''Lie to Me'' (stylized as ''Lie to me*'') is an American crime drama television series. It originally ran on the
Fox network
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations a ...
from January 21, 2009, to January 31, 2011. In the show, Dr. Cal Lightman (
Tim Roth
Timothy Simon Roth (born 14 May 1961) is an English actor and producer. He began acting on films and television series in the 1980s. He was among a group of prominent British actors of the era, the " Brit Pack".
He made his television debut ...
) and his colleagues in The Lightman Group accept assignments from third parties (commonly local and federal law enforcement), and assist in investigations, reaching the truth through
applied psychology: interpreting
microexpressions, through the
Facial Action Coding System, and
body language
Body language is a type of communication in which physical behaviors, as opposed to words, are used to express or convey information. Such behavior includes facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch and the use of space. Th ...
.
In May 2009, the show was renewed for a second season consisting of 13 episodes; season two premiered on September 28, 2009. On November 24, 2009, Fox ordered an extra nine episodes for season two, bringing the season order to 22 episodes.
On May 12, 2010, ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...
'' reported that ''Lie to Me'' received a 13-episode third season pick-up. The third season of ''Lie to Me'' was originally set to premiere on November 10, 2010. On September 28, 2010, the date was moved up to October 4, 2010, because of the cancellation of ''
Lone Star''.
On May 11, 2011, Fox canceled ''Lie to Me'' after three seasons.
The show is inspired by the work of
Paul Ekman, a specialist on facial expressions and a professor emeritus of psychology at the
University of California San Francisco
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It condu ...
School of Medicine. Ekman has been an advisor to police departments and anti-terrorism groups. He was a scientific consultant in the production of the series. The lead character of ''Lie to Me'', Cal Lightman, is based on Ekman.
Cast and characters
Main
*
Tim Roth
Timothy Simon Roth (born 14 May 1961) is an English actor and producer. He began acting on films and television series in the 1980s. He was among a group of prominent British actors of the era, the " Brit Pack".
He made his television debut ...
as Dr. Cal Lightman, a brilliant expert in the science of
body language
Body language is a type of communication in which physical behaviors, as opposed to words, are used to express or convey information. Such behavior includes facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch and the use of space. Th ...
, especially
microexpressions, and founder of The Lightman Group, a private company that operates as an independent contractor to assist investigations of local and federal law enforcement through
applied psychology.
Though often confronted by people's skepticism, Lightman uses any technique he deems necessary to reach the truth, however elaborate or confronting. He is divorced and shares custody of his teenage daughter. He cares deeply about his colleague Gillian Foster; and there is a chemistry between them that has yet to develop into anything more although, in the Season 3 finale, he confesses to his daughter that he loves her. His mother committed
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...
while he was still young, an event that led him to discovering and researching microexpressions. There is evidence he was involved with
British Intelligence
The Government of the United Kingdom maintains intelligence agencies within three government departments, the Foreign Office, the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence. These agencies are responsible for collecting and analysing foreign and ...
in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...
. Lightman also mentioned interrogating militant suspects recalling his release of one suspect resulted in the shootings of 6 and the deaths of 3 in a murder operation the suspect subsequently carried out. He has also admitted to being an
MI6 intelligence agent during the
Yugoslav Wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...
(1994) in an attempt to gain the trust of an intelligence agent that he was interrogating. Lightman is a
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium ...
supporter as he mentions himself in Season 2, and was seen wearing a Claret and Blue scarf in one of the later episodes of Season 2.
*
Kelli Williams as Dr. Gillian Foster, Dr. Lightman's psychologist colleague in The Lightman Group who analyses patterns of voice, language, and behavior.
She can be somewhat impulsive but is very professional with the clients and subjects in public. While she occasionally disagrees with some of Lightman's actions, she has an open pact with Lightman: not to let their professional skill interfere with coworkers' personal lives. Her husband's lack of candor often challenges this: When Cal believes her husband, Alec, is cheating on her, he simply ignores what he is seeing, much to Torres's dismay. It is later revealed that he was not cheating on her but was trying to overcome his drug addiction; they promptly divorce. Gillian had adopted a baby (Sophie) who was eventually returned to the birth mother. This character is based on Maureen O’Sullivan,
emeritus
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...
of psychology at the
University of San Francisco
The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The ...
.
*
Brendan Hines as Eli Loker, an employee of The Lightman Group. Unlike Torres, whom Lightman calls "a natural", Loker acquired his skills in "reading" people through academic education and practice. During Season 1, he also adheres to
Radical Honesty and thus rarely lies, even if that makes him appear rude or undiplomatic.
