MythBusters, Specials, Vol. 2

Not a show goes by without some disgruntled fan writing an
angry email to say that Adam and Jamie messed something up, or that they
were not thorough enough or that they simply got it wrong. With an inbox
overloaded with such accusations, the team decided they’d had enough. So
they set a challenge to their viewers - if you think you can do better,
prove it! The fans were asked to put their money where their mouths are
and build either a mini death ray that could ignite wood 5 feet away or a
full-scale death ray that could light a boat at over 100 feet. The rules
and regulations were posted and slowly but surely tapes started arriving.
Some were bizarre, some were ridiculous but some were mightily impressive.
After 3 months, Adam and Jamie selected the best entires to come to San
Francisco for a death ray burn off. In the small-scale burn off, daring
duo Brenden Millstein and Stephen Marsh are pitted against the giggling
girls, Kari Lukes and Jess Nelson. Tensions run high as the boys start to
get competitive. Yet just when they think they’ve got it in the bag, a
check of the rules leads to their disqualification whereupon there’s a
hectic, fraught and frightening race to the finish line. When the dust
settles, the full-scale burn off can begin. Immediately there’s a problem
- Mike Bushroe’s winning rig arrives in San Francisco battered, bruised
and beyond repair. But then an amazing bit of serendipity rescues this
myth. Coincidentally the very same day, a professor at Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, David Wallace, set his students the challenge of
making a death ray. Using 129 small glass mirrors they successfully
ignited a boat. When the MythBusters hear this news, they immediately
invite the MIT team to San Francisco to help them undertake the biggest
death ray experiment in history. Using only materials that were available
to Archimedes, the combined brainpower of MIT students create a monster
death ray of never-before-seen proportions. But will it be able to fulfil
its goal - will it be able to ignite the replica trireme. And how will it
compare with the MythBusters secret weapon, project X?

Donning their tuxedos and shaking their martinis, this time it’s not just 007 who gets put under the MythBusters microscope. In this James Bond sequel, the henchmen, the villains and the low lives also get a MythBusters make over. In Exploding Pen, Adam and Jamie see if the spy pen is mightier than the sword. In GoldenEye, we see the character Q demonstrate a frighteningly dangerous weapon. Disguised as a simple pen, the master of invention has in fact made a vicious grenade capable of blowing a crash test dummy completely in two. But the MythBusters want to know if it’s really possible for such a small amount of explosives to create such a big boom. With retired FBI agent Frank Doyle, they’re sure to see if the writing’s on the wall! Then, our daring duo turn their attention to one of the most famous Bond villains of all time - Jaws. So popular was he with Bond aficionados that he starred in not one but two Bond movies. Bond is travelling in a cable car when Jaws grabs hold of the cable and bites clean through it. Can a human ever bite through cable and if not, what does it take? Kari, Tory and Grant also take on the famous Bond villain, Oddjob. He was Goldfinger’s evil companion and his weapon of choice was somewhat unique! When trouble emerged, Oddjob would tip off his bowler hat and fling it with such force that it could kill. It turns out that this hat contained a razor sharp steel rim hidden inside. But is it really possible for a hat to kill? Grant, Kari and Tory build a hat-throwing robot and then proceed to unleash it at some marble maidens.

The MythBusters team have four fables of automotive mayhem guaranteed to bend your fender! First up, Adam and Jamie feel the need, the Need for Speed. They want to know if a key scene from Keanu’s iconic motoring movie is fact or fake film physics. Approaching a seemingly impossible sharp right hand turn and unable to slow down to below 50 mph, Keanu instructs the passengers to the right hand side of the bus. Adam and Jamie want to know if moving the center of gravity really would’ve saved the day or is this just another case of Hollywood misusing and abusing science? Next the guys revise and supersonically supersize an all time fan favourite. In Compact Compact Supersized, Adam and Jamie revisit, after a 3 year, 3 season hiatus, the tale of a two truck head on collision. Mysteriously a compact car was found days later pancaked between the fused wreckage of the trucks. This time not only do the guys perfect the myth circumstances they ramp it up with rockets and 500 pounds of high explosives! Meanwhile Kari, Grant and Tory take on Tinsel Town. In Hollywood Crash Tests, they look at four familiar chase scene clichés and find out if they match up to reality. Will a fruit stand drive through chain link gate crash, caravan collision and semi trailer shave leave you unharmed and able to continue your high-speed pursuit. Or will there be real life repercussions? In Car Drop Chaos, our intrepid trio take on the their biggest story ever! A popular car commercial has us believe that in a 4000-foot race their luxury product can kick gravity’s butt. A car is dropped from nearly a mile in the air and the car on the ground races it to the target zone. Definitely spectacular but are their claims correct? To find out the team actually re-create the myth. They haul a car 4000 feet into the air and then Grant races it with a fully RC car at top speed across The Mojave.