Smash Lab vs. Mythbusters

[Rkkeller]

So far I really like this new series on the Discovery Channels, also in HD, Smash Lab.

It seems a little like Mythbusters but maybe with a bigger budget as, so far, they are always buying new and its just seems fancier.

There is also a semi hot geeky woman called Deanne. I like her as she always gets so excited and screams when something happens.

[flatcurve]

she's no Kari Byron...

I think that Smashlab is a little unrealistic. Especially the last episode with the trailer covered in Carbon Fiber. People live in trailers because it's cheap. Wrapping it in carbon fiber is not cheap.

But, I like em both.

[JMikeD]

" Smash Lab vs. Mythbusters"

Why does it have to be "versus?" Can't we like both for what they each are?

[heySkippy]

If I had to pick one over the other I would kick Smash Lab to the curb and never look back.

[TiVo'Brien]

I wonder how Jamie and Adam feel about Smash Lab? I'd feel ripped off.

I'll stick with the original - Mythbusters! :up:

[Aniketos]

Yeah, the dialog on Smash Lab is somehow cheesier than mythbusters. I like them both but if for some reason I could only choose one it'd be Mythbusters.

[Jonathan_S]

I posted my rant about the 1st smash lab epside elsewhere (in the mythbusters thread IIRC). But that one episode was all I could take; just couldn't watch any more.

I'll stick with Mythbusters

[brnscofrnld]

If i had to choose one, it would be MythBusters.

Smash lab is fun to watch but just doen't do as much for me as MythBusters does.

I'll second the...
she's no Kari Byron...


comment.

[bareyb]

Smash Lab makes me cringe a little. The idea is a decent one, but the casting is pretty poor. I have absolutely no faith in any of these people. I knew that cement barrier idea wasn't going to work the minute I heard it. The whole reason behind the design of modern barriers is to push the car back onto the road and not allow it to careen over the barrier. They work very well as is. I knew darn well all the concrete was gonna do is create a ramp and I don't even have an engineering degree.

Both ideas were stupid and impractical. Both ideas showed little imagination or thinking outside the box. I would have loved to see what Adam and Jaime would have come up with. So I'm giving it a thumbs up for potential but a huge thumbs down for execution. I've only seen one episode, but so far it looks pretty weak. :D

[OldFantom]

What is the point of smash lab? Mythbusters at least has some worth, even in its small niche in the world. I would never have guessed a mouse would scare an elephant. When i saw the fluffy cement segment on SL, I had to wonder how any of that could ever be practical. Sure, guard rails are one use items, but they don't have near the labor of pouring a cement runway that would have to add another 75 to 100 feet of median. Am I silly to ask for reality in a reality series?

[BeanMeScot]

I cancelled my pass for Smash Lab. The stuff they were doing was just plain stupid. The point of people buying mobile homes is that they can't afford a real one. If you wrap the house in carbon fiber, there would be no market for it.

And what was the point of a 75 foot runway for runaway cars? Even had it worked, it wasn't practical. And the slope of the dividers is to turn cars away from going over to the other side, not provide soft concrete for a ramp to vault them across!

[ElJay]

I think the most stupid thing about it is the narration. About 75% of it is useless, and the other 25% should and could be said by somebody on-camera. In addition, every segment starts out assuming people have zero short term memory or haven't been watching the show at all.

I'll give Deanne some props though. I like cute geeky enthusiasm. :)

[scandia101]

Smash Lab :down:

Mythbusters :up::up:

[supasta]

Smash Lab :down:

Mythbusters :up::up:

+1

Watched 2 episodes of Smash Lab. Couldn't stand to watch a third. Love me some Mythbusters though!

[bicker]

" Smash Lab vs. Mythbusters"

Why does it have to be "versus?" Can't we like both for what they each are?
:up: :up:

[IJustLikeTivo]

I posted my rant about the 1st smash lab epside elsewhere (in the mythbusters thread IIRC). But that one episode was all I could take; just couldn't watch any more.

I'll stick with Mythbusters


Beyond junk. What little attempt they make at science is poorly done.

I kicked my SP to the curb after the carbon fiber trailer episode. The stupidest was the concrete barrier / crushable concrete show. For both, the science was just awful.

