All language subtitles for Mythbusters.S09E19.Location.Location.Location.1080p.AMZN.WEBRip.DD2.0.x264-CasStudio_track3_[eng]

Do not try what you're
about to see at home.

We're what you call experts.

[ Clang! ]
Ow!

Narrator: On this episode
of "mythbusters"...

There's earth...

Aah!

Wind...

That was awesome!

And fire...

as the mythbusters'
top 12 most precious places...

I was less excited
after my first kiss.

Narrator:
Get declassified.

Here comes chaos.

Narrator:
Why are we banned from a quarry?

And that's why we can
never go to esparto again.

Narrator: Why really happened
at the white house?

I swear that Jamie
actually got a little choked up.

Narrator: And what keeps all
five mythbusters awake at night?

After dark, it's pretty scary.

Narrator: So, pack your shades,
your thermals...

It's really cold here.

Narrator:
And your bomb suit

to get the inside scoop

on the mythbusters'
most dangerous destinations.

Fire!
Oh!

Narrator:
Who are the mythbusters?

Adam savage...

[ Crying ]

and Jamie hyneman.

I call it my little pop gun.

Narrator:
Between them,

more than 30 years
of special-effects experience.

Together with Grant imahara...

I was totally scared!

Kari Byron...

Give him another shot.

And Tory belleci.

Let's chop this car up!

Narrator:
They don't just tell the myths.

They put them to the test.

Captions by vitac...
www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by
discovery communications

get ready, because this
is going to be quite a journey.

Throughout "mythbuster" history,

we've been
to some incredible places.

Wilderness both blisteringly hot
and bone-chillingly cold.

Explosive quarries
and crash-test facilities.

High deserts and frozen lakes.

The jungle
and the deep blue sea.

In this episode,
we've gathered together

the dozen best
"mythbuster" locations.

And we're gonna count 'em down.

So, let's start the show.

Narrator: And first up
in this location countdown,

where better to start
than home sweet home?

Whoa!

I want lift-off
this time.

Narrator:
Because over the years...

Ohh!

These little shops
have seen a lot of horrors.

But as to why they make
this location countdown...

Here's the landlord.

He's a trouper, man,
I'll tell you.

Nowadays, m5 is pretty well
dominated by "mythbusters."

Ohh!

Surrender your candy.

[ Laughs evilly ]

But when i started it
about 15 years or so ago...

This is m5,
my special-effects shop.

It was where
a director could go,

and pretty much
anything he could dream up,

we could make it.

Adam: Jamie's built entire
special-effects sets

out of lard.

Why is it called m5?

Jamie had a contest
among his employees

over what the name
of that studio should be.

I said, "you should call it m5,"
because i was thinking

that was the name
of the British secret service,

which i didn't realize was MI6.

It's hyneman, James hyneman.

[ Gunshot ]

He's never formally credited me
with coming up with the name,

even though it's the wrong name,

and I've never gotten
my $50 prize

for coming up with
the name of this business.

Jamie:
Big baby. [ Laughs ]

Naming rights aside...
Whoops.

M5 is the perfect location...

Hey! We got one!

Narrator:
For the mythbusters

to boldly go where
no scientist has gone before.

Are they getting bigger?

Roger that, mission control.
My breasts are expanding.

Repeat...
Breasts are expanding.

Narrator:
But as time went by,

with more myths
came more mess...

Don't tell Jamie, okay?
This is a secret between us.

Narrator:
And more room was required.

Oh, this is bad.

The thing is, m5 is my shop.
I own it.

But "mythbusters"?

Well, let's just say they're not
really very good tenants.

I swethrough the concrete. L it
[ Insects buzzing ]

Eventually, i put my foot down,
and they got another space.

Narrator: And so
halfway through season two,

half the mythbusters
moved to m6.

Kari: That was the shop
that scottie, Tory, and i

were gonna work out of.
[ Engine revs, backfires ]

Our neighbors
didn't quite like us so much.

[ Electricity crackling ]

[ Gunshot ]

The amount of noise...

[ Imitating monkey howling ]

and stink...

Ugh.
[ Gags ]

discomfort, really,
we caused them...

Great, eh?!

Caused us
to lose the lease on m6,

and, thus, m7 was born.

Aah!

Narrator: M7, the new home
of kari, Grant, and Tory.

A space in which

they would spread
their experimental wings...

Oh!

And supposedly cut down
on neighbor-related issues.

I just wanted to let you know

we had a little accident
in the shop,

and i punched a small hole
through the wall.

