Smash Labs Smashed

The new Discovery Channel show that was supposed to appeal to the same fan groups as Mythbusters has turned out to be a Smash... Failure.

"Smash Labs" whose tag lines have been similar to "Can a bulletproof vest bombproof a building?" turns out to be on the intellectual level of high school pyros taking Physics 1... and not passing. No offense to the hosts, but i don't want to hear their building experiences, I want to hear cool facts from industry leaders and what "real" engineers can pull off. You don't see the host of Future Weapons doing his own gun mods, you see the truly cutting edge from top-notch designers.

Their "Scientist Girl" who I will refer to as "3" (in a Dr. House way...) explained things in a rather childish way. aka: "This crashed into this and transfered the energy to that." (paraphrased, but very close to it)

I tuned into the show hoping that I would get a cool yet intelligent show, like a combination of Mythbusters and Future Weapons. Instead, I find a show where hosts discuss physics in language befitting of a high school freshman. Nothing was quantified, and their methodology for improving safety devices was like Mechanical Engineering on anti-steroids: give technology to geeks and see what they can come up with.

They had a design competition for safer highway barriers? *YAWN* Honestly, they already have them in race tracks for Nascar. SAFER (Steel And Foam Emergency Reinforcement) Barriers. But the traffic dividers in use now are already damn near perfect.

*Directed at the show hosts:* CARS DON'T CRASH INTO HIGHWAY BARRIERS AT 90 DEGREES UNLESS YOU'RE PLAYING FROGGER ACROSS 10 LANES OF TRAFFIC. SECONDLY, CRASING INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC IS NOTHING LIKE ONE CAR CRASHING INTO 5 STATIONARY CARS AT ONLY 60 MPH. LRN 2 PHYSICS PLZ, KTHX.

And don't turn the show into an infomercial for Rhino Liners for pickup truck beds... We know they're tough, but honestly you have to brag that you're trying to use it to bombproof a building?... *Cough, the Pentagon and others use a competitor's brand for their own buildings.*

BTW, I lasted through the show to about the first commercial break.