The Importance of Authenticity in Reality Television

Adam Savage has spent his life gathering skills that allow him to take what's in his brain and make it real, working with every material and in every medium he could fathom — metal, paper, glass, plastic, rubber, foam, plaster, pneumatics, hydraulics, animatronics, neon, glassblowing, mold-making and injection molding to name just a few. In 1993, Adam began concentrating his career on the special-effects industry, honing his skills through more than 100 television commercials and a dozen feature films, including Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Galaxy Quest and the Matrix sequels. A decade later, Adam was chosen along with Jamie Hyneman to produce and host MythBusters, which premiered on Discovery Channel in January 2003. Fourteen years, 279 episodes, 1,015 myths, 2,950 experiments, eight Emmy nominations and 83 miles of duct tape later, that version of the series ended in March 2016. A few years later, Adam hosted and executive produced MythBusters Jr. as well as a solo series, Savage Builds, for Discovery Channel. Today, Adam stars in and produces content for his YouTube channel Tested, including a popular build series (Adam Savage’s One Day Builds) and behind-the-scenes deep dives into multiple blockbuster films (including Alien Covenant, Mortal Engines and Blade Runner 2049.) In 2019 Adam finished his first book, Every Tool’s a Hammer, which is a chronicle of his life as a maker.