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NO, “LIE TO ME” never really set the world on fire, but did we expect it to? Unlike fellow sophomore show “Fringe,” FOX never set lofty expectations for this single-lead procedural. Taking the usual CBS formula (one hour, one murder, repeat), “Lie To Me” has regularly featured Tim Roth’s “Mentalist”-like detective using pseudo-psychology to know who is lying and who isn’t. The science part – and the unwelcome truth that we all lie, and frequently – gave the show great edge and notoriety when it first came out. But by now the conceit has faded, and the show’s life depends on whether we like Roth and his attractive, mysterious co-lead Kelli Williams. We do – and apparently plenty of viewers do too. The show’s numbers have hovered steadily between 7 and 8 million, which isn’t enough to get it a free pass, but in the wake of the recent “Past Life” debacle, FOX will have a new appreciation of a ready audience. Moreover the show has shown little attrition as the year has gone on, dipping to a low of 6 million, but bouncing back to 7.8 just a few weeks later. This isn’t the next “CSI” folks – sheesh, it isn’t even the next “Cold Case” – but we think it’s good for another year of lying good fun. Buy. 3/10/10.
THE MARKET: Will “Lie To Me” be renewed by FOX? If FOX renews the show, shares are worth $100. If it doesn’t, they’re worth $0.
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