You got to stay on your toes

when you're a neighbor
of "mythbusters."

Whoa!

Holy moly!

It's a little funny
coming here every day.

I mean, for us,
this is the place where we work.

Whoa! [Bleep]

We drive up to
a really nondescript,

gray, concrete building,

inside of which
we've spent almost 10 years

making 200 hours of this show.

Oh!

This is our job.
[ Laughs ]

So much of our lives and history
is tied up in this place

that, you know,
it feels, in a way, like home.

Narrator:
A home with a difference.

Don't try what
you're about to see at home.

A home where science lives...
Wow!

Breathes, and fires chickens
into the wall.

Ha! Whoo!

That was so cool!

Hot on the heels of home,

it's some blasts from the past.

Jamie:
"Mythbusters" and quarries

have a special relationship,

very simply,

because if you want to make
a really, really big explosion,

there's no place else to go.

Tory:
Oh, look at that!

Where else can you go
to launch a car off a cliff?

Oh!

Or shoot a torpedo at a boat?

Adam: Whoa.

I don't know. Maybe that was
a little too powerful.

What do you think?

Adam: Well, the first time
we went to a quarry

was one of our
all-time biggest explosions.

It was "cement truck."

We had actually filmed that
entire episode of "cement truck"

without the final explosion.

3, 2, 1...

[ Thud ]

That sounded like you hit it
with a sledgehammer.

And they got it back
to the edit suite,

and they cut it and they
looked at it, and they thought,

"eh, it's missing something.
It's missing a big finale."

You know how anticlimactic
that was?

The fire truck's leaving.

So, we had to
find a location big enough

to completely decimate
this truck,

and then that's when one of our
producers found the rock quarry

we eventually blew it up in.

[ Siren wails ]
It was a picture-perfect
location for that story.

Several square miles

with a body of water
separating us from the explosion

so we could watch it safely
from a mile and a half away.

3, 2, 1...

Narrator:
As a first quarry blast,

it was a steely success.

Adam: Mythbusters, 1,
cement truck, zero.

But when testing the myth

of knocking your socks off...

[ Bell dings ]

things didn't go quite so well.

Grant: After trying
different techniques

and failing to get
the socks to be knocked off...

Oh!

We decide to go to explosives.

So, we go to a quarry

which is just outside
of the town of esparto.

Wow!

Oh, my gosh.

This is awesome.

With the help of frank Doyle
and the local bomb techs,

we set up
a giant anfo explosion...

You know what they say.

Safe exploding
is good exploding.

And a perimeter of different
legs with socks on them.

Our blast zone
is set up way over there,

but we've come
really, really far back

to make sure all mythbusters,
big and tiny,

are perfectly safe.

We set off the explosion...

Tory:
3, 2, 1...

Yeah!

And we got
a lot of feet blown off

but no clean socks
having been blown off.

That's definitely
not blowing your socks off.

But that's not all we got.

We set off the blast wave,

and despite the advice
of our experts,

it's much larger
than any of us have anticipated.

And so we start
getting reports from the town

that people had been
knocked off their sofas...

[ Indistinct shouting ]

windows had broken...
[ Glass shatters ]

car alarms had gone off...

[ Car alarms blaring ]

ceiling tiles fell down.

That's reality.

The news reports,
on the other hand,

said that we had leveled
the town accidentally,

that the mythbusters
had done this,

which is not the case.

I'll tell you something
really funny about esparto.

When we started getting
all the phone calls

that things had gone awry...

You might say it was a blast.

[ Telephone rings ]

[ Laughs ]
The producer grabbed me,

being that
i was extremely pregnant,

and said,
"you're coming with me.

Nobody can be mad
at a pregnant lady."

[ Laughing ] And so
we went from place to place,

begging for forgiveness,
'cause, really, can you be?

And that's why we can
never go to esparto again.

Narrator: Next...

And the elephant goes...
[ Imitates elephant ]

Tory: "If you ever do
anything stupid like that again,

I'll come up there
and break your legs."

Narrator: And later,

find out the ultimate
"mythbuster" happy place.

You know something great
is gonna happen.

[ Gunfire ]

Narrator: From the desert
to the deep blue sea...

Apparently
sharks like medieval armor.

Narrator: The mythbusters
are counting down...

3, 2...

their all-time
favorite locations.

1...

And next up
is a destination with bite.

We don't travel a lot
for this show.

We have almost every climate we
want within a day's drive of us

here in San Francisco.

Today's forecast...
70% chance of science!

