Mythbusters used to be the greatest show on TV, and outside The Simpsons, Arrested Development, and the first season of Twin Peaks, about my favorite show of all time.
The greatest moments are too numerous to run down. How about Adam and Christine burning the heck out of themselves with molten candy in ‘Exploding Jawbreaker’? To this day, I use their method from ‘Cooling a Six-Pack’ when I need to get beer coldest, fastest (hint: it concerns salt, not fire extinguishers). And my personal favorite, the Hindenburg Mystery. It’s no surprise then that moments like these have brought them where they are today, which is (I would imagine) one of, if not the top show on Discovery.
I’m noticing more and more that the best things self-destruct usually at their most glorious moments. Mythbusters, as a show, reached probably is peak popularity in the past 1.5 years. Though I can’t pinpoint the moment, it jumped the shark right about there too (and no, Shark Week doesn’t equate to jumping the shark. Entirely.)
I think it might have been when they started testing verbal cliches in lieu of actual urban myths. In the beginning it was about chatting on a cell phone while pumping gas , and dropping a penny off a skyscraper. These are honest to goodness ‘myths’ that we have all heard and all wondered about.
But this is a finite pool, and I bet they knew that when they started this thing years ago. Being victims of their own runaway success, they were forced to keep the show going past its expiration date and began to test things like ‘beer goggles’, ‘no pain no gain’, and ‘end with a bang’, for which they blew up a moped at the end of the show, apropos of nothing.
The kiss of death was accepting so much fan input. See, when their success expanded their audience dramatically, the fan base went from the curious science geek (me) to the…. general public. And what did that public want? Explosions and gunfire. There were a couple seasons there where they could have changed the name to the Bomb and Bullet Show.
Recently the episodes seem to make an effort to swing back towards science, but I’m afraid it’s too little too late. The show has long since ceased being about myths. Now they conduct cool science expirements that, admittedly, are fun to watch. It’s like Mr Wizard for adults. The moment I knew it was over though, was when I was geeked up for a episode, and bitterly disappointed when one of the first images I was treated to was a dude schooling Jamie and Adam on the proper wear of a tuxedo.
Further confirmation came from the recent, unfortunate hour-long advertisement for a movie that probably didn’t deserve it…. Whether it was or not it reeked of payola and just seemed below the Mythbusters to do.
And if those can’t convince you of the demise of this once brilliant program, we had this moment: 
Adios Mythbusters, and thanks for creating what might go down as my most beloved show in my lifetime….
