# Tory, Kari and Grant Leaving Mythbusters

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 22, 2014, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169 "2014-08-22T04:27:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169/21 "2014-08-22T14:35:13Z")

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> [@madmonk28](#):
>
> When it first came on, I thought Adam and Jamie were a bickering gay couple, they had this weird chemistry.

I feel like maybe there was a thread here once where I learned that they don’t particularly like each other. Not like enemies or anything, but that the annoyance you sometimes seem to catch during the show is genuine, and not at all ameliorated by any friendship between them (because none exists). They’re business partners and that’s it. IIRC.

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**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169/22 "2014-08-22T14:36:00Z")

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> [@madmonk28](#):
>
> When it first came on, I thought Adam and Jamie were a bickering gay couple, they had this weird chemistry.

Same here. Out of the add-on characters the only one who ever caught my interest was that tattooed welder-chick - and she didn’t last long. Tori and Kari always struck me as too much central casting and not enough geek. Grant was a great geek (I dug him on Battlebots) but didn’t seem to fit the mega-size of most of the builds they were doing.

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169/23 "2014-08-22T14:38:54Z")

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> [@madmonk28](#):
>
> When it first came on, I thought Adam and Jamie were a bickering gay couple, they had this weird chemistry.

I think there are several old-timey Straight Dope threads about that.

> [@Frylock](#):
>
> I feel like maybe there was a thread here once where I learned that they don’t particularly like each other. Not like enemies or anything, but that the annoyance you sometimes seem to catch during the show is genuine, and not at all ameliorated by any friendship between them (because none exists). They’re business partners and that’s it. IIRC.

They’re guys who work very well together and have almost totally opposite personalities. They seem to have a very deep trust and regard for each other, but don’t hang out outside of work.

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**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169/24 "2014-08-22T14:49:57Z")

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> [@madmonk28](#):
>
> I fell out of the habit of watching the show. I liked it best in the early seasons when it had more of a homemade, shade-tree mechanic vibe. It got a little too polished and a little too big.

I don’t really think the producers, or for that matter Jamie and Adam, really ever understood what made the show so good in the first couple of seasons, and they still don’t. I think they always wanted to make a polished show, and the low-fi charm and behind-the-scenes feel of the early days happened by accident rather than by design. It’s a shame, it would have been so much better if they had stuck with that style, and I think that’s what most fans fell in love with.

I don’t know if it’s correct, but my feeling is that most fans of the show were early adopters, rather than coming along in recent years. I can’t imagine that it’s attracting many new followers at this point. It has lost pretty much all of its charm.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169/25 "2014-08-22T15:19:20Z")

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I’m a little saddened to hear this, but nothing lasts forever, after all. No matter the cast, Mythbusters has been running low on good material anyway. I hope we see more of them in other projects, possibly after a short break.

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**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169/26 "2014-08-22T15:37:38Z")

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> [@Penfeather](#):
>
> K, G and T can be amusing, but their C4 show gets a bit childish and repetitive after a while.

I hadn’t watched the show in years (don’t have cable), but caught a few episodes recently while house-sitting.

I thought this was the stupidest part of the show. Half of the show involved Adam and Jamie testing some myth-y stuff, and the other half was these guys blowing stuff up just because. Snoozefest; definitely not enough to keep me hanging on through commercials.

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**Author:** ![HyacinthBucket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hyacinthbucket/32/3063_2.png) [@HyacinthBucket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HyacinthBucket)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169/27 "2014-08-22T16:00:24Z")

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> [@erysichthon](#):
>
> I completely agree. The show, minus commercials and opening theme music, is barely 40 minutes long. So we were getting 20 minutes of Adam and Jamie and 20 minutes of Kari, Grant, and Tory. The result was rushed, abbreviated accounts of their experiments, compressed with editing tricks like speeded-up motion and montages. I would much prefer to see more of Adam and Jamie figuring out how to test something, rethinking their plans when something doesn’t work as expected, etc.
> 
> **I had also grown tired of the show’s constant glorification of firearms, the emphasis on “movie myths,” and the viral-video debunkings. I watch every episode but often my attention wanders, and I don’t bother to hit “pause” if I go to the kitchen for a snack…**

A big fat AMEN to that! Especially the movie “myths”. Myths? They’re not _myths_, they’re _special effects,_ dammit, and the reason they’re done with CGI and other techniques is because they CAN’T be done in real life! So WTF are they wasting their time and mine trying to prove that they can? And who really cares anyway, except the studios who made the original movie and are getting free publicity courtesy of Mythbusters?

As for viral videos - same thing, smaller scale. In almost every case, not possible and not interesting.

As much as I used to like Grant, Kari and Tory, they were starting to sound like one of Grant’s robots, and the constant gushing and WHOO-HOOing trying to generate excitement was wearing pretty thin. Good luck to them in whatever they decide to do in the future, and a big smoochie to Grant, who’s a fine bit of eye candy and has a brain to match. But it’s time to put the “myth” back in Mythbusters.

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**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169/28 "2014-08-22T16:31:49Z")

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> [@HyacinthBucket](#):
>
> Especially the movie “myths”. Myths? They’re not _myths_, they’re _special effects,_ dammit, and the reason they’re done with CGI and other techniques is because they CAN’T be done in real life!

No, the reason they’re done with special effects is because they can’t be done _cheaply, safely and reliably_ in real life. We all know a guillotine works, but you can’t actually cut an actor’s head off to make your movie.

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**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169/29 "2014-08-22T16:38:36Z")

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The fact that Adam and Jaime announced it, and not the three of them, certainly seems to point to not being a voluntary separation. If they were leaving for a new show or to spend more time with the family, you’d think they’d film their own farewell. This is probably a cost cutting measure.

