Just Showing My Age (Again)

I just caught a promo for The Moment of Truth, a Fox TV contribution to the continuing “reality show” craze, this one using a lie-detector as its centerpiece.

“Would you cheat on your wife if you knew you wouldn’t get caught?” the announcer asks with a dramatic flourish.

Think about it. He’s being asked this question on TV in front of millions of viewers. And his wife is probably is sitting there just off to the side of the flashily lit-up stage, with the camera ready to focus on her look of mock outrage. It doesn’t matter what the doofus says. Whether he’s strayed in the past or strays in the future, he’ll be forever caught right after the taping of this show is concluded.

As H. L. Mencken (1886-1950) posited many years ago, "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."

According to news reports, 23.2 million viewers watched the first episode of The Moment of Truth on Wednesday, January 23rd, making it the most-watched series debut in more than a year. Among young viewers, it was the top-rated series debut in five years.

Of course what do I know? I’m tethered to the past. My favorite TV show remains The Honeymooners. (Second and third places go to Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Phil Silvers Show – a.k.a. You’ll Never Get Rich – all of which debuted in September 1955. At that time, just under two months before my 6th birthday, there was no TV in the Nelson household -- and wouldn't be for another year. I'm actually old enough to remember listening to The Lone Ranger on the radio.)