Confirmed: Watching “MythBusters” On Netflix Streaming Can Make You Be All Scientific.

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I am a member of the Netflix Stream Team and will be happily sharing monthly tips and stories about how my family uses Netflix on a regular basis. (Okay, that’s an understatement. I should say CONSTANTLY. We use Netflix CONSTANTLY.) As a member of the Stream Team I was provided with a Roku and a voucher to apply towards my Netflix account.

March’s Netflix Theme for families is “Science Fair Greats”, and although my family is way beyond needing to go to the store at 10:00 p.m. because somebody forgot to let us know that they needed styrofoam balls and paint and posterboard and all of that other stuff, one thing springs eternal around here: Discovery Channel’s “Mythbusters” reigns supreme when it comes to being all scientific.

Just in case you’re not familiar with the show’s premise, Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage (special effects artists by trade) along with their Build Team (currently Tory Belleci, Grant Imahara, and Kari Byron) set out to prove (or disprove) myths by using science. Examples:

Can balloons act like air bags and save someone’s life in a car accident?
Can a seven-foot ball of LEGOs become a rolling weapon of mass destruction?
Can vodka clean the odor off of feet?
Is driving while talking on a cell phone just as dangerous as driving while intoxicated?
Is toast more likely to land butter-side down when dropped?

After performing experiments, myths are deemed “Busted”, “Plausible”, or “Confirmed”.

We have been watching “Mythbusters” since the very beginning in 2003, and there is something that blows our minds in almost every episode (which is appropriate, considering how much those Mythbusters love explosions). The show is fun to watch for the ENTIRE family, and over the years inspired my kids to try a few of the less dangerous experiments on their own.

I don’t have a favorite episode, but I do love their movie-themed episodes. As someone who occasionally wonders, “Hey, could THAT really happen?” while in the darkness of a movie theater, “Mythbusters” episodes like the one in which they explored whether Rose and Jack could have both stayed afloat on the board and survived hypothermia just long enough to be rescued are extra fascinating to me.

As a mom, I also enjoyed the one in which they busted the “Five second rule”, that food is okay to eat off of the floor if you pick it up immediately.

Other fun experiments are the ones in which Adam and Jamie compete directly against one another, and others in which Grant has to get spun around for science (terrible case of motion sickness, that one) or when they bring in Buster, their much-abused crash test dummy, to perform a stunt that is too dangerous for the team.

Currently, 111 “Mythbusters” episodes are available on Netflix Streaming, which could keep you and your family very busy until summer. Or the next school year. In fact, since it’s available for you RIGHT NOW, why don’t you and the family try to bust the myth that you can’t fit in a “Mythbusters” marathon on a lovely Sunday afternoon?

More streaming suggestions coming up in April!

4 Comments

  • Liz

    Myth Busters is a favorite at our house, but I don’t remember the 5 seconds rule episode. I love being able to catch up with some of our favorite shows on Netflix. Especially the really gross episodes, because I am 12 😉

  • Joseph Hichborn

    I hope you still read old comments. My wife and I, who watch Mythbusters on Netflix on a NIGHTLY basis, discovered an expiration date of October 5th on our beloved show. Do you have any insight into this? Say it ain’t so!

    I discovered a Reddit post:
    http://www.reddit.com/r/netflix/comments/2eotf1/all_discovery_networks_shows_yes_even_mythbusters/
    That states that, in fact, ALL Discovery shows are expiring from Netflix. The posted states that the two are still “in talks”, but I want to make sure Netflix knows the loss its loyal consumers will feel. Can we start a petition, or something?!

  • Justin

    Likewise I watch myth busters and dirty jobs every night and now they are gone! Please tell me they’ll be back or are we just on the losing end again.
    Its ridiculous what you pay them just to have them take from you.