UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — "Lie to Me" is a rather interesting new procedural crime series with a twist that might have stood out on the television landscape … about 10 years ago.
But in a TV schedule crowded with procedural crime dramas, this new Fox series, which debuts tonight at 8 p.m. on Ch. 13, probably isn't distinctive enough to catch on.
Tim Roth stars as Dr. Cal Lightman, an expert in lying. Based on the real-life work of Dr. Paul Ekman, "Lie to Me" employs real techniques that experts use to determine if people are lying. Not necessarily why they're lying, but IF.
Lightman is sort of the Dr. House of lying experts — he's abrupt to the point of being obnoxious. He heads The Lightman Group, which gets involved in various legal cases, often at the behest of the authorities.
Lightman is assisted by Dr. Gillian Foster (Kelli Williams of "The Practice), a psychologist who possesses all the people skills Lightman does not; Eli Loker (Brendan Hines), the lead researcher who practices "radical honesty" and is, thus, kind of a jerk; and new hire Ria Torress (Monica Raymund), who has the natural ability to detect lies.
The primary case in tonight's pilot episode involves a teenager who's accused of murdering his teacher. There are some twists and turns, but it's all a bit too convoluted. And, honestly, the fact that the boy is being raised a strict Jehovah's Witness plays into the story in a way that crosses the line into anti-religious bigotry at times.
Executive producer Samuel Baum insists that "Lie to Me" is not a procedural, it's a "psychological mystery." But the distinction won't be apparent to most viewers.
And there are obvious similarities between "Lie to Me" and this season's most-watched new show, "The Mentalist," which features a hero whose powers of observation help him solve crimes.
"Our show is based on actual science, whereas, 'The Mentalist,' I think, is more of a scam," Hines said somewhat arrogantly.
He had a better point when he pointed out, "They deal with murder every week" whereas his show is "going so many different places."
Baum said he's excited about "the range of cases" that will be handled in the show. "If you're a legal show, you're locked into a courtroom every week. But when the prism of the show is lies, there are as many lies as there are people."
While the first episodes focuses mainly on a murder, there's a secondary plot about a congressman caught in a sex scandal. Upcoming episodes include a claim of rape in the military and who's to blame for a building collapse.
There is some fascinating stuff in "Lie to Me," including using real-life examples of how facial expressions demonstrate that someone is lying — examples that include everyone from Kato Kaelin to O.J. Simpson to former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Ekman, who has done decades of research into this and trained members of the TSA, is himself a fascinating man.
Although it can be intimidating to be in the presence of someone who can tell if you're lying.
"I get really freaked out sometimes when I'm around Paul," Roth said. "It's like traveling with a critic from the New York Times. And wherever you go, there's the guy going, 'No, I don't believe you. The performance was terrible.' … It's an extraordinary feeling of nakedness."
"I usually try to reassure people that I can only understand them if I can see them on video, which is a lie," Ekman said with a laugh. "But what does reassure them is that what I can read is their emotions. I can't tell what they're thinking.
"And most of us are most worried that people will know our private thoughts. There is no sign of thinking; there are signs of emotion."
If only he could be that reassuring when he talks about the chance of "Lie to Me" turning into a hit.
LIE-DETECTOR TRAINING: According to Hines, the methods of reading other people demonstrated in "Lie to Me" will "start to grind … into people's heads and that's when people will really start to be able to use them in their own lives."
Which sounds about as dangerous as amateur psychology, doesn't it?
"We do teach it, and anybody can learn on the Internet site how to read micro-expressions," Ekman said. "But (there's) always a warning — you may not always like what you find out. The truth sometimes can be painful.
"Do you want to find out your spouse is cheating? Do you want to find out your kids are using hard drugs? Do you want to find out the person you hired is embezzling?
"It's your own choice. The program will tell you about it, and you'll start to learn some of these if you keep watching it. And you may sometimes be confronted with painful truths, but I operate on the assumption — and it is an assumption — that we're better off knowing the truth than being misled ourselves."
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com