The Moment of Truth

The Moment of Truth has become one of the most explosive and controversial reality shows in recent history, and for good reason.  The contestants on Moment of Truth take lie detector tests and regularly admit to embarrassing and damning behavior or beliefs in front of their loved ones and a national television audience.  FOX has come under fire from some for the sheer audacity they've shown by just giving The Moment of Truth a slot in prime time.  But, I suppose you can't argue with the millions of viewers each episode has received.  Given this success (which was to be expected, especially since American Idol is its lead-in), I thought it'd be fun to play a little game.  Let's pretend that The Moment of Truth becomes a national phenomenon, even more so than it is now.  Let's say that a high-profile contestant goes on (a criminal, a murderer, an embarrassed politician) and they sway the public in their favor by taking the lie detector and absolving themselves of whatever affront they'd been presumed to have committed.  And, let's pretend that this event triggers a wave of public figures to also appear on The Moment of Truth in search of similar redemption.  Wouldn't that be something? 

If this somehow came to pass (it won't), these are some people who I'd like to see on The Moment of Truth's hot seat.


Roger Clemens:

Mr. Clemens is in the middle of a legal maelstrom currently, the result of his former trainer ratting out the Cy Young winner regarding Clemens' purported rampant steroid use.  Clemens, unlike much of his roided up baseball brethren, has steadfastly denied these claims, despite all sorts of evidence to the contrary.  What better way to convince all the non-believers out there than to take a polygraph?  If you don't think a Clemens episode of Moment of Truth would pull in over 20 million viewers, you're crazy.


Tom Cruise:

There are some things I'd like to know, Mr. Cruise.  Are you secretly gay?  Have you been drugging Katie Holmes for the last couple years?  How much do the Scientology people pay you?  What does their space ship look like?  How many times did you and Nicole Kidman actually have sex?  Was it less than one? 


Larry Craig:

I suspect that a Larry Craig Moment of Truth episode would have to air at 3am.  The subject matter would be lewd.  But, we could clear up this wide stance nonsense once and for all. 


My Brother Berit:

OK, so this is a personal matter, but in reality he probably is more likely to appear on a reality show than any of these public figures.  Here's where I'm coming from: My new Nike basketball shoes, which I really loved, disappeared in August.  This coincided with my little brother Berit leaving for his Freshman year at University of Arizona.  I thought nothing of it until, about a week after he left, he called me up and slyly mentioned that he had purchased the exact same basketball shoes.  He has since denied any involvement in the disappearance of my shoes.  Fishy, no? 


Amanda Knox:

Maybe you've been paying attention to this, maybe not, but it's kind of a big deal in my neck of the woods because Knox is from Seattle (she actually went to my high school, and was in the same class as my other brother).  Knox is the American student who became embroiled in the grisly murder of her roommate in Perugia, Italy.  They were on the same study abroad program and Knox, a suspect, is still in jail.  I'll spare you all the details, but the murder was a bloody one and the story has become a tabloid sensation in the victim's native England.  Knox's name will forever be tarnished and, whenever she comes back home, it will be a long and hard road to redeem herself.  People tend to have visceral reactions to bloody murder scenes.  How better to restore your credibility then a televised lie detector test?


O.J. Simpson:

Umm, I think they could come up with a few questions for the Juice. 


Who would you like to see on The Moment of Truth?  Comment below. 


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of Contact Music)