FOX is shooting a game show proving the old adage that it doesn’t pay to lie.
Or does it?
“Nothing But the Truth,” a hit in Colombia, uses a lie detector and a series of 21 in creasingly personal questions to judge whether contestants are telling the truth
If they pass, they win up to $50,000 and can walk away with their winnings at any time.
If they fail, they face the wrath of family and friends sitting in the studio audience.
Call it “Squirm TV” of the most uncomfortable kind.
“The show came from my growing disgust at how dishonest this world is becoming,” says Howard Schultz, the L.A.- based producer who created the show (as well as “Next” and “Ex treme Make over“).
“In a sense, it’s a tremendous play-along for people at home,” he says. “You’re not only judging the individual on whether they’re telling the truth, but you end up asking yourself the same questions.”
“Truth” is getting huge ratings in Colombia, the first country to get it onto the air. Questions have included, “Have you ever cheated on your wife?” and “Do you consider yourself a better person than your mother-in-law?”
On the show, each contestant takes a backstage polygraph test, which is used to gauge their “truthiness” while they’re interrogated on the air.
Schultz says he originally produced the “Truth” pilot for NBC, then sold the format to England and Australia before striking a deal with Reveille to sell the show worldwide (former Reveille head Ben Silverman now runs NBC entertainment).
“Truth” has also been fast-tracked in Brazil, Germany, Spain, France and many other countries.
“This has become a universal issue,” Schultz says. “Spin-doctoring is just a fancy word for lying.
“It’s much harder to hold on to lies than to hold on to the truth.”
Schultz says he expects Fox will finish shooting “Truth” by the end of October – but he’s not at liberty to reveal the host.
“I think I’ve discovered something of a chord that needs to be struck for all of us,” he says.