I agree with you that Tory, Grant,and Kari were likely introduced into the Mythbusters to appeal to a younger demographic, however; I don’t know enough about science or engineering to judge whether they are “tokens” or not.

Furthermore, I guess I just feel that the question of them being tokens or not is less important than the idea that they could reach and inspire a young person to pursue a career in the sciences.

This reminds me of an interview I saw with James Doohan a number of years ago. He was talking about meeting a female fan at one of the Star Trek Conventions. She told him that Scotty had inspired her to go to school and go work for NASA. Doohan was clearly very moved by this, and amazed that he inspired this.

It seems to me Mythbusters has a similar potential.