Lightman demoted him to an unpaid intern after, despite Foster's warnings, he divulged sensitive information to the
SEC while working on a case. However, he is later promoted to vice president, which makes a rift in any developing relationship between him and Torres.
*
Monica Raymund
Monica Maria Raymund (born July 26, 1986) is an American actress, known for her roles as Maria "Ria" Torres in the Fox crime drama '' Lie to Me'' (2009–2011), Dana Lodge in the CBS legal drama ''The Good Wife'' (2011–2012), Gabriela Dawson ...
as Ria Torres, an employee of The Lightman Group and Dr. Lightman's
protégé
Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...
, who was recognized as a "natural" while she was still working as a
TSA Agent.
Torres was abused as a child, a common pattern among naturals. Though talented and loyal, she lacks academic training and sometimes lets her emotions cloud her judgment. She has a
half-sister
A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child.
While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised separ ...
who was in juvenile prison and is now enrolled at a private school.
*
Hayley McFarland as Emily Lightman, Cal Lightman's teenage daughter. Her parents share custody of her, and, while she does not appreciate her father's ability to "read" her, she does not deny its merit for social screening. She has boyfriends over the series that her father scrutinizes. Though she sometimes gets into trouble and has fake IDs, and, to Lightman's chagrin, has been sexually active, she is generally well behaved and has a loving relationship with her father. (Recurring – Season 1, regular – Seasons 2–3)
*
Mekhi Phifer
Mekhi Phifer (; born December 29, 1974) is an American actor. He portrayed Dr. Greg Pratt on NBC's long-running medical drama '' ER'' until 2008 and had a co-starring role opposite actor/rapper Eminem in the 2002 feature film '' 8 Mile''. He was ...
as Ben Reynolds, an
FBI Agent who is assigned to and assists the Lightman Group in their investigations, offering armed assistance, practical insights, and access to FBI resources and connections. Reynolds doesn't always agree with Lightman's ways but stands behind him most of the time. (Recurring – season 1, regular – season 2)
Recurring
*
Jennifer Beals
Jennifer Beals (born December 19, 1963) is an American actress and former teen model. She made her film debut in '' My Bodyguard'' (1980), before receiving critical acclaim for her role in '' Flashdance'' (1983), for which she won NAACP Image ...
as Zoe Landau, Cal Lightman's ex-wife and Emily's mother, occupied as an Assistant
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
. While engaged to another man, she also engaged in a tryst with Lightman, after he helped her in a case. (Seasons 1 & 2)
*
Tim Guinee as Alec Foster, Gillian Foster's ex-husband. He works at the
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
and is a recovering
cocaine addict. Throughout the series it was heavily hinted that he was having an
extramarital affair until it was revealed that the woman was his
CA sponsor. He and Gillian divorced. (Season 1)
*
Sean Patrick Thomas as Special Agent Karl Dupree. Dupree initially assisted the Lightman group on a case involving a controversial South Korean ambassador who is presumed to be an assassination target at his son's state wedding. Torres and Dupree are romantically involved later in season one. He also defends Torres against Loker when he divulged sensitive information to the SEC while working on a case. (Season 1)
*
Melissa George as Clara Musso. She was Zoe Landau's first big client, so Lightman helped her find out who really killed her husband and prove her innocence. She later inherited her husband's company, and showed interest in Lightman's work on deception detection, in that she paid him to teach her some techniques, and then invested in his firm. (Season 2)
*
Monique Gabriela Curnen as Detective Sharon Wallowski, a police officer who assists Lightman. She also engages in a romantic relationship with Cal Lightman, but ends it once Lightman finds out the truth about her past as a dirty cop. (Guest Season 2, Season 3)
*
Brandon Jones as Liam, Emily Lightman's boyfriend, a high school jock who is not intimidated by Cal Lightman. Emily breaks up with him because he does not believe in sex before marriage. (Season 3)
Episodes
Plot
Season one opens with Cal and Gillian hiring a new associate:
TSA officer Ria Torres, who scored extraordinarily high on Cal's deception-detection diagnostic, and is in turn labeled a "natural" at deception detection. Her innate talent in the field clashes with Cal's academic approach, and he often shows off by rapidly analyzing her every facial expression. She counters by reading Lightman and, when he least expects it, peppers conversations with quotes from his books.
It was gradually revealed that Dr. Lightman was driven to study micro-expressions as a result of guilt over his mother's suicide. She claimed to have been fine in order to obtain a weekend pass from a psychiatric ward, when she was actually experiencing agony (which parallels an anecdote in Paul Ekman's book "Telling Lies").
