# Mythbusters production schedule **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 15, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305 "2006-12-15T16:25:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305/1 "2006-12-15T16:25:13Z")
For anyone who’s ever wondered exactly how much time may transpire between shooting a scene and airing an episode, Mythbusters “leaked” some information in their holiday myths episode that aired last week. They’d concocted an enormous Rube Goldberg machine designed to give poor Buster a face-plant to the floor, triggered by pulling a string. String releases Mentos into pop, bowling ball knocks over pins, sending skiiers down the hill, robot bumbles into a stop sign, oven tips over, dinner falls out, cymbal-playing monkeys march forward, a cannon is lit and eventually, 35 or so mechanical gags later, Buster falls over. Naturally, all this intricacy means there’s a lot of spots for it to go wrong. So, we see someone with the [slate](http://www.jimodonnell.tv/Resources/slate1.gif), indicating Take 1, Take 2, Take 6, etc… Sharp eyes catch a date: 3/10/06, which would mean they built this very tenuously Christmas-themed rig in March, or that they engaged in some intentional deception. **Q.E.D.** - any insight on this? Do they really work that many months in advance, or were they messing with us? ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305/2 "2006-12-15T16:31:47Z")
Mythbusters is an Australian production. The clapper’s accent was Australian. I presume that the date was written in Australian convention (day/month/year), which means the episode was filmed in October. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305/3 "2006-12-15T16:35:25Z")
Easily. In fact, the research phase of the segments for an episode can take place more than a year before the segment even goes to production. All told, from conception to airing, can take up to a year and a half or more, depending upon the complexity of the build and other factors. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305/4 "2006-12-15T16:54:08Z")
[QUOTE=Terminus Est] Mythbusters is an Australian production. [/QUOTE] The production company, Beyond, is an Australian company, and some of the crew may be as well. But, most of the actual taping is done Stateside, primarily at M5 in San Fran, CA. October is unlikely as a shoot date for that segment, since postproduction takes a lot longer than that, normally. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305/5 "2006-12-15T17:30:11Z")
Yes, the vast majority of Mythbusters is filmed in the Bay Area, and generally if they leave the Bay Area, they’ll show something to that effect on camera (“Time for a trip to the Mojave Desert!”). And the abandoned Naval base they go to regularly is on Alameda, which is in [SF Bay](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&saddr=cesar+chavez+%26+missouri,+sf&daddr=monarch+%26+w+tower,+alameda&sll=37.783359,-122.308366&sspn=0.004689,0.008057&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=12). When I was at M5 Industries on 10/27, ([…he said ever so casually…](http://www.flickr.com/photos/troymccluresf/sets/72157594347749887/)), the guy showing me around told me the on-screen people were on Alameda, blowing up the Hindenburg. The NY Times happened to cover that day [here](http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20D1FF63E5A0C728EDDA80994DE404482) (looks like it’s subscription-only now). I don’t think that episode has aired yet. He also said that they were still doing some stuff for the December episodes. And of course, remember that some of their experiments require several months of letting something sit and fester, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the footage that makes it to air is even a year old sometimes, especially if they screw something up (like the Pyramid Power experiment where they forgot to sterilize the cutting instruments). ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305/6 "2006-12-15T17:30:13Z")
How big of a treadmill do you think Adam and Jamie could build? ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305/7 "2006-12-15T17:33:05Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] How big of a treadmill do you think Adam and Jamie could build? [/QUOTE] Hmmm … How about just using a regular sized treadmill and a model plane? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305/8 "2006-12-15T17:35:54Z")