Jamie: It's well over
100 degrees out here.

Adam:
Yeah, yeah!

It's cold!

So, when we found out

we were gonna go literally
halfway across the globe,

we were psyched.

The focus of the trip
was sharks.

In false bay, South Africa,

there are great white sharks

that leap
completely out of the water

when they attack seals.

Jamie: Little do they know
that death is lurking below.

If you've seen footage

of great whites
leaping out of the water...

Here, fishy, fishy, fishy.

That's where it happens.

Oh!

And that's why we went there.
[ Jamie and Adam laugh ]

I've spent a lot of time
on the water,

and I've seen
a lot of wildlife...

Quack, damn you.

But normally a top predator
like a great white

is actually pretty rare.

Whoa!

Oh, my lord!

So, to go someplace
like South Africa,

where they're just jumping
out of the water like salmon...

There's no place else
in the world like it.

Narrator: But there was more
to South Africa

than jumping the shark.

Wow! That was awesome.

So, we're in South Africa,
filming with the sharks,

and an unseasonal hurricane
comes through.

Now, for our crew,
this is potentially a disaster.

[ Both chuckle ]

We're trying to figure out a way

to salvage what we're getting
in South Africa,

and we thought,

"hey, let's do the story,
'elephants are afraid of mice.'"

i found out
that there's a preserve

that's inland a little ways,

and it's out of this weather,
and they have elephants.

What are we gonna do
with elephants?

[ Chuckles ]
Mice.

We had no idea

we were about to film
an actual and astonishing myth.

Narrator:
And that astonishing myth...

You go that way.
I'll go this way.

Doby a lion. Ten
okay.

Began with
a surprisingly awkward question.

Jamie:
How are we gonna introduce
the mice to the elephants?

Slingshot.
[ Laughs ]

Are we gonna just release both
into a paddock

and wait for them
to approach each other?

No, of course not.

So we take this
big chunk of elephant dung...

Hey, Adam, got some.

And we cut it in half
and hollow it out

and make it a little shell
to hide the mouse in.

The mouse wasn't too pleased
about this arrangement.

That ball of dung
is set and ready to go.

We took this shell of elephant
dung with a mouse underneath it,

and we actually puppeted it.

That's right.
We puppeted dung,

so that as the
elephant approached the path,

we would
pull aside the elephant dung.

The mouse would be visible,
and the elephant would react.

Let's see what happens.
Okay.

What actually happened, though,
is astonishing.

The elephant's
walking down the path,

and we pull the dung,
and the elephant goes...

[ Imitates elephant ]

And then very carefully...

If it's possible for an elephant
to move carefully...

It's exactly what it did.

Carefully tiptoes, i swear,
around the mouse.

What just happened is a classic
"mythbusters" scenario.

It would seem that elephants

are at least
somewhat wary of mice.

Narrator:
It was certainly

a memorable
"mythbusters" moment...

What do you think?
[ Elephant exhales sharply ]

Hello.

That was all thanks
to the south African Savanna

and an unseasonal storm.

Adam: This is a case
where the location

really provided the story.

It was
because we were in South Africa

and we knew we could find
elephants close by in the wild

that we went and did this story.

We might never have done it
otherwise.

Narrator: Next, it's time
to run away to the runway.

We've probably been out
on the runway at Alameda

more than any other location
on the show.

In fact, we were
just out there yesterday.

Okay.
Rims versus manhole covers.

In 3, 2, 1...

The thing is that it's got
about a mile and a quarter

of straight, open road.

Adam: Oh, no!

And it's also the most
beautiful place in the bay area.

As many times as I've been
out there, i still love going.

[ Tires screech ]

Look, with the sun setting

behind San Francisco
in the distance...

Nice gun, but you
got some accuracy problems.

Yeah, i need to practice.

With the towering cranes
that inspired the at-at walkers

from "star wars:
The empire strikes back,"

the Alameda runway
is probably the most iconic

of "mythbusters"
regular locations.

In fact, we use it so often...

Here comes chaos.

That most people
that say hi to me on the street,

they follow up with, "so,
you guys are based in Alameda."

"Actually, no,
we're based in San Francisco,

but we test at the runway
a lot."

Narrator:
But despite the obvious

fun and frivolity of the runway,

for Jamie,
it's always tinged with regret.

One of the earlier episodes
we did was called "tree Cannon,"

and we shot that
out on the runway.

The thing was that it involved
firing a cannonball

that i had meticulously carved
out of a piece of granite,

and it was perfect.