I do agree that as much as I like them, their bits have moved away from science and more to explosions for their own sake. I hope they find success.

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**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169/30 "2014-08-22T16:39:20Z")

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I actually LOVE the movie myths and viral video myths stuff. There just aren’t that many “myths” similar to the JATO-car, they’d run out of myths of that sort very quickly if they restricted themselves solely to that.

(Although there’s a difference between truly idiotic movie myths like “you can make a bullet curve by swinging your gun around” and ones where you’re like “well, obviously they didn’t actually film it happening, but… COULD it happen”? One of my favorite mythbusters moments was when the threw buster out of a plane attached to an inflatable life raft a la Temple of Doom. It didn’t work when they used the flat squire life raft, but they used the landing slide one and it worked perfectly.)  
Similarly, a recent highlight was riding a motorcycle right over a lake, which started out as a viral video.

Edited to add: I’m DESPERATE for them to try to replicate the scene from breaking bad with the big magnet… super curious to see if it would actually happen, and it would be awesome to see it attempted in any case.

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169/31 "2014-08-22T16:52:05Z")

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> [@JSexton](#):
>
> The fact that Adam and Jaime announced it, and not the three of them, certainly seems to point to not being a voluntary separation. If they were leaving for a new show or to spend more time with the family, you’d think they’d film their own farewell.

Yes, and Kari’s statements also make it pretty obvious it wasn’t their call. It would’ve been nice to let the trio address the fans on-camera even if they were not choosing to leave.

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**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169/32 "2014-08-22T17:22:47Z")

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I will miss the slow-motion shots of Kari bouncing up and down wearing tight clothing.

I still watch regularly, but I do enjoy the Adam-Jamie segments much more usually than the B team’s explosions.

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**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169/33 "2014-08-22T17:27:04Z")

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> [@Eonwe](#):
>
> I hadn’t watched the show in years (don’t have cable), but caught a few episodes recently while house-sitting.
> 
> I thought this was the stupidest part of the show. Half of the show involved Adam and Jamie testing some myth-y stuff, and the other half was these guys blowing stuff up just because. Snoozefest; definitely not enough to keep me hanging on through commercials.

They recently filled a garbage truck with ammonium nitrate and blew it up. Why? Who cares! Just blow it up! Didn’t have anything to do with the “myth” (which they didn’t study with even a hint of scientific rigor or methodology). It sure blew up nice, but I’d seen the original (cement mixer), which they even referenced, so it was just a rerun.

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**Author:** ![Sterling\_Archer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Sterling\_Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterling_Archer)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169/34 "2014-08-22T17:34:44Z")

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Sad day. I actually prefer to build team myths to Adam and Jamie’s most of the time. I hope they get their own show.

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**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169/35 "2014-08-22T17:59:57Z")

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Well, it’s sad, but the show ran out of meaty urban legends to test years ago. Both Adam and Jamie, and Kari, Grant and Tori, should be doing new things, admitting that, like _Dirty Jobs_, they’ve pretty much covered all there is to cover.

Those two sets do have wonderful chemistry, though, which is worth a gold mine. I’d watch a geek science show with some interesting premise, with either group hosting.

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169/36 "2014-08-22T18:00:08Z")

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If the show is going to be just Adam and Jamie and there will be more emphasis on building stuff, it occurs to me that they will probably do fewer myths per season and perhaps they’ll be able to do them in more detail. Those are both good, and since the movie myths sometimes feel like filler, maybe there will be less of that.

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**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169/37 "2014-08-22T18:14:21Z")

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> [@MaxTheVool](#):
>
> I actually LOVE the movie myths and viral video myths stuff. There just aren’t that many “myths” similar to the JATO-car, they’d run out of myths of that sort very quickly if they restricted themselves solely to that.

I agree. I can’t imagine watching the show just to see whether a myth was plausible/busted/confirmed. Maybe there’s a few where I’d actually be curious, but really the good parts are watching them build stuff, watching them try to utilize the scientific method, and then seeing what sort of crazy things they need to do to reproduce the myth.

To complain about the myths is like complaining that Top Gear doesn’t do solid reviews of every day cars. That’s not really what makes the show fun.

> [@Tangent](#):
>
> I still watch regularly, but I do enjoy the Adam-Jamie segments much more usually than the B team’s explosions.

The build team did probably perform more explosions, but I think their main problem was that they started nearly all of their segments with, “Let’s just go for it full scale.” They also tended to not attempt to see what it would take to accomplish the myth. The only part they exceeded Adam and Jamie was in producing mini-skits.

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**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169/38 "2014-08-22T18:25:51Z")

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> [@kopek](#):
>
> Same here. Out of the add-on characters the only one who ever caught my interest was that tattooed welder-chick - and she didn’t last long.

That was Scottie Chapman. She left the show because she wasn’t comfortable with being on camera. She preferred to just stay in the background and build stuff. She just didn’t like being an on-air personality. It was an amicable split. She did return a couple of times to help out with projects.

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**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169/39 "2014-08-22T18:27:49Z")

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> [@Marley23](#):
>
> They seem to have a very deep trust and regard for each other, but don’t hang out outside of work.

Like Penn and Teller.

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**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tory-kari-and-grant-leaving-mythbusters/696169/40 "2014-08-22T18:38:13Z")

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> [@Odesio](#):
>
> I stopped watching it a few years back because they stopped testing myths. I think the “You Can’t Polish a Turd” episode may have been the final straw.

Yeah! Don’cha just hate it when people seriously spend time addressing inane BS?  
Makes me want to slap 'em.

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