Read Before Watching: January 21st: ‘Lie To Me’

Lie To Me isn’t exactly an innovative show. Heck, The Mentalist beat it to its’ basic premise by a few months and law enforcement procedural shows abound on every network and cable channel known to man. Even CSI and the umpteen Law and Order iterations can’t claim to be truly original in their set up either. Both those franchises, and many shows before them, owe more than a debt of gratitude to the trend-setting Hill Street Blues. The fact is, procedurals always fascinate and garner a look from the audience at large. However, the ones that endure and bring the stellar ratings week after week are the ones that have that compelling combination of engaging style, interesting characters and unique approach. So, how does Lie To Me measure up in those categories? Very well, actually.

Tim Roth stars as Dr. Cal Lightman, who leads a team of deception experts. By analyzing a person’s face, body, voice and speech Lightman call tell whether or not someone is telling the truth. Dr. Gillian Foster (Kelli Williams) is Lightman’s professional partner. Foster is a gifted psychologist who focuses on the larger aspects of human behavior. Eli Loker (Brendan Hines) is a researcher who, fed up with the human tendency to lie, has eschewed dishonesty in favor of what he calls “radical honesty.” Basically, he says whatever is on his mind at all times. Rounding out the team, and recruited in the opening episode, is Ria Torres (Monica Raymund). Torres is a natural, one of the rare few that is innately capable of detecting deception in a person. Together the Lightman Group assists law enforcement groups in investigating criminal cases, something that is not always welcomed. Overall, the characters are fresh enough without being too quirky and cute and the actors are all balanced enough in their performances and no one overshadows the others. Basically, they’ve managed to find some people who can keep up with Tim Roth. I think that speaks for itself.

That’s the characters down, what about style and approach? Well, the style is unique enough that it doesn’t feel like any other show, but there is the tendency to do the slow close ups of the characters’ telling ticks that prove that they’re either lying or telling the truth. It sort of feels like an external CSI effect. That’s probably my least favorite part of the show and, to be honest, it started to get a little annoyingly predictable. I hope that after the first few shows they feel they can drop that. The approach is rather interesting as the group does it’s detecting from a purely scientific point of view and, through some clever plotting and dialogue, explain the various ways they read people. It’s pretty well handled, but could become trite if they don’t tread carefully.

I’m going to go ahead and call Lie To Me a show you should add to your weekly viewing schedule. DVR it if you have another favorite that conflicts (and this week you surely will), but I’d say this one deserves to be seen “live” and discussed the next day at work…not that I do anything like with my co-workers or anything. Lie To Me premieres Wednesday, January 21st on FOX. It’s regular time will be Wednesdays at 9:00PMEST/PST, but take note that the premiere will actually run at 9:03-10:06, due to it’s lead-in show (that shall go nameless) running long.