By MICHAEL STARR
August 14, 2007 -- 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.
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