'Mythbusters' takes on 'Breaking Bad'

Ready for a crossover of two of the most popular television shows on the air?

'Mythbusters' will be producing and airing a 'Breaking Bad' themed episode where Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman will take on various myths and happenstances from the series--and actor Aaron Paul and 'Breaking Bad' creator Vince Gilligan will be joining them.

"We’ve been wanting to do a 'Breaking Bad' episode for awhile," says Adam Savage, who is repeatedly pressed about the drug drama during the Mythbusters visits to American college campuses. "Obviously there’s a lot of fertile material to play with," Savage continued, "so things that happen on the show have been ending up on our list of stories to tackle for a couple years now."

In an interview, the brain behind 'Breaking Bad,' series creator Vince Gilligan, mentioned that he would love to see 'Mythbusters' take on his show, and a dream-crossover was born.

So what sorts of experiments will the special episode feature?

Savage and Hyneman will be testing a famous scene from the very first season of 'Breaking Bad' where Aaron Paul's character Jesse uses hydrofluoric acid to dissolve a body--but neglects to use a plastic container. Hydrofluoric acid isn't like "alien blood," Savage assures, but it is still "It’s poisonous in a way that is completely unique and very disturbing."

The second team of Mythbusters, Tory Belleci, Kari Byron, and Grant Imahara, will be putting another first-season scene to the test. The fact that both experiments will be stemming from the first few episodes of the hit show is good news; it means there is plenty of material remaining should the 'Mythbusters' want to film a second 'Breaking Bad' episode in the future. "There’s easily one more if not a couple more 'Breaking Bad' [inspired] episodes,” says Savage. “Those guys have been so much fun with technology and science that there’s a lot that we could do with them." But don't expect any hints on the episode about how you can break bad like Walter White--the Mythbusters will not be testing how to make blue methamphetamine.

When you consider how much science is involved in 'Breaking Bad,' a 'Mythbusters' crossover seems like an inevitability. However, 'Mythbusters' is very much a family program--a far cry from the hardline adult material and situations featured on Vince Gilligan's creation. When asked about the strange blend of tone, Savage said "A lot of people watch ['Mythbusters'] with their kids, and yet we’re doing with a collaboration with pretty much the least family-oriented show on television right now, about a science teacher turned drug manufacturer who kills people. At the same time, they’re very committed to getting the scene right on that show. The fact that those guys love science and they want us to test their stuff — and they don’t care whether we bust it or not, they want to actually know the answer — that’s our favorite kind of collaboration."

The 'Breaking Bad' episode of 'Mythbusters' is being filmed this week and is slated to air in the spring.