TVSquad

Me! I watch this show. I really like it ... I especially like the flashes right before a commercial where they show public figures with the same expressions as the current liar on the episode. So revealing! Tim Roth does a terrific job as Lightman.

Reply

Sure do! One of the best shows of 2008-2009.

Reply

I watched the first season and liked it a lot even though it was derivative of House.

Mental, on the other hand, I couldn't even make it through the first episode.

Reply

love this show! i'm also glad that Kelli Williams is on this - i loved her as lindsday dole and i'm actually really enjoying her performance on LTM as well.

@PB - the pics before commercials totally rock!

Reply

It was a surprise to me when I found myself really enjoying this show.

Now my problem is that I can't stop staring at people for their microexpressions.

Reply

I've just recently discovered the show. By the title I thought it was the reality "how much will they reveal!" show. I don't watch realityTV. This show is very interesting and I enjoy it a lot. No doubtedly will DVD it come Season 2.

Reply

I just can't seem to suspend my disbelief with Lie to Me. Initially, I thought it would be more realistic than most procedurals, because they're not using fantastical technology (or fantastical uses of current technology), they're just using human lie detection. But the way the show is staged is just ridiculous. Human expressions aren't that revealing. There is no way that somebody could be that certain (and right) from looking at the way somebody looks.

Mental is not the best show in the world as far as acting and writing, but it has to have the most believable premise of any of these "Hero" procedurals. He doesn't cure somebody in a day (most of the time), he just finds the core cause for their mental instability, and then refers them to another psychiatric center for long term treatment.

Reply

I watch this show and I really enjoy everything about it. It would be cool if the series were to develop beyond the 'case-of-the-week' format, but I still look forward to every episode that comes on.

Reply

Tim Roth really makes this show.

Reply

I watch the show. Love Tim Roth. I hope the dive more into Lightman's past and his relationship with Dr. Foster (female lead).

Reply

Watched the entire season last weekend .. Loved it ..

Reply

It's a good show, Tim Roth is great as always, but I just can't fully get past the junk science on which the show is based.

There is so much junk science on TV, especially in the realm of forensics. We see tons of it on shows like CSI and Bones (only in recent seasons... Bones was pretty good about keeping out the junk science in its first few seasons). But what the Lightman group does brings TV junk science to a new pinnacle of insanity, and I feel irresponsible when I watch the show, even when I consciously try to ignore the junk science. If I enjoyed an episode, that implicitly means I accepted the junk science on which the episode was based, and that bothers me.

The show's logo is a big asterisk, but instead of saying the standard "the events shown here are entirely fictional" it should say "the lie detection techniques depicted in this show are not real and have an unknown, unverifiable rate of accuracy."

The show's one saving grace is that they concede on the show that the Lightman Group's results are inadmissible in court (which, like mechanical lie detectors, is certainly and rightfully the case - no lie detector results can be admitted in a court proceeding). Like all lie detectors, the primary purpose is to get a confession from someone - and confessions are admissible in court. And that's the way the show's episodes tend to play out.

But the level of junk science on TV always tends to increase. Is it only a matter of time before we have "exciting episodes" of Lie to Me where Lightman is testifying in court about how the defendant (dramatically point to him) lied because his eyes twiched and he gave a micro-grimmace while his eyes look up and to the left for half a second? Conceding that it's inadmissible in court, and keeping it out of court, holds back on a lot of potential drama... and the rules of evidence that apply in court don't apply to TV shows (unfortunately).

Reply

Love this show! One comment- the female agent's outfits are pretty revealing and not very professional!

Reply

I only watch two shows "religiously" every week. That would be House and Lie to Me. I wouldn't be surprised if they canceled both, because every show that I get into to, gets canceled!!

Reply