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''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 an ...
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 (actors), Brit Pack". He made hi ...
) 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 A microexpression is a facial expression that only lasts for a short moment. It is the innate result of a voluntary and an involuntary emotional response occurring simultaneously and conflicting with one another, and occurs when the amygdala respon ...
, through the
Facial Action Coding System The Facial Action Coding System (FACS) is a system to taxonomize human facial movements by their appearance on the face, based on a system originally developed by a Swedish anatomist named Carl-Herman Hjortsjö. It was later adopted by Paul Ek ...
, 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 cul ...
'' 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 Paul Ekman (born February 15, 1934) is an American psychologist and professor emeritus at the University of California, San Francisco who is a pioneer in the study of emotions and their relation to facial expressions. He was ranked 59th out of ...
, 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 (actors), Brit Pack". He made hi ...
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
microexpression A microexpression is a facial expression that only lasts for a short moment. It is the innate result of a voluntary and an involuntary emotional response occurring simultaneously and conflicting with one another, and occurs when the amygdala respon ...
s, 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 s ...
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 do ...
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. Nort ...
. 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 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
intelligence agent during the
Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia 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, hav ...
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 Kelli Renee Williams (born June 8, 1970) is an American actress and director. She is known for her roles as lawyer, Lindsay Dole on the legal drama ''The Practice'', psychologist and deception expert Dr. Gillian Foster on ''Lie to Me'', and Jac ...
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 Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
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 Hil ...
. *
Brendan Hines Brendan Patrick Hines (born December 28, 1976) is an American actor and singer/songwriter. He has had a number of television roles, including as part of the main cast of ''Lie to Me'' as well as recurring roles in ''Scandal'', ''Betrayal'', '' ...
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 in ...
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 separat ...
who was in juvenile prison and is now enrolled at a private school. *
Hayley McFarland Hayley McFarland (born March 29, 1991) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Emily Lightman in the Fox crime drama series ''Lie to Me''. In the supernatural horror film ''The Conjuring'', McFarland portrayed Nancy Perron. Ear ...
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 The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
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 Awa ...
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 Timothy S. Guinee (born November 18, 1962) is an American stage, television, and feature-film actor. Primarily known for his roles as Tomin in the television series ''Stargate SG-1'' (1997–2007) and railroad entrepreneur Collis Huntington AMC ...
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 executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...
and is a recovering cocaine addict. Throughout the series it was heavily hinted that he was having an
extramarital affair An affair is a sexual relationship, romantic friendship, or passionate attachment in which at least one of its participants has a formal or informal commitment to a third person who may neither agree to such relationship nor even be aware of ...
until it was revealed that the woman was his CA sponsor. He and Gillian divorced. (Season 1) *
Sean Patrick Thomas Sean Patrick Thomas is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Derek Reynolds in the 2001 film ''Save the Last Dance'' and as Jimmy James in '' Barbershop'' (2002), '' Barbershop 2: Back in Business'' (2004), and '' Barbershop: The Ne ...
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 Melissa George (born 6 August 1976) is an Australian actress and entrepreneur. A former national artistic rollerskating champion and model, George began her acting career playing Angel Parrish in the Australian soap opera Home and Away (1993– ...
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 Monique Gabriela Curnen (born September 7, 1970) is an American actress. Early life and education Curnen was born on September 7, 1970. Her mother is from Puerto Rico, and her father is of German and Irish descent. She grew up in Framingham, Mas ...
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 th ...
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 o ...
on ''Lie to Me''.
Brian Grazer Brian Thomas Grazer (born July 12, 1951) is an American film and television producer and writer. He founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 with Ron Howard. The films they produced have grossed over $15 billion. Grazer was personally nominated f ...
, David Nevins, and
Steven Maeda Steven Maeda is an American television producer and screenwriter. He has written episodes of television series such as ''Harsh Realm'', ''The X-Files'', ''CSI: Miami'', ''Lost'', and ''Day Break''. He has also served as a supervising producer on ...
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 ''The Shield'' is an American crime drama television series starring Michael Chiklis that premiered on March 12, 2002, on FX in the United States, and concluded on November 25, 2008, after seven seasons. Known for its portrayal of corrupt pol ...
'' and ''
The Unit ''The Unit'' is an American action-drama television series created by David Mamet that aired on CBS from March 7, 2006, to May 10, 2009 with the total of four seasons and 69 episodes. The series focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled aft ...
'', took over as
show runner 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 ...
for the second season. Lightman Group offices use the
Walter E. Washington Convention Center The Walter E. Washington Convention Center is a convention center located in Washington, D.C., owned and operated by the city's convention arm, Events DC. Designed in a joint venture by the Atlanta-based architecture firm Thompson, Ventulett, ...
at 801 Mt Vernon Place NW, Washington DC 20001. The show's theme song, ''Brand New Day'', was performed by
Ryan Star Ryan Stahr Kulchinsky (born January 7, 1978) is an American rock singer-songwriter from Long Island, New York, currently signed on Island Records. His first major label record '' 11:59'', released via Atlantic in 2010, reached No. 31 on Billb ...
.


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 review aggregator, 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 arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
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 cul ...
'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 nati ...
'', 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 An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
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 This is a list of the winning and nominated programs of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Design presented for the best main title sequence in television programming. Prior to 1997, the award was presented for Outstanding Individ ...
(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 M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...
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''). Twelve sp ...
aired the premiere in Latin America.
RTL 5 RTL 5 is a Dutch free-to-cable television channel that was launched on 2 October 1993. It mainly broadcasts American films and hit series but also reality shows, comedy, travel, international shows and local productions including '' Expeditie Rob ...
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 sto ...
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 Lie detection is an assessment of a verbal statement with the goal to reveal a possible intentional deceit. Lie detection may refer to a cognitive process of detecting deception by evaluating message content as well as non-verbal cues. It also ma ...
*
Microexpression A microexpression is a facial expression that only lasts for a short moment. It is the innate result of a voluntary and an involuntary emotional response occurring simultaneously and conflicting with one another, and occurs when the amygdala respon ...
*
Wizards Project The Wizards Project was a research project at the University of California, San Francisco led by Paul Ekman and Maureen O'Sullivan that studied the ability of people to detect lies. The experts identified in their study were called "Truth Wizards" ...


Notes


References


External links


www.lietome.com

www.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