Frank from moment of truth6/30/2023 ![]() ![]() The premise of alcohol-induced audience excitement and contrived physical confrontations still doesn’t bother me. Like many fans, I fully embraced Jerry Springer’s transition from serious talk show host to freak show ringleader when it happened over 20 years ago. Not surprisingly, Fox heavily promoted its most risqué episode for the jumping off point. Confident in its new show, the network moved TMOT to Monday nights after only four weeks. By keeping 23 million viewers from Idol’s lead-in for its debut episode, The Moment of Truth made the most of the opportunity. Taking advantage of its lucrative property, Fox used the post-Idol slot to try to launch new shows. In comparison, networks salivate today if they can get 15 million viewers, including those who watch through DVR within 7 days of the original airing. To be clear, close to 30 million people tuned in each night. Fox’s singing competition averaged 28 million viewers for both the original performances and results show each week. When TMOT premiered in January 2008, American Idol ruled the airwaves. As you might imagine, the questions began innocuously before becoming morally compromising as the prize value increased. In case you missed the show, contestants had the opportunity to win up to $500,000 based on their ability to correctly match the results of a polygraph test taken prior to filming. ![]() Ostensibly billed as a provocative game show, Fox’s The Moment of Truth (2008) simply redefined the line that people will cross for some money and 15 minutes of fame. As an inglorious basterd, The Moment of Truth (2008) earned the #9 spot on T10B’s ranking of Reality TV Busts. With only 4 million viewers remaining halfway through the show’s 13-episode second season, Fox pulled it for good. By the end of TMOT‘s 10-episode initial order, the audience had fallen by over 60%. Thanks to a lead-in from American Idol, the January 2008 premiere of Fox’s disturbing game show drew 23 million viewers. The grand prize is $500,000.Synopsis: If Jerry Springer and Maury had a three-way with Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, the resulting bastard child would have been The Moment of Truth. After a quick peek at Wikipedia’s Moment of Truth page, I noted that in the first handful of episodes that have aired, no one’s gotten past the $100,000 mark. The show is designed to be a trainwreck, right? I mean they’re not going to have contestants on there that have nothing to hide. I have a problem with her judgment of then choosing to do it.” Walberg went on to say, “I know people are going to think I was BS-ing but the truth is, I was begging her to stop.” But he seemed to have a hard time understanding why Lauren went forward with the questions, saying, “I don’t have any problem of the fairness aspect of it. When Walberg talked to Access Hollywood about it tonight, he made mention of the fact that the contestants know the questions before they get onto the stage, so it’s not like they’re surprised by the questions. After watching an episode or two of this show, I decided that it made me feel more uncomfortable than entertained so I gave it up. There’s a lot of build-up with intense music and dramatic pauses thrown in to keep the rounds interesting. Oftentimes the contestant’s family is present while the questions are being asked and on occasion, someone the contestant knows will ask the actual question, thus heightening the intensity of the show. If they refuse to answer a question or their answer conflicts with what the polygraph determined, they get nothing. The contestant will answer yes or no to the questions and if their answer matches what the polygraph determined, they advance further in the game. Then Walberg asks the contestant whatever questions the producers selected of the questions the contestant was asked. Before we get to that though, let’s recap for those of you who missed the episode: The way Moment of Truth works is, before sitting across from the host on stage the contestant answers a bunch of questions while hooked up to a polygraph. ![]()
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