The Reason Kari Byron Left Mythbusters
Mythbusters long reigned as the king of PG, science-themed television, succeeding Bill Nye and Carl Sagan, and followed by the work of Neil Degrasse Tyson.
The requirements for the title include universal likability and the guarantee of a non-fatal explosion every at least once per show. The cast, including the mercurial duo of gingers Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman and their all-star support squad of Grant Imahara, Kari Byron and Tory Belleci, was happy to deliver the goods.
For 11 seasons, things were perfect, until it was announced that the supporting cast wouldn't be returning for the 12th season. People were confused — they thought of the cast as one big family, and loved the positive example each character portrayed. Byron especially, as a role model for young women, felt like a big loss to popular science. After all — if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?
Mythbusters go from boom to bust
According to Entertainment Weekly, salary negotiations left Imahara, Byron and Belleci feeling as if they were broke, financially speaking, so they walked.
"We were very keen for [Imahara, Byron and Belleci] to be a part of the show," Mythbusters executive producer David Tapster told EW. "We are massive fans of theirs, and what they did over 10 years was phenomenal. There were negotiations, and based on those negotiations, they opted out. It's a shame for them. It's a shame for us. But it gave us the opportunity to reinvent the show, which it kind of needed."
Business Insider put it a little more bluntly, basically saying the team was fired to save cost in the face of dropping ratings.
Either way, it wouldn't be curtains for Byron, who has gone on to enjoy a successful solo career as an artist and popular science educator. There's always hope for other television endeavors as well, like Byron and Belleci's White Rabbit Project. In fact, Makezine reported the pair made an 11-minute sizzle reel for a show called "Prankenstein," a science-based prank show. For some reason it wasn't picked up, but it gives us hope that the former buster of myths will once again set out debunking in the name of science.