# Unchained Reactions - hosted by Mythbusters starts tonight **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 18, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unchained-reactions-hosted-by-mythbusters-starts-tonight/616151 "2012-03-18T18:41:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unchained-reactions-hosted-by-mythbusters-starts-tonight/616151/1 "2012-03-18T18:41:35Z")
I plan to watch the first episode. It sounds interesting. Anyone else interested? video preview [http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/unchained-reaction-introducing-unchained-reaction.html](http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/unchained-reaction-introducing-unchained-reaction.html) > [@](#): > > If you’re a “Mythbusters” fan, you’re going to like the new series “Unchained Reactions.” > > The reality competition show is hosted and judged by the “Mythbusters” guys, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman. > > In each episode, two teams of people from diverse backgrounds (we’re talking artists, rocket scientists, animatronic specialists, engineers and regular old average Joes and Janes) compete to build elaborate chain reaction contraptions. > **[Elaborate contraptions and 'Mythbusters' guys star on new competition series](https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/elaborate-contraptions-and-mythbusters-guys-star-on-new-competition-series)** > > If you're a "Mythbusters" fan, you're going to like the new series "Unchained Reactions." ---
**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:** [March 18, 2012, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unchained-reactions-hosted-by-mythbusters-starts-tonight/616151/2 "2012-03-18T18:45:41Z")
I love Rube Goldberg machines! I’ll check this out. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unchained-reactions-hosted-by-mythbusters-starts-tonight/616151/3 "2012-03-18T19:00:56Z")
Looks cool. Thanks for the heads up. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unchained-reactions-hosted-by-mythbusters-starts-tonight/616151/4 "2012-03-18T23:52:47Z")
If the machines are anything like the [Rube Goldberg machine](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCYg_gz4fDo) in that Christmas episode, with all the Mentos fountains and robots and everything, this show ought to be good. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unchained-reactions-hosted-by-mythbusters-starts-tonight/616151/5 "2012-03-19T05:13:44Z")
So what did people think? It was fun enough, but I wanted a walk through where we really saw precisely how each individual step worked… I also really want to know whether they faked helping the second machine go, as it seemed to have completely stopped a few times… I can well imagine the producers going in and restarting it and just editing that out (but the judges would presumably know, and in fact that team did not win). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unchained-reactions-hosted-by-mythbusters-starts-tonight/616151/6 "2012-03-19T05:50:35Z")
Sounds like a small-scale _Scrapheap Challenge_ (or, as titled in the US, _Junkyard Wars_). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unchained-reactions-hosted-by-mythbusters-starts-tonight/616151/7 "2012-03-19T06:27:40Z")
It seems like it wasn’t edited or filmed well. Kind of took away the enjoyment of watching the devices run in the end. But it’s only the first episode. They’ll just have to work some things out. ---
**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:** [March 19, 2012, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unchained-reactions-hosted-by-mythbusters-starts-tonight/616151/8 "2012-03-19T08:09:03Z")
I agree with the comments above about the editing and filming needing improvement. Based on what we were shown, I thought the other team should have won easily. Their machine looked much more creative and interesting than the team that won. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unchained-reactions-hosted-by-mythbusters-starts-tonight/616151/9 "2012-03-19T11:15:53Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Sounds like a small-scale _Scrapheap Challenge_ (or, as titled in the US, _Junkyard Wars_). Which itself built upon “The Great Egg Race”. > **[The Great Egg Race](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Egg_Race)** > > The Great Egg Race was a BBC television series, in which problem solving teams are given a challenge to design and build machines using limited resources and time, to solve a problem set by the judges. > Sixty-eight episodes were produced and presented by seven presenters over the life of the show which ran for eight series from 1979 to 1986 and was broadcast on BBC 2. The first series consisted of five episodes and series two to eight consisted of nine episodes each. > The show was presented by... ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unchained-reactions-hosted-by-mythbusters-starts-tonight/616151/10 "2012-03-19T13:03:46Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > I agree with the comments above about the editing and filming needing improvement. > > Based on what we were shown, I thought the other team should have won easily. Their machine looked much more creative and interesting than the team that won. If it had worked correctly, I think they would have. However, a pretty basic part of the challenge is that it should work as designed. We all know that RG machines often take hundred of tests to get right, but in this case they are given both ample time and a small number of links to accomplish. They also have access to a whole shop full of tools, and materials, so there is little room for complaint about materials failures.