When are science-reality show developers going to learn that we don't care about their arbitrary deadlines? I want to see fighting robots, and I want them to be as cool as possible, not barely work enough to meet a two-week deadline.
Mythbusters quickly learned it: we don't care about personal drama or arbitrary deadlines. If you make a science show, show us the science.
I agree somewhat but it's still pretty interesting to see what they can come up with in such a short time.
Edit: I should have finished watching the episode before I commented because that fight was awesome and I'm completely happy with what they came up with. Those robots were great, especially considering the time constraints. Sure it would be interesting to see what they could come up with if they did have more time but I really have no complaints about this show so far.
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"I don't know what I want, but I know that I want it now"
Yep, the deadlines piss me off. I don't care how quickly they come up with it because the show is gonna be an hour long no matter what they do. Instead of rushing through fake deadlines, they should take their time and actualy create something that works and is useful.
shareThe point of the show is not to build a final product. It's about rapid prototyping. Unlike Smash Lab, which was an unmitigated disaster of stupid ideas that never worked, this show has a lot of projects that work and a few that almost work. My favorite so far is the fire fighting gear. The solutions were practical and with refinements could be deployed. The water simulator ride was very interesting. The stated goal of a back yard simulator ride seems impractical and expensive. But I could see the project put into Las Vegas hotels. The all-terrain crawler vehicle probably could be made to work with more time and budget, but it did fail on the show. The only one I've seen that I felt was ridiculous was the car that could park itself and drive over traffic. The parking itself part is great. But there's no frigging way I'd trust anyone to roll their car above mine.
I agree wholeheartedly. The false drama may work on a normal reality show, but it almost always feels patronizing and fake when dealing with (what I'd hope is) a brighter audience.
The show "Big!" comes to mind. Many times they would fail to complete a project by the time the Guinness Record Rep would show up or they would be rejected for some technical reason that could have easily been avoided with a phone call. The fake drama was so transparent it was insulting.
To give them credit, they are working to a tight schedule and budget to complete their order for the Discovery channel. Usually there really is a practical deadline when they need to wrap things up and start filming for the next episode. MythBusters just has the money (and the professionalism) to only bring it up when it when the situation is logical to the viewer (when they have to finish a shoot before he sun goes down or they can only use a location for the day).
I do like the show, but I think Discovery is learning how special MythBusters really is.
I worry whether they are pushing these MythBustery style shows because they want the ratings or because Adam & Jamie are getting ready to move on.
Well, when you've struck gold, you don't stop digging until the vein runs out.
"Big!" is a really good example, too. That show had a lot of potential because everything they built had an inherent coolness factor. But the fact that they were always up against an unrealistic deadline was annoying.
And it's not just that it's artificial--I appreciate that a TV show has to have a defined budget and production schedule. It's just that we're talking about inventing something, and that doesn't happen on any kind of schedule, let alone a couple of weeks.
Not to get off subject, in the firefighter episode, the team went to the Modesto Fire Department in Modesto, California. I used to live in Modesto, California from Feb. of 1983 when I was born until Oct. of 1998 when I was 15 years old and was wondering where in Modesto the Prototype This team was testing their firefighter pack. Does anyone know? If anyone does know and can answer, I would really appreciate it. Thanks.
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