History Series / LieToMe

--> ''Are you planning on having sex with my daughter tonight?''

Despite only initially being ordered for 13 episodes, it was a big hit with audiences at first, but its ratings rapidly declined, leading to its cancellation as of May 10, 2011 by {{FOX}}.

** The impetus for a scorned girlfriend and her son to come to the Lightman Group in "Rebound".

* SoundtrackDissonance[[=/=]]SourceMusic: The shootout in "Dirty Loyal" is set to "I'm In the Mood" by John Lee Hooker so the shooters would let their guard down.

** Cal seems to have a thing for hot blondes with whom he's in over his head. First Poppy, the Vegas card shark (or, as Gillian calls her, "roulette"); then Clara, the former gold-digging businesswoman who, as of "Teacher and Pupils" [[spoiler: loans the Lightman Group around seven figures worth of money, making her the lead investor and Cal's new boss]]. She lasts until "Bullet Bump", [[spoiler: when we find out that Clara helped a politician's wife cover up a murder]]. Then there's Naomi, from "Double Blind", who [[DefeatingTheUndefeatable actually successfully cons him]]. Now it looks like Wallowski's going this way, too, though she isn't a blonde.

* KeepingSecretsSucks

->'''Cal:'''But a scientist's job is to verify, right?
->'''Emily:'''You never trust anyone, do you? You know, that's why you'll always be alone.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lietomemt9.jpg

[[caption-width:248:You're just telling porkies, aren't ya?]]

* SplitPersonality: [[spoiler:Trish/Jessie/Sophie/RJ]]from episode 1 of the second season. Typical fictional example of MPD/DID where [[spoiler:the person is aware of the other personalities]].
** Not entirely fictional; there are cases of [[spoiler: people knowing about their System, particularly if they've gone to therapy already (which we don't know whether she has or hasn't)]].

* SplitPersonality: [[spoiler:Trish/Jessie/Sophie/RJ]]from episode 1 of the second season. Typical fictional example of MPD/DID where [[spoiler:the person is aware of the other personalities]].
** Not entirely fictional; there are cases of [[spoiler: people knowing about their System, particularly if they've gone to therapy already (which we don't know whether she has or hasn't)]].

Lightman is joined by a team of [[OddlySmallOrganization three other analysts]]. Dr. Gillian Foster is Lightman's close friend and the other senior staff member. She usually heads up another investigation while Lightman is busy on a separate case. Ria Torres is a "natural" deception-detector. Lightman found her as a security agent at the airport. Rounding out the band is Eli Loker, an utterly shameless flirt committed to [[WillNotTellALie 100% honesty]][[note]]His radical honesty disappears quickly in season 1[[/note]]. Lightman's daughter is part of the cast as well.

Lightman is joined by a team of [[OddlySmallOrganization three other analysts]]. Dr. Gillian Foster is Lightman's close friend and the other senior staff member. She usually heads up another investigation while Lightman is busy on a separate case. Ria Torres is a "natural" deception-detector. Lightman found her as a security agent at the airport. Rounding out the band is Eli Loker, an utterly shameless flirt committed to [[WillNotTellALie 100% honesty]][[note]]His radical honesty disappears quickly in season 1[[/note]].

It seems similar on the surface to ''TheMentalist'': a smart guy that can tell if you're lying, and who's fond of the BatmanGambit, works to solve crimes. There's the wild-card male main character with a tendency antagonize adversaries and and not to let others in on his schemes, his UnresolvedSexualTension with his more rational female second, conflicts with authority like the FBI, and so on. Some of the plots, especially in the first season, are similar as well. But as they say in the show, "We're scientists, not magicians," and that's where the shows diverge. Perhaps mst notably, the show lets you in on what the LivingLieDetector is seeing and doing, so that the audience member starts to see the cues that they use to see when people are lying. The show quickly comes into its own, and by the second season, it's a real joy to watch Tim Roth play the role of Cal Lightman.[[labelnote:*]]again, sort of like it used to be with Simon Baker playing Patrick Jane...[[/labelnote]]

It seems similar on the surface to ''TheMentalist'': a smart guy that can tell if you're lying, and who's fond of the BatmanGambit, works to solve crimes. There's the wild-card male main character with a tendency antagonize adversaries and and not to let others in on his schemes, his UST with his more rational female second, conflicts with authority like the FBI, and so on. Some of the plots, especially in the first season, are similar as well. But as they say in the show, "We're scientists, not magicians," and that's where the shows diverge. Perhaps mst notably, the show lets you in on what the LivingLieDetector is seeing and doing, so that the audience member starts to see the cues that they use to see when people are lying. The show quickly comes into its own, and by the second season, it's a real joy to watch Tim Roth play the role of Cal Lightman.[[labelnote:*]]again, sort of like it used to be with Simon Baker playing Patrick Jane...[[/labelnote]]