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Lie to Me

od0_ital

od0_ital

Admiral
Admiral
Just a quick reminder, folks, that Tim Roth's (Reservoir Dogs, The Incredible Hulk) new television series, Lie to Me premieres tonight on FOX at 9/8 central.

I've already watched the pilot a couple of times, thanks to a one dollar DVD purchase at Best Buy a few of weeks ago.

USA Today has a review, givin' the series three out of four stars.

From the review -

There's a fine cast, led by Tim Roth (The Incredible Hulk) and, in a nice, bright change of pace, The Practice's Kelli Williams.

...

The British Roth is an interesting actor, made perhaps more intersting because he's been allowed to keep his native accent.

...and the show does have its amusing moments.

Accordin' to Variety, FOX has a thirteen episode commitment to the series.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117988345.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

And yes, I am a supporter of this series because Tim Roth was awesomely cool when I met him last summer and got a signed miniposter for The Incredible Hulk & he added a quote from Reservoir Dogs at my request.
 
I might check it out via "alternative" means since it looks pretty cool, but it has the unfortunate distinction of going up against Lost. Much as I like Mr. Roth, I'd miss the birth of my first born if it was going up against a Lost premiere ;)
 
Someone called this show CSI: Language. Maybe CBS can pick it up and stick it between CSI: Navy and CSI: Math. :p
 
DeafPoet said:
I might check it out via "alternative" means since it looks pretty cool, but it has the unfortunate distinction of going up against Lost. Much as I like Mr. Roth, I'd miss the birth of my first born if it was going up against a Lost premiere ;)
Click to expand...

:lol:

Yes, it looks good, but Lost wins :p
 
Yay they made fun of Cheney and Bush in the first five minutes!

Hey look it's Andy Goode...
 
Not too bad a show.
A bit predictable but I was entertained.

Picked up a few tips on how to be a better lair too :lol: JK.

I'll tune in again.
 
Well, I learned nothing new... and they simplified the story a lot for the "mundanes" who don't pick up on these type of things... I hope it will be a little less obvious in the future.

Overall not bad, nice lead in to make those who can read these type of signs to miss read the endgame during the first act. I mean, they set it up so all the signs pointed to the boy sleeping with his teacher and the father killing her, and the boy covering. They were able to play this because of the religious nature of his brain which didn't differentiate between simple "fantasy" and the "reality" of sex.

Simple story but well played.
 
Not great, but interesting enough to make me tune in again. I've loved Tim Roth since The Legend of 1900, a Kelli Williams is a gorgeous plus.

I'm curious, was it House started this trend of the one quirky main character that the ensemble is based around that's pervaded so many shows lately? I guess I'd place House, Psych, Lie to me, Bones, and The Closer in this group.
 
I thought it was pretty good. I'll check it out again I think. As I stated upthread though, it's on during Lost so it better stay interesting otherwise I'm not going to go out of my way to find it.

It's certainly not going to be breaking any new TV ground (which is the kind of thing I usually go in for) since it's basically just a procedural, but that's not really a bad thing. I love House and it doesn't get more formulaic than that.

If they can find a way to keep facial expressions interesting and set up some decent character arcs to go with the weekly whodunnit, I think it could end up being a nice little show.
 
The thing about this show, it could actually reveal something about how people really are. Most shows that pretend to examine human nature really just regurgitate the prejudices of financially privileged and socially isolated layers of Hollywood and New York. Unsurprisingly they emphasize the moral ambiguity and shades of grey, meaning the masses don't deserve any better and they, themselves, in their rat race, didn't do anything so shocking. And their wisdom in seeing all this truth proves they aren't callous but more sensitive.

But this? This is real people. True, there's a lot of science, which incidentally makes this science fiction of the sort where the writers actually write about reality, instead of writing about scifi tropes. Thus, there will be difficulties with exposition. The crime story can be an interesting hook in itself, but the thematic meat would be the new perspective on people the science could give you. The only appropriate character development would be to show how it has formed the worldview of the human lie detectors and how it presents new choices to the heroes. The hint that
the Kelli William's character's husband is cheating on her, but she is too personally involved to use her skills and Tim Roth's character doesn't feel able to intervene is a good sign.
Standard soap about the regulars would be a sad failure.

PS Quirky detectives have been a fixture since Sherlock Holmes. An ensemble of Watsons isn't a significant change. The thing is, House isn't quirky, he's an asshole. A victorious asshole. Currently there is a lot of TV based on the assumption that victorious assholes are erotic. Or at least they turn on the audience. Boston Legal has two assholes, and The Mentalist has a more or less reformed asshole. Brenda Johnson on The Closer isn't just quirky, she's a huge bitch, that is, female asshole. All variations on the same theme. As to whether House the model for them all? I think Boson Legal came first, didn't it?
 
I think Boston Legal and House debuted at the same time, but most of the characters of the former were developed on The Practice the year before. Nevertheless, despite my own preferences leaning much more towards David E. Kelley's program, House has been much more visible, popular, and financially successful, and is more likely the archetype producers return to.
 
I enjoyed the pilot. It was really funny when they showed pictures of real people. Unfortunately, it the same time as Lost, so, unless they change the time, that show will be canceled.
 
Jimilu said:
I enjoyed the pilot. It was really funny when they showed pictures of real people. Unfortunately, it the same time as Lost, so, unless they change the time, that show will be canceled.
Click to expand...

It got 2 million more viewers than LOST.
 
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