[ Chuckles ]

It was just this beautiful,
little sphere.

Everybody was impressed.

Adam: Do you think
we'll be able to find it?

Jamie: You know,
I'm feeling pretty certain

that it's gonna launch
that thing a fair ways.

So, we fired it...

Fire in the hole.

And the Cannon
actually worked really well,

and it shot it
down the length of that runway.

I don't have a clue
where that went.

[ Laughs ] I didn't see a darn
thing. Did you see anything?

Narrator: That day,
Jamie searched high, low,

and everywhere in between
for his beloved ball.

But it was all in vain.

I'm a little bummed out
not to find the ball, you know?

It was... i put a lot of work
into that thing.

Narrator:
And seven years on,

he still mourns this tragic loss
in the name of science.

Every time i go out there,

i kind of poke around in the
bushes to see if i can find it.

We never have.

Narrator: Later...

It's like
the calm before the storm.

3, 2, 1...

Narrator: But first...

Like a
post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Kari: Two words...

Nas-Ty.

Narrator: It's the "mythbusters
location special" countdown.

And next,
it's the "dawn of the dead."

Adam:
Look, it's no secret

that most of our experiments
over the years

have had to do
with destroying things...

or hurting things...

or leaving them in a state

much worse
than when we started...

All right.
Go ahead and fire up the engine.

Including the locations
we're filming at.

Tory: Didn't plan
for that one to happen.

I guess
the mythbusters were here.

What that means is that we're
often looking for locations

where people don't mind

that we might
leave a big hole in the ground

or the side of a building
destroyed...

Starting the timer.

Big boom, big boom, big boom!

And that's when
abandoned military bases,

houses,
and bunkers come into play.

As it happens, there are
a number of ex-military bases

in the bay area.

Tory: Like a
post-apocalyptic wasteland.

But there's one in particular

that's an abandoned
residential neighborhood,

and when
the military pulled out,

they just left it all intact,

with streets and parks
and houses and everything.

And let me tell you...

After dark, it's pretty scary.

We call it zombie town.

[ Woman screams ]

Grant:
It's creepy as all get-out.

It is like those
post-apocalyptic zombie movies.

It looks like a regular town,
but there's just no one around.

Narrator:
But zombie town is child's play

compared to the setting
for "elevator of death."

Abandoned locations
are so creepy.

The very worst of all of those
was for "elevator of death."

Oh, my god.

Since we're here anyway,
can we film a horror movie?

Adam: The "elevator of death"
story is basically this...

People imagine
that if you are in an elevator

that is plummeting
to the basement,

if you time a jump perfectly

at the moment
that elevator hits the floor,

you will survive.

Now, this building
had been condemned for asbestos,

and it had been condemned
and abandoned for a long time.

92 feet
to the top of the pulleys.

92 feet to the dead bird.

[ Laughs ]

We need to clean it up
before we can use it,

particularly the basement.

Two words... nas-Ty.

To clean this up, we had
to gear up in tyvek suits

and respirators and goggles

and gloves
that needles couldn't Pierce

so that we could
clean up trash, old food,

rat carcasses,
hypodermic needles,

and some really large
women's clothes.

I have no idea
what went down there,

but [Laughs] sure wish
somebody else cleaned it up

before we got there.

Don't leave me alone.

[ Laughing ] Oh, my god.

Narrator:
But once clean...

I'm terrified.
I'm totally excited.

The experiment
worked like a charm.

And the myth, like buster,
was busted.

This is more damage

than we've ever done to buster
in one myth before.

The "elevator of death" story

is one of the earliest
abandoned locations

and, honestly,
one of the all-time best.

[ Laughs ]
That blew my face back. Whoo!

Man, that was intense.

We got the ability
to take that elevator

and do anything we wanted to it

in a building slated
to be completely destroyed.

I think buster feels good
about a job well done,

and he just hopes that we don't
put his head on backwards.

It gave us
a tremendous amount of freedom

to test this myth

at a scale i don't think anyone
else has ever tested it at.

Narrator: From locations
to fear to locations to cheer,

and here's why.

Now, one of the great things
about "mythbusters"

is we get access
to some incredible university

and government
research facilities.

Cool.
Wow!

We did a brain scan at ucsf...

One of the premier brain labs
in the world.

They're gonna fry my brain.

Grant:
We got a chemical analysis

on our homemade diamonds
at u.C. Berkeley.

Charcoal.
You've got charcoal.

No diamonds? I don't see
any diamonds here.

