Actually, for Adam, that was pretty subdued. It isn't made for TV enthusiasm, that is his actual personality. It was part of the reason Mythbusters was so successful, both as a show, and for getting a new generation of kids into science and engineering, including mine
For those not familiar with Mr. Savage, he isn't a woodworker in the way that most of us are; for us, wood is and end in and of itself, for him wood is just a material (like any other) used to create an object. His background is special effects and model making. He worked at Industrial Light and Magic as a model maker, and his work can be seen in the Star Wars prequels. On Mythbusters he built everything from remote controlled police cars (actual full sized cars) to a pretty cool Ming style chair hooked to rockets to a balloon made of lead foil. If you are ever in a serious jam (sinking ship, stranded in the desert, etc), and Adam Savage shows up with a case of duct tape, you can consider yourself saved
As far as using the bench, Adam isn't going to be hand dimensioning rough timber and four squaring it. He would more likely be using the bench to work on the various models and things that he builds for his One-Day-Builds. For that the goofy vises and hold downs are likely ideal, and the short length matches the scale of his San Francisco workshop and isn't a disadvantage to someone that likely won't be doing a lot of long hand planing on big surfaces.