i got an emergency call a couple of months ago from one of the local tackle shops saying that myth busters wanted to set a fishing reel on fire and needed some extra drag washers. here are the results!
http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythbusters-what-a-drag.html
http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythbusters-wacky-jacky.html
http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythbusters-flaming-reel-aftershow.html
They called awhile back and asked questions about drags. I sent them some old school felt and cork to play with. I thought they might test different drag materials, trying to get something to catch on fire, but it looks like they probably just went with whatever was in the reel they had. I told the lady I spoke to the actual temperature a reel gets to would be of interest, so glad to see they did that.
Has the show been on yet? Or are these clips previews?
Dawn