Not to mention, I’d like to think all parties involved would want to eliminate confusion, so the slate loader would either write 3/10/06, meaning March 10 to suit the presumably overwhelming majority of Americans in the room, or 3 Oct 06, which would be odd to Americans, but at least not ambiguous. I’d never realized Beyond was an Australian company. How do the logistics of that shake out? Do they fly over Australian crew, shoot the bits, fly home and edit the show? Or are they Australian in management, but use local crews end equipment, and edit the show in the US? Or do they shove the raw footage through the Internet or by satellites over to Australia for editing? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305/9 "2006-12-15T17:38:56Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] How big of a treadmill do you think Adam and Jamie could build? [/QUOTE] \ Get out, and never dirty my towels again! ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305/10 "2006-12-15T17:43:09Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] How big of a treadmill do you think Adam and Jamie could build? [/QUOTE] More importantly, how could they destroy the plane within the pretext of making it take off? ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305/11 "2006-12-15T17:50:55Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] How big of a treadmill do you think Adam and Jamie could build? [/QUOTE] They could scale it down to the size of the model airplane they use. I’d like to see this one done. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305/12 "2006-12-15T18:16:52Z")
[QUOTE=Uncommon Sense] They could scale it down to the size of the model airplane they use. I’d like to see this one done. [/QUOTE] Adam and Jamie would have to be idiots to take this one on. No matter what happens, they’ll get thousands of outraged emails about how they did it wrong. Witness the current thread on the subject, which is still tottering along in spite of the fact that **zut** gave a stunningly thorough (and funny) treatment of the entire problem including all of the variants and assumptions more than a page ago. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305/13 "2006-12-15T18:32:38Z")
[QUOTE=Zakalwe] Adam and Jamie would have to be idiots to take this one on. No matter what happens, they’ll get thousands of outraged emails about how they did it wrong. [/QUOTE] You should see the ongoing discussion(s) on the fan boards. There’s at least one new one every week. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305/14 "2006-12-15T18:54:44Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] But, most of the actual taping is done Stateside, primarily at M5 in San Fran, CA. . [/QUOTE] Speaking of which (and I’m off to the mythbusters fan site to see if I can get an answer there), I’ve noticed in the past couple of episodes that they seem to be referring to Jamie’s company now as M **7** , rather than M **5**. Is the voice over guy just misreading it suddenly? Or was there a name change? Or am I just completely mishearing? (I did rewind a couple of times on the DVR to make sure I wasn’t losing it completely… 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305/15 "2006-12-15T19:12:00Z")
Well, question answered over on the fansite. M7 is an auxiliary building they expanded into. (I hate replying to my own reply… :smack: ) ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305/16 "2006-12-15T19:13:39Z")
If, say, a friend of mine’s workplace was contacted (within the last week) about using their facilities for an experiment, about when would the myth be expected to air? ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305/17 "2006-12-15T19:19:36Z")
[QUOTE=Zakalwe] Adam and Jamie would have to be idiots to take this one on. [/QUOTE] 😕 Are you suggesting that they’re _not_ idiots? (OK, they’re _brilliant_ idiots. But they’re idots nonetheless.) ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305/18 "2006-12-15T20:33:28Z")
[QUOTE=butler1850] Well, question answered over on the fansite. M7 is an auxiliary building they expanded into. [/QUOTE] Yeah… it (generally) is the one with white walls, though part of the upstairs of M5 is white, too. I have no idea where M7 is, though. The alley they use doesn’t look like the one in front of M5. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305/19 "2006-12-15T22:04:59Z")
[QUOTE=gotpasswords] They’d concocted an enormous Rube Goldberg machine designed to give poor Buster a face-plant to the floor, triggered by pulling a string. String releases Mentos into pop, bowling ball knocks over pins, sending skiiers down the hill, robot bumbles into a stop sign, oven tips over, dinner falls out, cymbal-playing monkeys march forward, a cannon is lit and eventually, 35 or so mechanical gags later, Buster falls over. [/QUOTE] I was really disappointed in that. I know they never got the whole thing to work, but when they showed it during the credits, there was more scenes of Adam and Jamie laughing and commenting on the contraption than the contraption itself. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305/20 "2006-12-15T22:13:13Z")
[QUOTE=xizor] I know they never got the whole thing to work [/QUOTE] Yes, they did. Once. It was at the end of that segment, after they showed clips of various failures. You can watch it on YouTube [here](http://youtube.com/watch?v=V1z7fFBrjmA). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-production-schedule/384305.md?page=2)