it couldn't thicken up as the starch in it cooled.

Using the various cavities and components of the car was a smart way too cook the various dishes as well as the insulated "warming area" on the cowling by the firewall.

And thanks to Alton I've brined my family's turkey every year and it does, indeed, come out tasty and delicious. Particularly insuring you keep the white-meat close to 160-170, and the dark meat closer to 180. I think cooking it by the engine while it cooked the turkey it "suffered" some by not getting the browning from cooking a turkey in an intensely hot oven at first. (Again, as recommended by Alton Brown's turkey recipe.)

Good episode.

Kari is hot.