Sometimes the truth hurts — especially when it comes to television ratings. After three seasons, FOX has cancelled Lie to Me.
Starring Tim Roth, Lie to Me revolves around Cal Lightman and members of The Lightman Group. They’re a team of specialists who help law enforcement agencies uncover the truth by using applied psychology. Others in the cast include Kelli Williams, Brendan Hines, Monica Raymund, Hayley McFarland, and Mekhi Phifer.
Last season, Lie to Me averaged a 2.9 rating in the all-important 18-49 demographic and 8.03 million total viewers. That was down from season one and the series found itself on the bubble for renewal. FOX ended up giving the TV series another chance and renewed it for 13 episodes.
Unfortunately, season three didn’t perform nearly as well as season two. It premiered last October to a 2.1 rating in the demo and 5.86 million. Viewership eroded in subsequent weeks and FOX declined to give the show a full season order. Lie to Me then hit a new series low in January, registering a meager 1.5 rating and 5.43 million viewers.
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In its final weeks on the air, viewers seemed to rally behind it and Lie to Me had its best ratings of the season — a 2.5 in the demo and 7.67 million.
Though the ratings had come way down, FOX execs claimed that they still valued the TV series and saw it as a solid utility player. Showrunner Alex Cary said, “Fox has been very clear with us — they know what the show is, they know what it can do. [The ratings bump] shows that people will come watch the show.”
Now, after three seasons on the air, the series is over. FOX has officially cancelled Lie to Me after 48 episodes. All of the installments have aired. Though there are too few episodes for a traditional syndication package, the first two seasons have already been released on DVD.
What do you think? Should Lie to Me have been renewed for season four?
Image courtesy FOX.
Has Fox lost its mind???????
In my opinion it’s so fucked up that Lie to me got cancelled! There would be other shows that are far worse then Lie to me!!! There has been no reason at all to cancel it. Sorry, but that descision brings me up to hate Fox.
V. bad news – it’s the only show Russian intellectual elite praised faultless. Wish Fox came to their senses.
This is why disintermediation needs to happen and the networks need to go away. Good shows get placed against other strong competition and then the ratings start to slide. Then the network executives start pre-empting the program or moving it to other nights and times causing the ratings to slide further. Eventually, the executives claim that the program is too weak to continue and cancel it but never realize it was their own ineptitude that caused the ratings to slide. It would be interesting if Google were to offer a canceled program like “Lie to Me” some funding to become… Read more »
Totally bummed. Can’t believe they’ve canceled Lie To Me, such an awesome show, one that both me and my beau could agree on and enjoy watching. It’s only day 2 after the news, hopefully they’ll realize it was a huge mistake and sign them back for another season.
Yeah, so long, Lie to Me!
Definately!!! I am so sick of all the stupid so-called “reality” shows that display nothing but crude language and female body parts! FOX got this one so wrong – maybe if they kept a show at the same time on the same night it could build the fan-base that it deserves! There’s a reason why this show received a people’s choice award….WE want it!!!
If FOX had kept the show on regularly, in a stable time slot, perhaps I wouldn’t have missed shows. Instead, I was sent searching through the listings, and even wrote an email to the network. The lack of a firm slot is akin to assuring a ratings disaster.
I hope the show will return, if only as a mid-season replacement. I thoroughly enjoyed every episode I managed to see.
I have little faith in Fox anymore. Going all the way back to Space; Above and Beyond (which should have been kept and used to build off of the film Independence Day), Fox dumps thoughtful shows that aren’t ratings blockbusters and keeps gossipy shows that are copies of other shows. Lie to Me was original, and intersting, and was moved around and never fully supported. I’ll miss it and wish it hadn’t been cancelled. A big thanks to the actors, writers and crew … I really enkoyed your work.
Is there a chance another network might pick it up?
Typical of Fox, the execs seem to be allergic to the idea of keeping good shows around. Another one to add to the DVD collection of “Awesome shows Fox was stupid and threw away”.
Between that and their idea of “news” I’m about done wasting time tuning into the channel at all.
Wow, way to go, Fox! Season 4 had a lot of potential, what with Cal finally admitting his feelings for Foster. Now their relationship remains unresolved, and fans are left without closure.
This show is one of the most brilliant ones on TV. Admittedly, the numbers weren’t high, but Fox completely negated the fact that the last two episodes raked in good numbers. It seemed like the show was picking up again.
But Fox had to go and spoil their fortunes.
YES!!! I wanted to see them together, if something was gonna happen, they had it all set up for it. Now it’s ‘Oh wait a minute, NO!! We don’t think so.’ Stupid morons. How did they renew fringe and not Lie to me?
Why is it that Fox keeps shows which do nothing but insult people and waste time, and rid us of fantastic intellectual shows such as Lie To Me? They have done this sort of thing countless times. It just goes to show that the people who watch Fox are dumbing down; I really am disappointed with the decision. I won’t see myself watching Fox for some time now.
I am a big fan of Lie To Me, but undoubtedly the last season wasn’t as good as the others, so this isn’t too much a surprise
I’m so disappointed. It was one of my favorite TV shows and couldn’t wait for the 4th season to come. 🙁