The Moment of Truth. Has anyone seen this show on Fox? Anyone? OH MY GOD why would anyone watch this show?! Ok, ok I admit it. I watched it. Only once! Then I vowed never to watch it again! And every time I see a preview for it, I throw up a little bit in my mouth. Whoever thought up the premise for this show should be deported. If you thought reality TV had hit rock bottom with The Surreal Life, well The Moment of Truth has dug an entirely new pit. Here’s why:

1. If you know anything at all about “lie detector” tests, this show should immediately send up a dozen red flags. I first tuned into this show about halfway through. I saw that the host or someone would ask some girl a question. She would hem and haw for a minute, then give an answer. Then some creepy disembodied voice would say “That answer was…TRUE.” I sat there thinking “What the hell? How are they measuring this?” Well apparently, the person is asked all of these questions before the show, when they’re hooked up to a polygraph. I guess being hooked up to the polygraph on the actual show is too unattractive, and doesn’t allow the women to wear tight-fitting tops. So…obviously all the drama where the contestant is “shocked” by the question and doesn’t know how to answer is a big set up. And everyone watching knows this? It’s like they’re not even pretending to be real.

2. Let’s pretend that the polygraph given before the show is actually done correctly. Which: doubtful. But let’s just assume. While the statistics about the rate of false positives for a polygraph differ, it is not considered reliable enough to say, be allowed as evidence in court. That is to say, there are times when the polygraph will say you are lying when you really aren’t. There are also many times when the readings are inconclusive. To base a lot of money on this seems sketchy to me.

3. The typical reality TV show argument: where on earth do they get these people? I would really like to know. Does someone wake up one day and say “I would like to make a lot of money, but instead of working hard for it I think I’ll go on a television show where they give me a lie detector test. Except I’ve cheated on my husband, and I think my mom is fat, so if I do win a lot of money I’ll probably destroy all of my relationships in the process.” Is that how it works? Maybe, but I actually think this is one of those shows where the contestants are clearly aspiring actors who are trying to break into the business through any means possible. And it’s all a big contrivance.

4. The premise of this show is to see how much people are willing to destroy their lives and the lives of people around them in order to win money. This is the difference between shows like American Idol and shows like The Moment of Truth. It’s also where I draw the line in terms of what I will and will not watch. No thank you, I would not like to watch that marriage get broken up. I would not like to see that mother’s feelings get crushed. That is not fun, and it is not entertaining, even if it is fake. It’s sickening, and I can’t wait for the scripted shows to get back on line so networks can stop scraping the bottom of the reality TV barrel.

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