March of 2016, an era ended.
Mythbusters, which had been one of Discovery Channel’s longest running and most popular shows during the 13 years it aired, ended its farewell season. It’s crazy thinking over a decade of experiments, movie myths, folklore tales, and urban legends being tested finally reached an end. Worst of all, the largest audience was most attracted to (and easily most upset about) the chemistry between the show’s hosts and main designers, Adam Savage (yes, that’s his actual last name) and Jamie Hyneman (known to some as The Walrus).
While they and the other Mythbusters– Grant Imahara, Kari Byron, and Tori Belleci- have moved onto other gigs hosting similar investigative shows or investing time into their own work, the fans wanted more Mythbusters. This, combined with the success of the show itself, was enough to launch a search in the form of the reality TV Mythbusters: The Search show to find the new hosts.
The thought of people besides Adam and Jamie (who apparently don’t even like each other) hosting the show might be enough to turn away long-time fans, and that was my first instinct as well. However, in the spirit of trying new things and supporting the show in any form, I encourage people to try it out and accept that it won’t be the same, but the explosions, surprises, and antics will be. If not for that, do it for Adam and Jamie.
The winners of the show turned out to be Jon Lung and Brian Louden, two qualified and equally charismatic picks. The new season premiered Nov. 14, 2017, and has already premiered a slew of episodes and specials, airing Wednesday nights on the Discovery Channel.