A blog about television by TIME’s TV critic James Poniewozik.

The Morning After: Be Honest

 

Mike Yarish/FOX

Mike Yarish/FOX

Believe it or not, there was television other than Lost on last night, including the high-profile debut of Fox's Lie to Me. I can't read your microexpressions from here, so let us know what you thought.

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  • 1

    Pretty good. The lead actor's great. The lead actress is good. The truth telling assistant is clever, but has the potential to get old fast (also, what exactly is his job). The new hire is so so (although choosing an airport screener was a good idea).
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    The two stories were well executed, although the Senator/Prostitute subplot just seemed like filler at points.
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    Worth tuning in for a second viewing, but I'm not sure how they're going to sustain a full series on the material. The show works well as a stand-alone story machine and less well as a character drama.

  • 2

    What alaskanturkey said. This is a good show. Very Good.
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    It will be interesting to see how the prods stretch the premise to cover an entire season's worth of storylines. I'll definitely be following this one. Good TV.
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    Oh, and I'm also excited to hear a genuine Brit accent on American Primetime TV. Cheers.

  • 3

    It is a very well executed show. How frequently I watch will depend entirely on weather or not the cases and the premise begin to where thin. It is going to take a little cleverness to keep things fresh, but then all procedurals do.

  • 4

    Even though Tim Roth is nowhere near as dreamy as Simon Baker, this one will make me ditch The Mentalist. I can only take so many procedurals and don't love crime shows, but this one's actually good, and the premise and execution of it is pretty cool. I'm a House fan though so the everybody lies/procedural concept feels a little stale. House = take cop show conventions, apply to medical drama. Lie to Me = take House formula, apply to cop show conventions. TV circle of life?

  • 5

    I am going to give this show another week. There were certainly elements that worked during the pilot, but others make me wonder if it really has the material to sustain itself. Though Tim Roth certainly makes the show worth coming back to, he's a good actor.

  • 6

    @Dave - I was impressed with the show - it felt like a solid procedural. The actors were appealing, Tim Roth was very well-cast, it was an interesting story, and it was well-executed. I'm glad I gave it a shot.

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