Summary

• The best MythBusters episodes blend science and myth debunking with entertaining stunts involving Hollywood movies and urban legends.
• Fans of the show can stream episodes on Max, such as the Demolition Derby test on car accidents and Hollywood movie stunts.
• The episode on the NASA moon landing hoax showcases the show's dedication to truth, education, and inspiring viewers about space exploration.

The best MythBusters episodes offer a mixture of fun with a strong dose of scientific experimentation. It is a great reality series for people who love science but also like to see everything go wrong at any given time. Premiering on Discovery Channel in 2003, Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage are special effects experts who use elements of the scientific method to test out certain rumors, myths, movie scenes, news stories, and more. The purpose of the show is to reveal whether these items are true or if they don't hold up to the scrutiny of scientific testing.

These episodes involve Jamie and Adam shining a light on a popular myth or urban legend. This includes many conspiracy theories, such as the idea the moon landing was faked. It also approaches many urban legends, such as the idea that Mentos and Diet Coke could cause a person's stomach to explode. With a mix of fun episodes involving movies like Jaws and Star Wars, MythBusters offered something for everyone as Jamie and Adam set out to blow up and destroy anything they could get their hands on in the name of science and truth.

MythBusters is available to stream on Max.

20 Indiana Jones Special

Season 14, Episode 2

The Mythbusters team set out to fact-check the feats of Indiana Jones, and it does a great job of breaking down the math and science while also respecting the movies in which they pulled the stunts. The myths from the franchise they attempted to bust include Indiana Jones' use of his whip to disarm people, the first movie's booby-trapped cave, and his amazing escape from the rolling boulder at the end of that memorable scene.

The Indiana Jones movies are available to stream on Disney+.

There were a lot of fun moments in this episode, including Adam and Jamie starting to crack the whips at each other. This was also kind of scary, but they were at least careful not to injure one another. This also proved the myth that the crack of a whip could break the sound barrier, which it did clearly in this episode. What really makes it stand out is working with movie myths rather than regular ones, since this is something anyone who has seen the iconic film can relate to.

19 Duct Tape Hour

Season 7, Episode 13

The Mythbusters crew loves duct tape. There have been three separate episodes about it, with Duct Tape Hour, Duct Tape Hour 2, and Buster's Cut: Duck Tape Hour 2. In this first episode about the duct tape myths, they tested several myths. They want to see if a person can lift a car with only duct tape or use it to plug holes in the bottom of a boat. They also tried to use it to build a working sailboat, construct a potato cannon, and eventually build a working cannon.

The last one was the biggest myth they wanted to bust, as when they finished, they took a real cannon and the duct tape cannon out to test them together. It is obvious why they love duct tape so much. Every single myth they tested was confirmed except for one, and even that one was still plausible (the boat hole patching). In the big finale, the duct tape conning stayed intact and successfully fired a cannonball, proving that duct tape could do just about anything.

18 Hindenburg Mystery

Season 5, Episode 1

In Mythbusters season 5, the team set out to investigate some myths from the Hindenburg mystery. The Hindenburg was a German commercial enger airship that was in operation from March 1936 until May 1937, when it was destroyed by fire. The myth behind this tragedy (35 people died) was that the Hindenburg was destroyed by a highly flammable doping compound that was used to paint it rather than by the hydrogen used to lift it into the air for flight.

The Hindenburg disaster took place on May 6, 1937.

This could have changed everything people knew about the disaster, but it turns out that the theory was just a false myth. While the team did get the doping compound to catch fire and burn, it did so at a much slower rate than the film footage of the Hindenburg disaster. Based on a real-life tragedy, this was a very intriguing episode of the reality show, as the guys tried to figure out if those lives could have been saved if a different type of paint had been used.

17 Killer Cable Snaps

Season 4, Episode 19

The Mythbusters season 4 installment "Killer Cable Snaps" has two myths that the team busts, one from a movie and the other from a TV show, with the one from the film as the basis for the episode title. In the horror movie Ghost Ship, there is a gruesome scene where a cable was snapped and released at such a high velocity that it sliced everyone standing on the deck in half. The second myth was based on recording audio in old pottery based on an X-Files episode.

Ghost Ship was a 2002 horror movie by Dark Castle Entertainment.

It is always a blast when the team busts myths from TV shows and movies, as it offers many viewers something familiar to compare them with, and gives them a chance to see if the films or TV shows are scientifically accurate or just throwing out ideas with no basis. In both of these, it was the latter case. After all the testing, they showed it was unlikely a snapped cable could slice someone in half. As for the other one, they got no sounds back when trying to record voices into the pottery.

