The Science Channel is conducting its own experiment. Can it find new MythBusters?
According to The Hollwood Reporter, Science Channel, owned by Discovery, has given the greenlight for Search for the Next MythBusters, a reality competition series which would be a search for Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman’s replacements.
In October, Discovery announced that MythBusters would be ending after the 14th season, which is currently on the air.
Only a few months have passed since the cancellation, but now Science Channel is looking for a way to give the show a second life. Search for the Next MythBusters will, like the title suggests, be a search for a new generation of science enthusiasts who are ready to bust some myths, and maybe blow some things up in the process.
Marc Etkind, the general manager of the Science Channel since September, told The Hollywood Reporter, “When I got to the network, and we clearly identified MythBusters as a franchise and something that was important to Science Channel and Discovery, and it was such a beloved show, I didn’t want to let it go. So we looked really closely at what would be the best way to keep it going and invigorate it and thought, ‘Let’s host a worldwide search for the next MythBusters.'”
For those interested in being the next MythBusters, the Science Channel website has all the information for entering the competition.
The competition will start with 15 selected applicants and then run them through a myth-busting gauntlet. The competitors will face some classic challenges seen on the show as well as some new ones. How many winners there will be has not been specified, but Etkind said it might be one or several, and he also defined the ideal candidates as “people who have building skills and are naturally inquisitive. People who don’t mind getting embarrassed a little bit, who ask lots of questions and have the skills and knowledge to put those to the test.”
In response to being asked if the new MythBusters will maintain the same format as its predecessor or try something new, Etkind said, “We’ll see who emerges victorious and from those folks determine what the best format is. It’s a long-running goal for Science Channel to have MythBusters on the air.”
While it will be sad to say goodbye to Savage and Hyneman, who have spent the past 14 seasons solving the cases of walking on water and making ice bullets, it will be interesting to see who emerges victorious as the new MythBuster(s).