For a small number of the early episodes, Lightman would team up with Torres to work on a case, while Foster and Loker would team up on a separate case. Occasionally, their work would intertwine, or Foster and/or Lightman would provide assistance on each other's cases. As the first season progressed, the cases became more involved, and all four of the main characters would work together on one case for each episode.
In addition to detecting deception in subjects they interview, Lightman and his team also use various interviewing and interrogation tactics to elicit useful information. Rather than by force, they use careful lines of questioning, provocative statements, theatrics and healthy doses of deception on their own part. In the show's pilot episode, Lightman is speaking to a man who is refusing to speak at all, and is able to discern vital information by talking to him and gauging his reaction to each statement. This approach is also taken in several other episodes (e.g., "
Do No Harm").
Production
Samuel Baum was the original
showrunner
A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also the ...
and
head writer
A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits. In fictional comedy ...
on ''Lie to Me''.
Brian Grazer,
David Nevins, and
Steven Maeda were executive producers. Katherine Pope, former president of NBC Universal's TV studio, signed on as a consulting producer, working on the final four episodes of the first season.
Shawn Ryan
Shawn Ryan (born October 11, 1966 in Rockford, Illinois) is an American screenwriter and television producer.
He created and co-created a number of TV drama series, including ''The Shield'' (2002–2008), ''The Chicago Code'' (2011), '' Last Re ...
, creator of ''
The Shield'' and ''
The Unit'', took over as
show runner for the second season.
Lightman Group offices use the
Walter E. Washington Convention Center at 801 Mt Vernon Place NW, Washington DC 20001.
The show's theme song, ''Brand New Day'', was performed by
Ryan Star.
Reception
Critical reception
The show received mostly positive reviews from television critics. It gained a score of 64 on
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
from 24 reviews.
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...
's Ken Tucker awarded ''Lie to Me'' a B− rating and wrote "''Lie to Me'' is derivative yet well crafted, predictable yet ever-so-slightly novel… it's no wonder that Fox thinks it's got itself a potential hit". However, he also commented "if this review were a face, Dr. Lightman would say it had a forced smile: hopeful, but dubious, about Lie's chances." Tom Shales, writing for ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'', said "''Lie to Me'' seems an unusually meaty, thoughtful and thought-provoking crime drama – another police procedural, yes, but one with a dramatic and mesmerizing difference… easily one of the season's best new shows."
Ratings
In the United States, the viewing figures declined as the series progressed. The
Pilot was seen by 12.37 million; however, by the final episode of the first season, it was down to 8.46 million. The most viewed episode was episode three, "
A Perfect Score", which attracted 12.99 million. The second season premiered on September 28, 2009, to 7.73 million viewers. The season two finale had 4.94 million viewers in the U.S. on September 13, 2010. The third season, which had its premiere moved forward to October 4, 2010, was viewed by 5.87 million people in the U.S. The series' official cancellation was announced by Fox on May 10, 2011.
Seasonal ratings
Awards and nominations
Primetime Emmy Awards
* 2009
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Design (nominee)
People's Choice Awards
''Lie to me'' was nominated for two awards at the
37th People's Choice Awards and won both of them.
* 2011 Favorite TV Crime Drama (WON)
* 2011 Favorite TV Crime Fighter (Tim Roth, WON)
International broadcasting
The series was broadcast on
Global
Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003
* ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007
* ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989
* ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015
* Bruno ...
in Canada,
Network Ten
Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
in Australia,
M-Net in South Africa, and also airs in Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Hungary and Belgium. ''Lie to Me'' aired on Sky1 in the UK and Ireland, starting on May 14, 2009. On July 20, 2009,
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelv ...
aired the premiere in Latin America.
RTL 5 in The Netherlands has been broadcasting it since November 6, 2009. The series debuted in Italy on September 7, 2009, on the Fox Satellite channel. The series has aired in India since September 2010.
Home media
As of March 2020, all episodes are available on the streaming service Hulu.
Season one and two have been released on DVD in
Regions 1, 2 and 4. However, while season one was also released on
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...
in North America
there has been no announcement about releasing the second season on Blu-ray. The first and second season DVDs sets include deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes featurettes.
The second season also includes "
Dr. Ekman's Blog" and a gag reel.
The third and final season was released on October 4, 2011.
See also
*
Lie detection
*
Microexpression
*
Wizards Project
Notes
References
External links
www.lietome.comwww.paulekman.com*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lie To Me
2009 American television series debuts
2000s American crime drama television series
2000s American mystery television series
2000s American police procedural television series
2010s American crime drama television series
2010s American mystery television series
2010s American police procedural television series
2011 American television series endings
English-language television shows
Fox Broadcasting Company original programming
Television series by 20th Century Fox Television
Television shows set in Washington, D.C.
Television series by Imagine Entertainment