We tested the myth of blue ice

at the icing research tunnel
at NASA Glenn in Cleveland.

[ Both scream ]

That thing blew off
in one giant chunk!

And then,
there's new Mexico tech,

which, i have to say,
is my favorite

because of two words...
Rocket sled.

Adam:
Rocket sled in 3, 2, 1...

Kari:
We've crushed cars.

We've split cars in half.

They actually have a major
at their university

in energetic materials.

I hear since the "mythbusters"
episodes have aired

that they've had
a lot more applications.

Narrator: Without doubt,
science centers of excellence

play a key role
in much "mythbusters" mayhem.

That was awesome!

But be they spectacular stunts
or data to die for...

I want to see the high-speed.
Yeah.

It's not only
the location that counts,

because the experts
found therein

are just as important.

The thing that surprises me most
about this job

is what I've learned,

and it's not just because
of the experiments we've done

or the things
we've been allowed to do.

It's about the people
that we've had access to,

because we've gone into
some of these institutions

where these people
are just absolutely brilliant.

They're at the top
of their field,

and to see things
through their eyes

has been
incredibly enlightening.

Narrator:
Coming right up...

[ Electricity crackles ]

It's alive!

[ Adam laughs ]

[ Smacks lips ]

Pleaseabout to see at home. E
we're what you call
experts.

Yeah!

Ah!

Narrator:
Six favorite locations down...

six to go...

And you might say
the best is yet to come...

Whoa!
Oh, my god!

Narrator:
Starting with a location

that's truly shocking.

The thing about
electricity myths

is while they seem like
a good idea in theory...

Ow!

In practice, they're often
very, very difficult.

Come on.

How hard is it
to get a light bulb to light?

But it's not just that
electricity myths are awkward.

They can also be
pretty unvisual.

Firing.

It's working.
Okay.

There aren't these gigantic,
"Frankenstein" lightning bolts

flying around
all over the place.

1...

Wow. That was great.

There is one exception to this.

Our local power company

has a testing facility
about an hour north of us.

It's a lightning dome.

Why is it a cool location?
I don't know.

I mean, except for the fact
that it's a huge geodesic dome

that looks like
a mad scientist's laboratory...

What are your plans, my master?

We're going to
take over the world.

Oh, yes.

With massive
lightning-generating balls

you can turn on and off at will.

[ Electricity crackles ]

Jamie:
That actually worked.

That was beautiful.

It's not that interesting.

That was awesome.

Jamie: We've done
several stories there,

like
"phone in a thunderstorm"...

It's alive!
[ Laughs ]

"Franklin's kite"...

Kari:
There it goes.

And "golf club."

What a shocker.

Adam: There's something
that doesn't quite come
across on television,

which is before we generate
any lightning bolts,

there's this whole protocol,
where doors are shut,

red lights are set to spinning.

Okay. I'm going hot.

Adam: And then these massive
capacitor banks are charged up,

and you hear this...
[ Imitates whirring ]

You really feel like you're in
a "Frankenstein" movie.

It's really unnerving, because
you know the charge is building.

Okay. We're up to 243,
almost 250 k.V.

You just don't know

when that lightning bolt and
that big crack is gonna happen.

We're at 440,000 volts.
We're gonna go to 480,000.

And then it goes... crack!

[ Electricity crackles ]

And then you just see this,
like...

[ Imitates
electricity crackling ]

lightning bolt.

There's nothing better.

Kari: Aah!

I think
based on how awesome it is,

they should rename it
the thunderdome, don't you?

Write them and tell them.

Yeah!

Wow!

Narrator:
Beyond the thunderdome

is a place
to let it all hang out.

I think one of my
all-time favorite hangars

is hangar 2 out at moffett field
at the NASA ames center.

It is 230 feet from the floor
to the center of the arch.

It's a quarter of a mile long.

It's overwhelming.

It used to house
these big airships for the Navy.

Now, they don't
use those anymore,

so it left
this great piece of architecture

that's completely
made out of redwood,

hundreds of feet high.

It's a beautiful indoor space.

It's cavernous and echo-y.

Smells great
'cause of all the wood.

And we got to do our whole
experiment there on the floor.

Narrator:
That experiment being

the world-record-breaking
"seven paper fold."

Grant: We're basically gonna
have to fill this whole area.

Exactly the type of test

requiring protection from
the elements and acres of space.

But for this myth, the hangar
did have one drawback.

Grant: We had laid out this
giant, giant piece of paper,

like 100 yards long
or something like that,

and we had to leave
for the night.

