# MythBuster MacGuyver special
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbuster-macguyver-special/438661
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [February 22, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbuster-macguyver-special/438661 "2008-02-22T02:22:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbuster-macguyver-special/438661/1 "2008-02-22T02:22:03Z")
Now that was some good MythBusting! It was like a throwback to earlier episodes, where they really challenge themselves to build interesting stuff, instead of just blowing crap up. (But there were some good explosions as well.)
I was really impressed with Adam and Jamie’s ingenuity on the MacGuyver challenge part, especially when they came up with the totally unexpected solution to the last piece.
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### Author:  [@Sir\_Dirx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Dirx)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2008, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbuster-macguyver-special/438661/2 "2008-02-22T06:50:12Z")
I agree. Very enjoyable episode. Though I’m surprised they weren’t able to get their hands on any cesium for that wall…
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2008, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbuster-macguyver-special/438661/3 "2008-02-22T14:58:58Z")
I was going to suggest they get some francium, but it probably would have surrendered immediately.
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### Author:  [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbuster-macguyver-special/438661/4 "2008-02-22T14:59:25Z")
I didn’t know you could cut sodium like a freaking potato! Great episode!
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### Author:  [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2008, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbuster-macguyver-special/438661/5 "2008-02-22T16:45:50Z")
Good episode. I remember a few months back they were running short “teasers” with some of McGyver’s little gadgets/fixes. I wish they had shown those during the breaks of this episode, as I’m sure I didn’t see them all.
One weird thing: the McGyver theme music was totally wrong. They obviously secured the rights to some of the footage, why not the theme?
One more thing: I loved the silly mullet wigs they put on all the dummies 😃
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### Author:  [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2008, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbuster-macguyver-special/438661/6 "2008-02-22T17:07:43Z")
I was kinda hoping that they’d have a last-minute cameo by Richard Dean Anderson.
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### Author:  [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2008, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbuster-macguyver-special/438661/7 "2008-02-22T17:19:54Z")
The duct tape ultra-light was cool and for a second it did seen to glide, too bad it was trashed. I would like to have them try again without the weight of two people abroad. I just wonder if it could fly with reduced weight and was surprised they just left it in pieces because it was such an ambitious project.
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### Author:  [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2008, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbuster-macguyver-special/438661/8 "2008-02-22T17:49:25Z")
Awesome episode!
I’m betting we see a duct-taped bamboo ultralight again with a bigger motor.
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### Author:  [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbuster-macguyver-special/438661/9 "2008-02-22T21:29:00Z")
[QUOTE=vibrotronica]
I’m betting we see a duct-taped bamboo ultralight again with a bigger motor.
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, the small motor seemed to be the weak point of the ultralight, not the bamboo and the tape. I hope they try again with a more realistically sized motor.
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### Author:  [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbuster-macguyver-special/438661/10 "2008-02-22T21:37:18Z")
Perhaps next time, they can have an episode with an A-Team theme.
Is it possible to build a fully functional cabbage cannon?
Can a bodybuilder with a mohawk build a button-sized radio transmitter?
How many times must a lunatic pilot escape from the VA hospital before the staff decides to step up security?
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### Author:  [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2008, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbuster-macguyver-special/438661/11 "2008-02-22T22:26:14Z")
I’m hoping for an Acme Products episode: Can a coyote wearing rocket-powered roller skates catch a roadrunner? What if he wears coil-spring sandals? Can lacing birdseed with steel shot make a roadrunner maginetic enough for a magnet-holding coyote to catch it? And do Acme anvils follow the laws of physics?
Or a Gillgan episode - can a radio really be made from a coconut? Can palm oil be distilled enough to make a glue that will hold banana leaves over a hole in the side of a boat (obviously not, or the Professor would have tried it).
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### Author:  [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2008, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbuster-macguyver-special/438661/12 "2008-02-22T22:30:35Z")
[QUOTE=ElvisL1ves]
Can palm oil be distilled enough to make a glue that will hold banana leaves over a hole in the side of a boat (obviously not, or the Professor would have tried it).
[/QUOTE]
Eek, I don’t believe I remember this, but the Professor did try it. Or something like it. Gilligan discovered some exotic glue and they replaced all the boards on the Minnow with it. But, of course, as they were about to set sail, the glue let go, all at once and nothing first.
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### Author:  [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2008, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbuster-macguyver-special/438661/13 "2008-02-22T22:40:45Z")
This episode is also notable in that it is the 100th episode of the series.
[QUOTE=ElvisL1ves]
I’m hoping for an Acme Products episode: Can a coyote wearing rocket-powered roller skates catch a roadrunner? What if he wears coil-spring sandals? Can lacing birdseed with steel shot make a roadrunner maginetic enough for a magnet-holding coyote to catch it? And do Acme anvils follow the laws of physics?
[/QUOTE]
I’d love to see a cartoon-based episode. Recently, they did a cartoon-based myth that was rather entertaining: can you really set fire to a trail of gunpowder falling out of a barrel and make the barrel explode? Surprisingly, you can!
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbuster-macguyver-special/438661/14 "2008-02-24T17:55:00Z")
[QUOTE=Icerigger]
The duct tape ultra-light was cool and for a second it did seen to glide, too bad it was trashed. I would like to have them try again without the weight of two people abroad. I just wonder if it could fly with reduced weight and was surprised they just left it in pieces because it was such an ambitious project.
[/QUOTE]
When I was a kid there was a [_Planet Of The Apes_ TV show](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071033/). This was in 1974, which was when hang gliding really seemed to be taking off. So naturally in one episode someone builds one. I wonder if they could build a working hang glider out of the materials MacGuyver used?
(I built a couple of flying hang gliders out of balsa sticks, tissue paper and a bit of clothes hanger. They flew well on their own, but not when I added an alligator lizard. [The lizard was unhurt.])
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### Author:  [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbuster-macguyver-special/438661/15 "2008-02-24T18:41:50Z")
Best MacGuyver comment ever came from one of my co-workers
“MacGuyver is the only guy I have ever seen that would take apart a perfectly functioning loaded machine gun to get a club to hit the bad guys over the head with.”
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbuster-macguyver-special/438661/16 "2008-02-24T23:38:33Z")
It’s spelled “[MacGyver](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088559/)”, people. No “U”.
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### Author:  [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2008, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbuster-macguyver-special/438661/17 "2008-02-25T15:25:24Z")
I would have been happier if they had tested more stuff. I mean how many seasons of that show, and you can do two little myths? I didn’t like the construction of the ultralight. The material on the wings looked a lot looser than McG’s rig.
I think it also would have been better had they taken the stand of “of course it’s exagerated for TV, but the principle is sound”. For example, could the airplane have taken off if it was towed? Was it even aerodynamical enough to get off the ground? That sort of thing.
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### Author:  [@Sir\_Dirx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Dirx)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbuster-macguyver-special/438661/18 "2008-02-25T18:43:38Z")
I think they mentioned that there was a lot of stuff that didn’t make it into the episode, but was made available on the website.
Here go, found 'em: [http://dsc.discovery.com/video/?playerId=203711706&categoryId=210013704&lineupId=16924812&titleId=1416052376](http://dsc.discovery.com/video/?playerId=203711706&categoryId=210013704&lineupId=16924812&titleId=1416052376)
looks like there are only three clips though, before they go into clips for other episodes.
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### Author:  [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbuster-macguyver-special/438661/19 "2008-02-25T18:48:06Z")
[QUOTE=JThunder]
I was kinda hoping that they’d have a last-minute cameo by Richard Dean Anderson.
[/QUOTE]
Yeah! That would have been _really_ cool! 😃