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February 7th, 2008

Moment of Truth

For months, I’ve been seeing ads for FOX’s Moment of Truth, a lie detector/game show that forces people answer embarrassing or potentially career/life-changing questions. In short: it’s FOX at a new low.

Last night I saw a teaser for the new episode that said it’s “the show everyone is talking about!” The thing is, I think they need to be hooked up to a lie detector, because it’s not. I haven’t seen a single blogger that I read mention it, even in passing, and it hasn’t come up in conversation around the water cooler.

Is anyone watching this crap? I mean, I realize not everything can be as high-brow as Wife Swap, but c’mon…

Posted in Television, Movies, and Music

COD February 7, 2008, 2:55 pm

If I was on stage in front of a national audience while hooked up to a polygraph I think nerves alone would cause me to fail the “What is your name?” question. The whole premise of the show is just lame.

Anyway, I needed the 9PM hour to catch up on email between American Idol and Project Runway.

Andy February 7, 2008, 3:40 pm

Well, it is a new low, but if people want to humiliate themselves for my entertainment…

I wouldn’t call it good, but it’s definitely worth an occasional watch. I’m amazed that anyone would do this to themselves – there would have to be a lot more money involved for me to even think about it.

The way it works is before the show, they ask a battery of questions while you are hooked up to a lie detector and they must have done some private investigation or interviews, because the questions are very personal. Then on the show they will ask some subset of those questions while sitting in front of a panel of family and friends. More truthful answers, more money, etc.

The best question that I remember from last night was to a guy with a girlfriend of Japanese heritage. He was asked if he had ever made an ethnic joke about his girlfriend’s family. That question is actually tame compared to those at later stages.

I guess I wouldn’t say the show is highly recommended, but definitely worth tuning into at least once.

Dave Walls February 7, 2008, 5:30 pm

The same guy wound up losing on the $25,000 question (paraphrasing): “While you were an underwear model, did you ever “stuff” your briefs?”, to which he answered “NO”.

Not appointment television by any standard, but good for killing a few brain cells.

Poor Mark L. Walberg. Bring Back “Russian Roulette” on GSN, already!

jk February 7, 2008, 6:28 pm

I would have to enter the Witness Protection Program if I appeared on that show…how could you even show your face at work muchless to your friends after being on there? I watched a bit of the first episode and turned it off before I could become embarrassed for the former football player about to put both pair of cleats in his mouth.

Maria February 7, 2008, 6:48 pm

It’s only worth tuning into if you have it recorded so you can fast forward through all the filler. We watched it last night and cut the hour long show down to about 10 minutes. It starts off with a recap of previous contestants and the show’s rules and then the format is basically like this:

Chit-chat kind of leading up to the question
Question
Looooooooong pause, nervous laughter, etc.
Answer
Looooooooong pause
Result
Applause, nervous laughter, more chit-chat

The format is terrible! Basically, if you think the long pauses in Deal or No Deal are agonizing, you’ll hate this show.

Andy February 7, 2008, 10:50 pm

Maria is absolutely correct – if you watch in real time, please don’t do it alone. You’ll need at least one companion to keep you from killing yourself during the pauses.

Tivo or similar is a must.

I’ve thought that for shows like this, I’d like to send it to someone offshore so they can snip out the fluff and send me back a content only version.

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