So, we come back
the next morning,

and this perfect, pristine
sheet of paper that is gigantic

is now covered in owl dung.

It's everywhere.
Nasty!

Grant: They saw this giant,
white surface and said,

"let's... let's bomb that."

So, first order of the day,

go around
and scoop up all the owl dung.

There's another one over here,
dude.

Narrator:
Poop cleaning aside,

one of the biggest tasks
the team has ever tackled...

Kari: Everybody to this side
for six.

Worked like a charm.

And we did it!

Yeah!

Eight!
That is eight.

Turns out you can fold a piece
of paper more than seven times.

You just need to
supersize the paper

and the location.

11 folds. I didn't think
it was possible.

Should we go to
the NASA gift shop?

Yeah.
Whoo!

Narrator:
Still to come...

This location countdown
has friends in very high places.

I don't think
it gets any cooler than that.

That is an iceberg.

Narrator: Next up in the
"mythbusters location special,"

we're going straight to the top.

You know, some viewers
may be watching us and thinking,

"huh, the boys are standing on
a very accurate set

of the
white house library."

But they'd be wrong.

When it comes to locations,

how do you get any cooler
than the white house?

I don't think
it gets any cooler than that.

Welcome to the white house.
Thank you,
Mr. president.

In the space of one year, i was
at the white house three times,

and i met the president
each time.

Did i ever think
i would do that?

No, not at all.

Can we do for you?
Obama: I think
that we've got a big one

that hasn't been
thoroughly tested.

Which one is that?

Well, it is
Archimedes' solar ray.

Well, that is a classic.

It is a classic,
but I'm not sure

that we've really finally
disproved or proved this myth,

and so I'm hoping that we
can take one more crack at it.

We chose that story

because while we had tested
that myth twice before...

I'm standing right in it,
and I'm not dead yet.

We had never done it
the way it was actually
originally described...

I.E., with 500 soldiers
holding polished shields

along a shoreline,

trying to set fire to a boat.

Do you want marcellus
to take your city of Syracuse?!

All: No!

Those soldiers could be kids,
we realized.

In fact, we ended up getting
500 students from the school

that Jamie's wife has been a
science teacher at for 20 years.

How's that for serendipity?

All: Hoo-ah!

[ Scottish accent ]
That's the spirit, soldiers!

Narrator: Using people power
was the ultimate way

to test
this presidential challenge.

The intensity from these mirrors
is incredible.

Narrator: But the result was not
good news for Archimedes.

1, 2, 3!

All:
Myth busted! Yeah!

You hear that?

I got one more thing.

When we were
rehearsing the lines

before
the president showed up...

Here we go.

There was an exchange
between the president and Jamie

where Jamie says,
"why do you want us here?"

So, what can we do for you?

And the president
gives this long speech

about how important
he feels "mythbusters" are

in educating kids in science.

But when
the president finally showed up

and did that
in front of Jamie...

What can we do for you, sir?

I swear that Jamie
actually got a little choked up.

Nothing's more important
to our country's future

than getting young people
engaged in math and science.

So, I'm just thrilled that
you guys do such a great job

making it fun.

I think you can hear him go,

[ as Jamie ] "Well, that means
a lot to us, Mr. president."

Well, thank you, sir.
That means a great deal.

Adam: Like he was
seriously bowled over

by hearing the genuine tone
in president Obama's voice

about his feelings

about our role
in educating kids in science.

Narrator:
Next on the countdown conundrum,

it's time to break the ice.

There's nothing quite like

the awe-inspiring majesty
of snow-covered mountains...

[ Record scratches, gunfire ]

at least
until the mythbusters turn up.

Throw out.

Wow.

Narrator:
Because it's "snow" joke

that whatever cold case
they're cracking...

Bye-bye!

Chillsome carnage ensues.

Whoa!

But one thing is for sure.

The toughest snowy situation
was actually in California.

Tory:
Now, "spinning ice bullet"

was probably done
in the worst conditions

that we've ever seen
on "mythbusters."

Rumor has it
there's a lake out here.

Grant: Let me set the scene.
We are in the Sierra Nevada,

in the area
where the donner party

experienced all its problems.

This looked a little more
picturesque in the brochures.

We're at 9,000 feet,

so just walking
from the car to the curb,

you're already exhausted.

Save yourselves.

It was a blizzard.

I'm getting that feeling again,
that lost feeling.

Tory:
It was like zero visibility.

