Sorry, Mythbusters fans. The rumor regarding the impending end of Discovery Channel’s long-running series has been confirmed.
The upcoming 14th season of the hit series that tests pop-culture theories, urban myths, and various other entertaining uncertainties using scientific method will be the final one for the Mythbusters team, according to stars Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Savage and Hyneman confirmed the series’ upcoming conclusion. Fortunately, the pair admits that they’ve known all along that the end was drawing near, and have put together a grand send-off to the popular series.
“The thing that really makes me happy is most cable shows like ours just end,” said Savage. “They get past their freshness date, you finish a season and then you hear you’ll never see another one. I truly thought that’s the way Mythbusters would end. We’ve been filming the last season this year and we get to send it off. We get to pay homage to this thing that’s changed our lives.”
When the upcoming final season kicks off in January, the series will have already encompassed 267 original episodes and nearly 3,000 experiments that have either debunked or confirmed things ranging from the possibility of sinking in quicksand to the realism of particular sequences in television series (such as Breaking Bad) and movies (including Star Wars).
The first episode of Mythbusters premiered in January 2003, and after a trio of pilot episodes the series kicked off its official run that September with an eight-episode first season. Along with 13 full seasons that have individually included anywhere from eight to 26 episodes, the series has also featured ten standalone special episodes themed around certain events, holidays, or pop-culture phenomena. Guest stars on the series have included comedian/actor Seth Rogen, filmmaker James Cameron, and U.S. President Barack Obama.
Created by Peter Rees, the series eventually became the longest-running program on Discovery Channel.
The final season of Mythbusters premieres January 9, 2016.