Comments on: Smash Lab = Sham Lab

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 22 May 2010 17:52:51 +0000

I have to agree that this show is very insulting.
I just watched it and believe the R/L truck explosives were placed under the cab not under the bed. I am not a professional in explosives but I do tinker.

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:02:48 +0000

@Javier

The MythBusters duct tape episode actually tested various claims of duct tape and compared to Smash Lab I found their tests to be sound; they didn’t fake the results to make the product look good.

Also, notice that they did not name a specific brand of duct tape, of which there are many?

You can test products (I wish MythBusters would do more of this, but I understand why they don’t) but you’d better damn well make sure your tests make sense and are impartial.

In the Rhino Liner episode of Smash Lab they clearly rigged the explosion on the truck to make it look like the Rhino Liner protected the truck from the explosion and they expected you (the viewer) to be stupid enough to fall for it. Never mind the whole bomb proofing a building baloney.

In any case it’s a moot point – Smash Lab isn’t even on anymore.

Integrity FTW!

By: Javier

Javier — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:06:10 +0000

I can’t disagree with you more. I understand what you wrote, but I do not agree. I am a business owner and I found the episodes (specifically the one on Rhino Liner) interesting, enlighting and entertaining. I too am a big fan of Myth Busters, but also enjoy this new show. It brings a new perspective on contemporary subjects. To add to my point, notice how Myth Busters did an entire episode on Duct Tape- talk about being an advertisement for a product!

By: Adam

Adam — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 04:14:44 +0000

@ R. Deegan

Thanks for taking the time to comment, I agree.

Last night, in trying to be fair I brought myself to watch another episode of Smash Lab and I was left overwhelmingly unimpressed. While the episode, where they use fluidized sand to stop a would-be bank robber was not a outright Ad (as the premier episode was) I found the concept to be rather impractical. The science of fluidized sand is interesting and their demonstrations were impressive but beyond that the show is still a sham.

In watching another episode, I found that the show itself feels very manufactured. The chemistry of the cast is off, they don’t feel like they want to be around each other…

Like you pointed out – Watching the show I feel like the cast is talking down to the audience, which is a bit insulting; when the show itself is so… STUPID.

The concept of the show is very interesting and has potential… unfortunately, the execution is grossly flawed. Of course, that’s what the producers seem to have been after – a dumb show.

In the promos for the show they say:

Smash Lab – throwing science, and everything else out the window.

They do a pretty good job of that.

By: R. Deegan

R. Deegan — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 04:04:29 +0000

What IS clear about SmashLabs is that their production values (that means THE PRODUCER’S values) are focused squarely at pre-pubescent boys. It is poorly organized, there are excessively-long post-commercial summaries of the previous segment, and the entire presentation has a silly, juvenile look and feel to it.

Conversely, Mythbusters has everything SL lacks, including a charismatic cast way beyond anything that SL would seem to be remotely capable of. Mythbusters has another essential ingredient – the ability to put a perspective on what they do, even laugh at it at times.

It is the adult values of MB which separate it from the juvenile values of SL. I only wish that SL could have been HALF as good as MB.