[BluesFools]

Smash Lab is the Monkees to Mythbusters' Beatles.

[Idearat]

Interesting premise for the new show, just piss-poor execution. They're supposed to look for an interesting solution to a problem and show the experiment. Unfortunately the producers appear to be idiots.

The frangible concrete works for airplanes since it lets normal cars and trucks drive over it, but the heavier plane breaks through. All the screwing around with concrete lite and ignoring that it would prevent broken down cars or emergency vehicles to drive on it. Sand and gravel already work for runaway truck ramps, all they did was create poor performing sand.

Expensive carbon fiber on a mobile home was also stupid, especially since they didn't do the other retrofits for high winds like bonding entire sheets of plywood to the studs,rather than nailing in just a few spots. They glossed over the issue of anchoring it properly. I think they tried to make the first version poor performing in a lame attempt to make the expensive version look better.

No comparison at all to Mythbusters, other than things getting smashed.

[bicker]

Smash Lab is the Monkees to Mythbusters' Beatles.Didn't the Monkees have a more entertaining television show than the Beatles? :confused:

[bicker]

Unfortunately the producers appear to be idiots.Wasn't it Adam who cut his lip because he stuck it too close to the works of a vacuum cleaner? Are we really going to use idiocy as a metric? :p

[Idearat]

Wasn't it Adam who cut his lip because he stuck it too close to the works of a vacuum cleaner? Are we really going to use idiocy as a metric? :p

Adam isn't the producer. The producers on Mythbusters are the ones who keep Adam from trying to try to ride a rubber raft tossed out an airplane door.

[bicker]

Adam isn't the producer. Did you miss the smiley after the statement you responded to so seriously? :confused:

Regardless, I think fans will be fanish, and bristle at the idea that the channel is capitalizing on a good idea by approaching a similar context in a similar way, with fresh new faces and insights in what "Discovery-type" stuff could be entertaining. I see a lot of promise in Smash Lab, and no idiocy whatsoever. Folks who give it a chance might actually garner a great payoff.

[DouglasPHill]

The babe and her getting excited so easy is worth the price.

[bicker]

Yes, there's that. They clearly looked at the Kari-factor and found someone who would (ahem) appeal to that demographic, even better.

[Idearat]

Did you miss the smiley after the statement you responded to so seriously? :confused:

Regardless, I think fans will be fanish, and bristle at the idea that the channel is capitalizing on a good idea by approaching a similar context in a similar way, with fresh new faces and insights in what "Discovery-type" stuff could be entertaining. I see a lot of promise in Smash Lab, and no idiocy whatsoever. Folks who give it a chance might actually garner a great payoff.

Lack of a smiley doesn't necessarily make it serious.

Smash Lab will only survive if there's enough people who are more into being entertained by stuff being smashed than the thought that went behind it. The makers of the show have already shown that they will intentionally skip details related to what they are presenting in an attempt to prove their point.

Mythbusters has a large fan base who just watch to see things blow up, but also has a huge base that pay attention to the details. I'd bet these are the ones who are in sufficient numbers to keep the show on the air, the people who push them to not be a show where stuff gets smashed.

[bicker]

Lack of a smiley doesn't necessarily make it serious.Really?

[nirisahn]

Smash Lab is the Monkees to Mythbusters' Beatles.

Don't dis the Monkees! :)

[vertigo235]

Watching smash lab tonight I couldn't help but think how stupid these people are.

I seriously think some random team from junkyard wars would do a better job with a bunch of junk and 8 hours or whatever they use to get...

[bicker]

Yet, you're still watching.

[flatcurve]

I miss junkyard wars...

I don't like Smashlab, but I'll keep watching because there's nothing else on, and it's freezing outside.

[vertigo235]

Yet, you're still watching.

I watched the first episode and then didn't watch after that, I actually canceled my pass, but this thread made me want to watch one more episode.

[stiffi]

Kari is the only reason to watch Mythbusters. No Kari, no Smash Lab.

Okay, that's not entirely true, I like the whole gang. But Kari doesn't hurt!

[flatcurve]

I like her new hair...

[bareyb]

I miss junkyard wars...

I don't like Smashlab, but I'll keep watching because there's nothing else on, and it's freezing outside.