It was like
60-mile-an-hour winds,

well-below-zero temperatures,

and the whole time,
it was dumping snow on us...

I mean, the entire time.

Grant,
get yourself some snowshoes.

There are shoes for this?

Narrator:
And when they got to the lake,

things weren't any easier.

"Spinning ice bullet"

means we have to get down
to the icy surface of the lake.

It's buried
under 4 feet of snow,

so before
we even start the experiment,

we have to dig out
4 feet of snow

just to get down there.

It's like
we keep digging it out,

and mother nature
just keeps filling it back in.

Narrator: But showing true grit,
the mythbusters persevered.

Whose [Bleep] [Bleep] [Bleep]
[Bleep] [Bleep] [Bleep] [Bleep]

Idea of a myth is this

[bleep] [Bleep]
[Bleep] [Bleep] [Bleep]

Narrator:
Until, after several misfires...

[ Gun shots ]

I can't feel my fingers,
and i can't see any bullet!

Narrator:
They finally hit pay dirt.

1...

It's spinning!
It's spinning!

Look at that!
Whoo-hoo!

Seeing that little bullet
spin in the ice like a top,

i mean, it was worth it.

It was worth
the 60-mile-an-hour wind.

It was worth
trekking through the snow

and shoveling off the snow
from the ice.

It was worth losing my foot
from the frostbite.

It was worth it.

Where's that rescue party?

Kari:
We are the rescue party!

Narrator:
Next up, this is it.

I'm ready.
Are you ready?

Narrator:
The final, most spectacular

location, location, location.

It is our favorite location.

Whoo!

After thrills...
[ Elephant trumpets ]

spills and chills...

There are shoes for this?

We're almost at the finale
of the location special.

[ Zip! ]
It's my best work yet.

Narrator:
And at number two,

it's off
to the middle of nowhere.

There are some myths that
are too big for the runway...

Wow!

Too big for the bomb range...

Grant:
Oh, my god!

To expansive for even a quarry.

Say it with me.
Jamie wants big boom.

And that's when
we packed up all our gear

and headed out
to the mojave desert.

Tory: Listen.

It's quiet. Too quiet.

It's like the calm
before the storm.

"Ming dynasty astronaut."

[ Jamie laughs ]

Adam:
His ass is on fire!

"Luxury car drop."

Release the car!

"Jato rocket car."

I'm gonna have to have
a grin-ectomy.

These are myths
that need a wide-open space.

Man:
Okay. We're in line.

Okay.
Coming out of full throttle.

And that's why
the mojave is perfect.

Okay.
Helicopter's at speed.

Something you may not know about
the original jato rocket car

is that i was there.

3, 2, 1...

Firing.

I was actually interning
for Jamie at the time,

and i drove all night
to catch up with them...

Firing.

Whoo!

Jamie:
Yee-haw!

Slept in the parking lot
of the hotel,

jumped in the car with them,
and then said, "i will help out.

What can i do?"

That was absolutely outrageous.

Narrator: Thanks to
kari and the whole team,

mojave was the location that
put "mythbusters" on the map.

It was so beautiful.
It was like... zoom!

But it's not without
its problems.

The mojave desert is a
really difficult place to work.

I mean, it's the desert.

It's either
really, really hot...

Tory: We're four hours into
the experiment.

It's still hot as hell.

Or really, really cold.

I don't usually associate
the terms "freezing cold"

with "desert,"
and yet i got to tell you

it is freezing-expletive cold
out here.

There's no power anywhere, and
there's definitely no bathroom.

[ Toilet flushes ]

It can also be muddy,
as Jamie found out.

We're on "confederate rocket,"

and we've got our massive,
20-foot truck

out on the desert floor,

and Jamie
gets it stuck in the mud.

And we're stuck.

So, we call up this tow truck,

and the tow truck
slowly, excruciatingly

drags the truck
back out of the mud.

And instead of them
backing out the way he came...

[ Horn honks ]

Jamie makes a left turn

and gets the truck
stuck in the mud again.

Is there anything i could say

that would
make this more poignant?

I don't think so.

So the tow truck
has to come back out again

and drag the truck
back out of the mud.

I think we spent $1,500

on towing fees
on that one day alone.

Whoo!

Narrator: But despite the mud,
sweat, and tears,

mojave is a must-have location.

Here it goes... the big boom.
"Civil war rocket."

In 3, 2, 1...

Ignition!

Narrator: And it's a location
that comes with an added bonus.

Jamie: Go.

Wow!

[ Laughs ]

Yeah!

