Below we have two must-read interviews with Savage and Hyneman.
Below are the Q&A interviews.
Savage and Hyneman requested to be interviewed separately.
Credit: Discovery
We start with Savage, then go to Hyneman, then return to Savage for a couple follow-up questions.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:What was your reaction when you learned this was the final season?
ADAM SAVAGE: Every show has its bell curve.
Discovery
Were cognizant of our ratings.
Its not like they were terrible but we could see them changing.
Three or four years ago we started wondering more if we were going to be renewed.
Its not like its unexpected.
Still it was kind of amazing that it happened.
The thing that really makes me happy is most cable shows like ours just end.
I truly thought thats the wayMythbusterswould end.
Weve been filming the last season this year and we get to send it off.
We get to pay homage to this thing thats changed our lives.
Its very unusual for a show in the cable reality genre to have that kind of heads-up notice.
Even serialized internet dramas sometimes dont get that.
SAVAGE: It really is!
People fall in love with shows even when the ratings are low.
The Internet and social media radically changed the way we made this show as we made it.
Pretty much everything thats happened onMythbustershas exceeded our expectations.
Our finale will go out with a bang, as everyone would expect.
When were you told?
SAVAGE: We knew it at the beginning of 2015.
So weve been filming the last season episodes all year long.
I did the math at some point, I spent something like 25,000 hours filming.
There is also some release.
Weve been making the show 40 weeks a year.
Thats a rough schedule, even in television.
Im really excited about doing more storytelling in the future, in front of and behind the camera.
We really tried to address each one of those.
The series finale is pretty amazing.
Looking back, what is the best segment youve ever done?
SAVAGE: Its almost impossible to answer.
I was particularly astonished at our Flights of Fancy episode last season.
My flight in the U2, I think thats the loveliest segments from a cinematography and storytelling perspective.
I also loved the variance of going toThe Simpsonsone week and to Indiana Jones the next.
The episodes that stand out are the ones where we learned something new about how to make the show.
What are you most proud of in terms of the what the shows accomplished?
Sometimes you see some craft being exercised, but its very formulaic.Mythbustersstayed away from being formulaic.
Weve continued to make a fairly vibrant and vital show that Im very proud of.
We were even scientists when we started.
Making this show has fundamentally changed the way I think and act in the world.
What do you think youll do next?
SAVAGE: Im definitely going to do more television, behind and in front of the camera.
I love producing this show and figuring out how to structure the episodes.
Im going to jump into the websiteTested.com.
Im looking forward to visit Comic-Con.
So we were part of that decision.
We felt like weve had really strong material for the whole run.
Its been 14 years and its just time.
We want to go out on a strong point.
What would you like to tease about the last episodes?
What will you do next?
HYNEMAN: Theres a scripted show were executive producing at CBS that was announced, and thats exciting.
As far as me personally, theres some outside projects Im starting to ramp up.
Theres an Office of Naval Research project.
Im keeping theM5 [special effects company].
Im a builder, first and foremost.
You present it in a way thats interesting and easy to follow.
You and Adam have famously had a great working partnership but have never been friends.
Given that, do you think youll still continue any kind of partnership now that the show is over?
HYNEMAN: Thats a good question.
We sort of managed to tolerate each other.
I expect Adam may well pursue things in front of the camera, but Im most likely not.
Its not who I am.
This has been a very rewarding and interesting decade, but its not really what Im cut out for.
Its interesting to hear you say that.Mythbustershas been a huge series.
Youre obviously an integral part of the show and therefore one reason for its success over all these years.
So I think some fans would disagree that youre not cut out for it.
Its part of the interplay between myself and Adam, who loves to be in front of the camera.
Its part of our chemistry and one of the reasons for the shows success.
For somebody who truly is interested in design and engineering, its frustrating.
Im like a race horse attached to a freight wagon.
I should circle back to your comment about some people manipulating and interfering with the show.
HYNEMAN: Im concerned it will come off like Im complaining about it.
Certainly there are a lot of things I would have liked to have changed in that regard.
And I understand filmmaking is a collaborative effort and has to be.
There are always compromises, always give and take.
But we are somewhat unique in that space.
Its a difficult and unique process.
The filmmakers often give priority to the results.
Its about building something I might not have access to otherwise.
So its understandable that Id get frustrated when I get pulled in another direction.
Okay, thats clear.
Whats your fondest memory of the show?
It was like some wild animal in the savanna and it out-ran the helicopter.
It was like a kids dream.
There have been a lot of moments like that over the years.
Do you have anything else to add?
Weve seen thousands of people across the country and abroad.
I cant think of anything that would be more important than that.
Science is a deeply creative enterprise.
The public doesnt often associate science with being deeply creative.
We have pointed out how fun and creative and thought-provoking science and experimentation can be.
The rest is all fluff.
I reach Savage a week after our previous interview.
Appropriately enough, hes filming one of theMythbustersfinal episodes … SAVAGE:I would say the same thing.
It has been an incredibly productive marriage, but I think this is plausibly the end of the line.
Though you never say never.
We were at the White House last night, live hosting the online streaming for their astronomy night.
I expect well be thrust together again through many different circumstances.
I suspect thats something youve heard before.
SAVAGE: Jamie was never interested in the storytelling.
This has been one of the primary sources of friction between us what is experimentation and what is storytelling?
Storytelling is all Im interested in.
The only thing Im doing is communicating a story with the things I make.
I dont think it should come as a surprise that Jamie is not that interested in that.
Even food doesnt taste as good.
The finalMythbustersLive tour starts Nov. 13,tickets here.
Heres a preview clip from the final season: MacGyver Explosion:
