The Untold Truth Of MythBusters Jr.

In the beginning there was MythBusters. And it was very good. Very, very good. Nobody else had ever bothered to fact-check the claim that Davy Crockett could fire a rifle bullet at the cutting edge of an axe and split the bullet, but MythBusters did. (And it was plausible.) The show ended after a 14-season run on The Discovery Channel, says Business Insider, the last two seasons with but two of the hosts, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman — the others had been cut in a move attributed to falling ratings. MythBusters debuted in January 2003. By the time production halted in March 2016, the crew had turned out 282 episodes, using science to examine the validity of urban legends, movie narratives, myths, and even journalism.

Always sad when a winner fades away. Fortunately for all of us, Adam Savage returned to the small screen and the program concept three years later, as host (as well as executive producer) of MythBusters Jr. on The Science Channel. What brought him back?

The Wrap quotes Savage this way: MythBusters Jr. isn't "a show about teaching these guys how to do stuff. ... These are the new MythBusters. And I'm their camp counselor, and their adviser, and, sometimes, their test subject. But the moment I heard that phrase — 'MythBusters Jr.' — I saw all that. I realized how much potential there is."

With a debut on January 2, 2019, Savage took up safety glasses once more, with a twist: This time, he'd be working with a team of teenagers — individuals The Science Channel calls "six of the nation's most talented kids," to test various hypotheses. The teens genuinely hail from across the country, and across the spectrum of specialties: robotics, automotives, computer science, and much more.

All of that background will come in handy. The 10-episode first season tackled topics like duct tape (duct tape parachute: Yes or no?), projectiles (how straight is "straight as an arrow," really?), and — perhaps to no one's surprise — flatulence. As a review on The Cinemaholic said, "This is not a kid's show; it is for everyone who likes a good experiment." Also, for anyone who wants to know if flatulence produced by Adam Savage can power a rocket.

No word yet on a second season. Stay tuned.