Jamie: One of the unique things
about mojave

is that there are
places that we can go

that have existing permits
in place

that will allow us to shoot
a rocket straight up in the air

thousands of feet

and not worry
about hitting an aircraft.

Narrator: Although that's
a bonus that, as of yet...

Go ahead
and make the system hot.

The mythbusters haven't
exactly made the most of.

This is a salami rocket
firing in 3, 2, 1...

Hey!

Look at that!

[ Laughs ]

The final stop

on this whirlwind tour
of most-loved locations

is the home of the countdown.

* fire in the hole

* fire in the hole

* fire in the hole

fire in the hole!

Fire in the hole!

Situation room,
controlled explosion.

I'm ready.
Are you ready?

Ready with explosives.

Charging.
3...

2...

1...

[ Beep ]

It's always a good day
when you come into work

and see that the bomb range
is slated for the day...

Oh!

Because you know
something great is gonna happen.

Narrator: Yep,
coming in at number one,

the bomb range sure is a blast.

But the real bonus
of this home from home...

Jamie: Feel like
I'm ready to go out clubbing.

Is that it's a uniquely
versatile experimental space.

What can we do there?
What can't we do there?

Build troughs to swim in syrup,
fire cannons,

blow up bombs, build houses...

Whatever you do,
don't do this at home.

Ah!

Oh!

Watch them as they burn,
roll giant lego balls downhill,

and always have fun.

It is our favorite location.

Jamie: What a lot of people
don't realize

is that there's
a very, very good reason

that we use the Alameda county
sheriff's bomb range,

and that is that a lot of
the stuff that we need to do

would normally be
just flat-out illegal.

So, we figured
it'd be a good idea

to just do it there
with all the cops watching.

Then it's okay.

Narrator: And it's two cops
in particular...

Frank Doyle and j.D. Nelson...

That really put the "bomb"
in bomb range.

Adam:
The chief bomb tech

at the Alameda county
sheriff's bomb disposal range

is sergeant j.D. Nelson.

I'll tell you what...

If i have a problem,
I'd take it to j.D. Nelson.

I know he'll make it disappear.

Kari:
In 3, 2, 1...

Go, j.D.!

Jamie: He's very professional,
but he's just totally relaxed,

and when
you're working with explosives,

relaxed is a good thing.

On the record,
I'm just gonna say

I'm totally against this burning
of wine and champagne.

Adam:
Who is frank Doyle?

I can tell you he's
a retired FBI special agent.

I can tell you
that he led the task force

that stormed
the unabomber's shack.

But, really,

i feel like at some point in my
life when I'm in real trouble,

having his phone number
is gonna help me out.

In the vicinity of five minutes,
his pants should be in New York.

Narrator: But despite
our bomb techs' specs,

there is
a behind-the-scenes situation

that they can't help with.

Adam: There is one complicated
limitation to the bomb range,

which is
that the land of the bomb range

has been blown up and carved up
and dug up for so many years,

there is nothing approaching
topsoil in the whole area.

It is all Clay.

It's the Swedish mud dance.

[ Imitates
traditional Swedish song ]

So, when it rains
at the bomb range,

you're gonna ruin your shoes.

It's horrific.

Are you all right?
Oh, no!

Adam:
It makes working there

really, really, really
difficult.

And then
it makes it all worth it

when you get to watch the
high-speed of things blowing up.

Narrator:
And speaking of explosions

on high-def high speed,

the fan-favorite moment
at the bomb range

was the supersized
sawdust Cannon,

where things
didn't quite go to plan.

So, we said,
"okay, this is 'mythbusters.'

"let's ramp it up.

"What's more flammable
than sawdust?

Coffee creamer."

Non-dairy creamer Cannon
in 3, 2, 1...

I don't think we quite expected
the results we got,

because
we were standing awfully close

to what turned into
a giant, growling ball of fire

that started to come towards us,

dripping napalm
of burning sugar.

Tory: It was like armageddon,
and everybody took off running.

Oh, my god!

That was frightening!

It was one of those moments
where it was like, "oh, crap."

Narrator: But it's exactly
that type of chaos,

coupled with the diversity
of myth mayhem...

Whoa!

Narrator:
That makes the bomb range

the mythbusters'
most-loved location.

Man: Are you gonna paint
your house with explosives?

So, while the credits roll,

here's our tribute to
the team's home away from home.

That was perfect.
[ Laughs ]

One hour a week of "mythbusters"
not enough for you?

There's lots more online
at discovery.Com/mythbusters.