The Moment of Truth

Gameshows that spawned before 1990 seem to be better than the modern day gameshow. they seem to be family friendly and not so scary, with limited sex-related things.

The moment of truth is like a supermodel. Dramatic, predictable, plus they take too many breaks from their work.

OK, so the whole idea in The moment of truth is that the contestant must answer 21 questions. the further the player gets into the game, the more personal the questions get (this is where sexuality comes into play) The oohing and laughing are all staged, evidently. because some of the less personal questions still get a heavy ooh from the audience.

It's best you stay clear of this one and watch Deal or no deal, or Are you smarter than a 5th grader?, because those 2 are a true success.

Don't get me wrong, this show is objectively trash. Jerry Springer-tier trashy TV you throw on to run in the background at your uncle's house to try and forget the smell of Marlboro Reds caked into everything.

The part that hooked me was watching someone ruin their relationships with friends, family, spouses, loved ones to the sociopathic hooting mob applauding every terrible answer the contestant gives. It's utterly dystopian. It's so weird. The worse the contestant was, the more they cheered, and the more I laughed.

Every single godawful confession, answer, look of abject disgust or shock by the contestant's loved ones while this audience is baying for their blood like a gaggle of emotion-devouring vampires hit me like a bump of coke.

That one infamous episode where a lady completely ruins her marriage and probably the opinion of every single person she's ever known, only to fail at getting any money at all was like watching the Icarus of being a terrible person plummet to the sea.

Do we need more TV like this? No thanks. But this little nugget of a show I came across filled a weird niche in my brain that watched this whole farce chuckling like a lunatic.

I have to give it to the makers of this show: they had a pretty good idea. However, once I watched the first episode, they really lost me. They lost me so much, as a matter of fact, that I wished even further that the currently striking writers (as of the date this article is written) would make a deal already. As great as the premise is, and as intriguing as it is in a Phil Donahue sort of way, it's not really a great show.

For one, you don't really feel an emotional connection to the contestant. Because of this, at least I didn't feel any sort of remorse when either the contestant revealed the awful truth, or when he lost the money he would have made.

The show would be a bit more exciting furthermore if the contestant was hooked up to a polygraph test as he or she was being questioned. Of course, polygraphs measure stress, so the results may not be accurate, but it would make for some far more interesting TV. It just seems as though the HAL-like female voice saying, "That answer is (extra long pause) true" is not only not thrilling, but it also feels like a huge waste of time. During this long pause where nothing was said and faces were examined, I felt like turning my TV off and reading a book.

This reality/game show is not as intriguing as "Deal or No Deal" or even "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire". It's also about as disposable as the paltry "Hit Me Baby 1 More Time", with a host that's equally as dull. Unless this show gets a serious makeover, not even its placement after "American Idol" can save its fate.

"The Moment of Truth" is a very engaging and entertaining game show, but it is extremely overdone with annoying drama. After contestants are asked a difficult question, not only does the contestant wait to answer, but the camera goes to an overhead view, and the computer voice that answers true or false stalls for several seconds. When some questions are asked, a big orchestral piece is played and it goes to commercial. Those stupid techniques make this very entertaining show much worse than it could be. It's an enjoyable to see people answering truthfully to hard questions (though the easier ones are funner), but if the melodrama was cut out, this would be a much higher rated show.

My rating: ** 1/2 out of ****. 30 mins. TVPG

This TV show did not get the high ratings it did for being boring. I will say I have been binge-watching this and remember watching it when it first aired. It definitely is less tedious(commercials, long pauses for answers) if you binge-watch it. I have no idea why they canceled it after 2 seasons. The only reason I could think of is because of the controversial episode that did not air or the commercials/pauses. It truly is frustrating when you are watching the show back then and have to sit through all the commercials. There were only about seven questions that were asked each show because of that.