OK, so how many of you out there watched “The Moment of Truth,” the new Fox horror show? I am not a fan of reality TV, but I forced myself to sit through this one, if only to see the depths to which American pop culture has sunk. Wow, this lie-detector reality show was even worse than I expected it to be.
My initial reaction was to wonder who would be so desperate for money or fame that they would subject themselves – and their families — to such public humiliation and degradation. But about halfway through the show it became obvious that this show, more than any of the other bottom-feeder reality shows out there, has the potential to completely destroy multiple lives in one fell swoop.
It’s one thing if you want to get up there and admit to preening in front of mirrors or liking gambling a little too much. It’s another to start talking about how you haven’t had children because you don’t think your spouse is long-term material, while your spouse is sitting there cheering you on. How much is that worth? And if you can put a price tag on something like that, then perhaps your moment of truth should begin with some serious soul searching, as in, “Where the heck did I put my soul? I know I used to have one, but it seems I’ve misplaced it.”
As it turned out during the premier episode of “The Moment of Truth,” the former pro-football player turned personal trainer, walked away with zero dollars, but his wife took home quite a haul: Her husband didn’t know if she was a “lifelong partner” and, in the answer that cost him the game, he had touched attractive female clients “longer than required” when offering personal training. I sat there, slack-jawed over what I had just witnessed, which seemed to be the simultaneous devastation of both a marriage and a career. Do I tune in next week to see if George, the newly confessed gambling addict, goes down in flames as well? I think we know the end to this story without having to tune in: Grand prize or no grand prize, this is a game with no winners.