+1 on both counts. :up: :)

[bareyb]

I like her new hair...

I think she looked better before. Without all the makeup. Too "Americas Next Top Model Makeover" for my taste. Also, as I mentioned in another thread, Kari needs to have someone help her with her makeup. With all that lipstick she looked a bit like The Joker.

[bicker]

I watched the first episode and then didn't watch after that, I actually canceled my pass, but this thread made me want to watch one more episode.So does that mean we don't have to worry about more messages from you about this going forward? :D

Seriously, I think there will always be people who like things and people who don't. That's the way things are.

[vertigo235]

So does that mean we don't have to worry about more messages from you about this going forward? :D

Seriously, I think there will always be people who like things and people who don't. That's the way things are.

I'm sorry was I posting in the wrong thread?

I thought this was the thread about peoples opinions on mythbusters an smash lab?

[bicker]

Including mine.

[bareyb]

Just watched the Mobile Home Hurricane episode with my 8 year old son. If we are comparing Mythbusters to this show, the differences are huge. The Smash Lab guys don't seem to have much experience building things. Whereas Jaime and Adam obviously have loads.

It seems to me the methodology leaves much to be desired and I question some of the "successes" they claim. Did the carbon fiber make the house that much stronger or was it the fact that they wrapped the house in 5/8" thick plywood first? I bet the plywood alone would have done essentially the same thing.

Their ideas for the Train Airbag were completely lame as was the implementation. They had absolutely no idea what they were doing. Another minor gripe... What professional uses matching Ryobi tools? It looks like the producers went down to Home Depot and bought a value pak. :p

I did think their 2 X 4 Cannon was pretty cool and I'm hoping with some time the show will improve a bit. Hopefully the producers are reading what folks are saying on the web. The show has great potential, but the execution is lacking.

So yeah, compared to Mythbusters these guys look like amateurs. As a stand alone show? My son likes it a LOT. Better than Mythbusters even. He's young, and I will forgive him that lapse in judgement. I like it because it gives me and my kid some common ground for watching TV together so for that it's worth keeping the SP.

[Mars Rocket]

Their ideas for the Train Airbag were completely lame as was the implementation. They had absolutely no idea what they were doing.


No kidding - the Smash Lab people make the Mythbusters look like highly-trained scientists.

[YCantAngieRead]

So I've finally watched a couple of Smash Lab episodes, and so far, I'm not impressed. And the girl annoys me-there's something about her speech pattern that makes me want to mute her.

It's not Mythbusters by far. There's no chemistry between any of them-good or bad (and as we've seen on Mythbusters, sometimes the bad chemistry between Adam and Jamie is better than good chemistry. :D)

It's just...blah.

[Rkkeller]

It must be me :confused: but I find myself even watching repeats of SmashLab where I usually dont of MythBusters.

Not sure why really but I like the people. Not as much as
Adam and Jamie and the other Mythbusters but I think that might be due to watching MB for years and SL for a couple episodes.

The train smashing a car was interesting.

[alansh]

Every episode of Mythbusters starts with "Who are the Mythbusters?" and goes into their experience in special effects engineering, and M5 Industries is Jamie's real, well-established special effects house.

So... who are the Smash Labbers? From their bios (http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/smash-lab/bios/bios.html), their experience (and some is rather thin -- Deanne graduated in 2002) is in conventional engineering, which I don't think really works on this sort of show. Jamie and Adam are certainly used to the time and "looks cool" requirements for working on TV.

From just watching the show, my impression was that they were just actors hired to follow a script, and despite their engineering backgrounds, I wonder if that's effectively what they are -- someone else is scripting what they do.

[SteveInNC]

What professional uses matching Ryobi tools? It looks like the producers went down to Home Depot and bought a value pak. :p
In the original discussion of the Smash Lab pilot here (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=379317), I pointed out that one of the indications of how badly this show sucks is that the trailing credits include a person in charge of "product placement"... The pilot mentioned Rhino Liner by name about every third sentence, since that's what they were spraying on the building that they were rigging to be explosive-proof.

It's a pretty blatant attempt to rip off Mythbusters, much the way that Man .vs Wild rips off Survivorman.