Eva Miller by Michael Becker/FOX
Surprise, surprise: Fox's Wed. viewers outnumbered those on any other network, again, with American Idol and Moment of Truth leading the way. The roundup, with preliminary Nielsen numbers:• Idol was up week over week, with 26 million viewers for the night, beating the combined big three from 8-9 pm in adults 18-49 by 55 percent. It was followed by ABC's Wife Swap, which was also up, with six mil. • Starting at 9 pm, Fox's Moment led the pack, slipping from last week but still on top with 16.9 mil viewers. It was followed by ABC's Supernanny (7.6 mil), and repeats on the other nets.• CBS took the lead at 10 pm with a CSI:NY ep that scored 10.7 mil, which outdid a Law & Order ep on NBC, as well as ABC's Cashmere Mafia.• The CW, meanwhile scored a sad 1.7 mil overall at 8 pm with the special, America's Next Top Model Exposed. The actual Top Model, which is a star of the network, will be back next month. — Anna DimondRelated:• House Has a Truly Super T...
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Mark Walberg, Moment of Truth
With 23 million viewers, The Moment of Truth (Wednesdays, 9 pm/ET, Fox) garnered the highest-rated series debut in over a year — and the numbers don't lie. Here are some more cold, hard facts about the new Fox hit that asks lie-detector-tested contestants to put their reputations on the line by answering increasingly more personal (and more embarrassing) questions, for a chance at $500,000.
FACT: To come up with each player's 21 questions, producers dig deep. Contestants' friends and family are interrogated thoroughly. "They research your whole life," says Christie Youssef, 22, who admitted she's a virgin in the second episode. "I didn't have any idea of the scope until afterward."
FACT: No player has been fired because of something they revealed on the show. At least not yet. That could change after emergency medical technician Aaron Du
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The Moment of Truth by Kelsey McNeal/Fox
Reassured by second-week numbers, Fox has ordered 13 additional episodes of The Moment of Truth, which in large part because of its Idol lead-in has emerged as the season's top-rated new show. Casting is now under way for a new batch of contestants — apparently many who had signed on and bailed after seeing the first two outings — and a Feb. 11 production start is set.One of the most criticized aspects of Truth... the exaggerated pauses between questions... and... answers, is now being addressed in editing... starting with this past... Wednesday's show.
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Representatives for Drew Peterson — whose wife Stacey has been missing and presumed dead since October (and whose previous missus died under mysterious circumstances) — have reached out to the producers of Fox's Moment of Truth, asking that the suspected wife-killer be hooked up to a lie detector in front of a national audience, TMZ reports. Peterson all along has denied having any involvement in Stacey's disappearance, yet to date has refused requests from his in-laws to brave a polygraph. A Fox rep had no comment on TMZ's story.
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The Moment of Truth host, Mark Walberg by Joe Viles/Fox
Ratings, ratings, ratings!8 pm/ETIdol drew 26.8 million total viewers, a week-to-week drop of 3.5 mil and a 21 percent slip from a year ago. Deal or No Deal placed second with 13.76 mil, up almost two mil. Wife Swap (5.6 mil) inched up 400K.9 pmHooking up its polygraph to Simon and Paula's coattails, Fox's Moment of Truth premiered to 23.23 million. A fresh Criminal Minds was No. 2 with 12.89 mil, followed by Law & Order: CI (8.27 mil, down 530K). Supernanny, at 7.14 mil, gained 18 percent.10 pmCSI: NY came out on top with 11.67 mil, followed by Law & Order (10.33 mil, dropping 10 percent). Cashmere Mafia was down a flat-ironed hair, to 5.6 mil.
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The Moment of Truth by Kelsey McNeal/Fox
I cannot tell a lie. I adored The Moment of Truth. Wait! What's that I hear? "THAT ANSWER IS … FALSE!" Of course it is. Who with a brain or a soul could do anything but despise Fox's new bottom-of-the-reality-barrel time-waster, which turned out to be as dull as it was degrading. Welcome to the latest blood-curdling and soul-numbing example of how eager Fox's reality division is to debase people for fun and profit.The very idea of this revolting lie-detector show sickened me. Watching the shoddy, cheesy premiere episode on Wednesday (which followed a singularly forgettable round of American Idol auditions) merely depressed and bored me. Thankfully, this show isn't the end of civilization. It isn't that memorable. It's just another piece of cheap, stupid trash from Fox reality guru Mike Darnell, this century's answer to P.T. Barnum—though he's a pathetic sort of huckster, really, sadly lacking the flair to make his freak shows actually entertaining for the suckers who bite....
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Mark Walberg by Kelsey McNeal/FOX
Jeers to Mark L. Walberg for hitting a new low with Moment of Truth. Whatever credibility the ex-Temptation Island pimp — er, emcee — sought by hosting PBS' Antiques Roadshow got flushed down the old commode with his participation in Fox's ultra-sleazy lie-detector game show. I've got a few queries I'd like Walberg to answer honestly: Are you filled with self-loathing when you ask humiliating questions like whether former football player Ty ever sneaked a peek at a teammate's privates in the shower? Were you telling the truth when you told 46-year-old Hair Club for Men member George that he looks 35? And have you ever tried to pass yourself off as the other Mark Wahlberg to get a table at a restaurant? You know the other Mark, right? He's the one who won't do anything for money.For another take on Moment of Truth, read Matt Roush's newest Dispatch.• Read and react to Bruce's opinions on Larry King's flubbed Heath Ledger tribute, Breaking Bad's premiere and more!•...
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American Idol contestant Tehilla Takila Lauder courtesy FOX
American Idol is back. The ratings for the first two nights weren't as big as last year, but still much bigger than everything else in prime time. But will AI stand out as the writers' strike leads the networks to flood their schedules with reality competitions and game shows? The Biz caught up with Fox's master of reality Mike Darnell to get his thoughts on Idol and the rest of TV's unscripted landscape. TVGuide.com: So you're not worried about the ratings decline that Idol experienced its first two nights?Mike Darnell: I couldn't be happier with these numbers. I'm about as excited as I've ever been for the show. In Season 7, (in audience share) it's still in the 30s. That's an amazing thing for a television show. With DVRs and everything else, and it's so much bigger — it's increased its span between it and the next biggest show.TVGuide.com: Wasn't there anticipation that you might do better this season because of the strike?Darnell: I never had that anticipation. No one her...
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