16 Trench Torpedo

Season 11, Episode 13

The Mythbusters season 11 episode "Trench Torpedo" proves that even later seasons had a lot to offer viewers when it comes to the hit reality show. This episode had two myths to test, with the "Trench Torpedo" of the title and a second one called "Party Balloon Pile-Up." For the torpedo, the myth was that World War I trenches were designed to reduce the impact of shock waves. The second myth was that a clown car stuffed with balloons would provide an airbag for survival in a crash.

The second one was a little silly, but it was proven that the balloons would not protect a person in the car in the case of an accident. However, the episode thrives because of the trenches and the fact that Jamie and Adam get to blow things up, which is always fun. The best thing is that, with all the explosions the guys got to do, they discovered by the end that it was plausible that the trenches could protect a soldier from a shock wave. Seeing their joy when setting off the bombs was worth the watch.

15 Demolition Derby

Season 7, Episode 1

The Mythbusters episode "Demolition Derby" tested a series of myths concerning car accidents and how to possibly prevent them. This allowed them to also look at Hollywood movies and see if the car stunts in the films could the tests of real-life scientific experimentation. Out of the seven experiments, only two of them ended up as plausible. They tested four myths about where a car could drive through something and keep going after the collision.

This episode not only captivated audiences with its adrenaline-pumping stunts but also educated them on the science behind vehicle safety.

The best test was a redo of one from a previous season where the MythBusters team wanted to see if two big rigs would fuse and crush a car if they hit head-on. This time, they successfully pulled off the stunt and busted the myth. This episode not only captivated audiences with its adrenaline-pumping stunts but also educated them on the science behind vehicle safety, blending entertainment with enlightening insights into the physics of car crashes.

14 Jaws Special

Season 17, Episode 1

If there is one thing that has always been popular on reality TV, it is Shark Week. This led Jamie and Adam to test out a lot of myths that have been floating around about sharks in general, including looking at the movie Jaws. Of course, almost everyone knows the myth about punching a shark in the nose being one way to make it leave them alone. The MythBusters team also tested out theories about the actual strength of sharks, whether they are repelled by chili, whether dolphins can deter them, if sharks can smell fear, and much more.

It's the popularity of sharks that made this MythBusters episode so intriguing. The episode excelled in merging cinematic legend with real-world science, debunking widespread misconceptions while offering a captivating exploration of shark behavior. Their experiments, grounded in curiosity and rigorous methodology, provided both thrilling and educational insights, further solidifying this episode as a standout in the series for its ability to entertain and inform.

13 Underwater Car

Season 5, Episode 4

The episode "Underwater Car" once again took the ideas from Hollywood and the guys wanted to see if any of the escape methods when a car ended up submerged were true. They tested to see when and if a car door could be opened after going underwater, whether a person could escape before the car began fully sinking, and whether a person could open the windows or break through the windows after the car became submerged.

The good news is there are ways to get the doors open if a person is either quick to act or patient if they wait too long, and there are a couple of ways to break a window to get out. This episode not only dispelled myths but also potentially saved lives by demonstrating practical escape strategies. The methodical approach taken to explore these scenarios provided viewers with critical survival techniques, reinforcing the show's commitment to applying science in real-life situations while maintaining an engaging narrative.

12 NASA Moon Landing Hoax

Season 6, Episode 10

The MythBusters team also set out to bust the conspiracy theories that the NASA moon landing was a hoax. Many people seemed to believe that man never landed on the moon and the footage was shot on Earth and faked. However, there are several key parts of these conspiracy theories that the team was able to test and prove that NASA did indeed put people on the moon. From the photos taken to the false scientific theories about what could and couldn't happen on the moon, they proved time and time again that it wasn't faked.

They also proved that NASA put a reflector on the moon, solidifying the moon landing as fact. The episode debunked myth and celebrated human achievement by reinforcing the reality of the moon landing. Through rigorous experiments and clear evidence, it reaffirmed the monumental success of one of humanity’s greatest milestones. MythBusters’ dedication to truth through scientific inquiry made this episode a pivotal moment in popular science television, educating and inspiring viewers about the wonders of space exploration.

11 Flights Of Fantasy

Season 18, Episode 2

In "Flights of Fantasy," the MythBusters team set out to look at two different myths and proved that both of them were plausible. In the first one, Adam and Jamie went to Beale Air Force Base to see if a Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance plane was harder to fly and land than any other plane in the world. Adam Savage flew the plane and realized quickly that this was an almost impossible plane to pilot and land, and he needed help getting it down. The second test was to see if unmanned multirotor flights could cause injuries with their propellors.

They proved that store-bought models were safe, but custom-built models were indeed dangerous. "Flights of Fantasy" intriguingly combined the thrill of aeronautics with the practical concerns of modern technology. By successfully navigating the daunting task of flying a U-2 plane and evaluating the safety of multirotor drones, MythBusters highlighted the complexities and potential risks associated with aviation, both manned and unmanned. Their findings not only provided valuable insights into aerospace technology but also underscored the importance of safety in the rapidly evolving field.