Mythbusters 8/15 "Viewer Request Show"

what was the myth exactly?

I took a '89 sable, went in reverse going like 30 mph, dropped it into drive and gunned it, wheels spun for like 10-12 seconds and a lot of smoke came up, car twisted a little then i took off

 

I never realized how dumb the Mythbusters fans were. Did that many people actually believe your eye would pop out if you sneezed with your eyes opened? The myth is actually keeping your eyes opened while holding in a sneeze so thankfully they had a doctor dispel the myth before their fans got on their case about it. Fairly lame episode. Always enjoy an exploding car though.

 

I bet that kid who's parent's car was blown up had the time of his life.

 

I dropped my '74 Grand Fury III into reverse doing around 35 once.

Didn't stop it, but killed the engine.
In fact it made it harder to stop since power brakes were lost when the engine stopped running.

Took many cranks to get it started again.


phox

 

I wonder if that had less to do with fans thinking it would actually happen but rather the desire to see how silly they looked trying it.

 

Adam's face was priceless. They should make it into a halloween mask.

 

I also thought they would "duplicate the results" like they do on so many other myths. They should have created a fake head and see how much pressure it would take to blow out the eyeballs from the head. OK, maybe that would be too disgusting

 

Even better, they should have used a pig's head and blown out the eyeballs!

 

Um... sorry, no, the myth is indeed what they demonstrated. The myth originates from the fact that you naturally and reflexively close your eyes when you sneeze, and the myth is that the reason you do this is because if you were to keep your eyes open, your eyes would pop out of your head. I've heard this since grade school. It has nothing to do with holding a sneeze in.

They even showed that it is almost impossible to sneeze WITHOUT closing your eyes, unless you actually hold your eyelids open as Adam did. Try it sometimes - you almost certainly won't be able to.

I don't think too many people believe it, truthfully... but the simple thought of it inspires a rather gruesome mental picture that is enough to keep the myth going around.

Case in point:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_304.html
http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/sneeze.asp
http://www.mtv.com/onair/big_urban_myth/birth/index.jhtml?choose=Sneezing+To+Blindness

 

Definitely glad the viewers don't pick all the time. That was weak. Is there really anyone who thinks tennis ball would work? Is there even anyone who needed to be shown how the "trick" was done?

 

Yeah, this was definately a pretty weak episode. The only thing that I'd consider to be a worthwhile myth was the "Stopping using Reverse" one, but they got lazy. If Scottie were still around, she would have found how to disable that safety feature on the transmission of the Taurus and they would have tried it for real.

And, is it just me, or are the "blueprint" segments getting more and more lame? I used to believe that they filmed those before the myth, but now it's painfully obvious that they're scripted and filmed after the fact.

 

I agree it is filmed afterwards. They are often wearing the same clothing during the pre- and post-myth discussions.

 

All I know is that the eye doctor was hott. I'd have her check my eyes out anytime.

 

The segments with everyone around the table were painfully scripted and acted. Jaime and Adam are usually able to pull off those segments by themselves without it screaming "ACTING!" On the other hand, the build team, particularly Tory, hams them up every time they have to do them. It is truly painful to watch.

 

Agreed. The build team is terrible during those segments.

 

Manual transmission in reverse at 50mph??? Reverse is un-synchronized, you would have to place the transmission in neutral and rev the engine up to about 16,000 RPM to get it into reverse at 50 MPH. Or maybe thats just first gear, too bad they don't have rentals that come with a manual, or I would try it. Not many rentals rev to 16,000 RPMs either.

They really don't talk to anyone before they do these shows.