Apparently the entertainment business has decided to write what it knows best: manipulation and deception. Two new primetime TV series juxtapose the two: FOX's Lie to Me, which premiered Jan. 21 at 9 p.m., and TNT's Trust Me, which premiered Jan. 26 at 10 p.m.
The structure of Lie to Me is House without the medicine - a brilliant, no-holds-barred doctor and his team of experts use their lie detecting techniques to solve cases. The bad news for lead actor Tim Roth is that Dr. House does it better. The good news for the show is that the ensemble cast and the episode's intriguing insights into human nature demonstrate the show's promise.
The first 10 minutes of the show let the audience know that Dr. Cal Lightman is going to be a maverick, whose unorthodox practices will shock and electrify. He interrogates a skinhead and uses an impressive overhead presentation (professors take note) to avail us of this point.
His colleagues are also intelligent and quirky: Dr. Gillian Foster (Kelli Williams) is Lightman's Cuddy/Cameron, who balances out his distrust of humanity; Eli (Brendan Hines) is the man-child with a slight twist, and Ria (Monica Raymund) is the sassy Latina with a raw talent for the business.
Roth and Williams have a solid chemistry that adds a layer of depth to the premise. The close-ups on characters' behavior and expressions and their statistical anecdotes are fascinating; I actually learned from primetime TV. As long as the show sticks to human interest cases and moves away from the overplayed criminal variety, this show promises to be a successful, enjoyable addition to FOX's line-up.
On the other side of that coin is Trust Me. In short, the previews for this new drama were better acted than the premiere. Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanagh's leads don't have the relationship strength that inspires committed viewership, and the supporting cast, with the exception of Monica Potter, is pretty bland.
Almost nothing proved creative - even the show's villain, rival adman Simon, was British and snarky. Thirtysomething had a better ad team in Ken Olin and Timothy Busfield, and that show wasn't even about their jobs. Go for the distrusting over the trusting this time.
3 Culture
Stephanie Hummel
