Fox drama “Lie to Me” stars Tom Roth as Dr. Cal Lightman, a scientist who has long studied how to detect human lies through facial expressions and body language and uses his skills to help federal agents, government agencies and the local police.

In his turn, he is helped by psychologist and partner Dr. Gillian Foster, portrayed by Kelli Williams, researcher Eli Loker, played by Brendan Hines and Ria Torres (Monica Raymund).

The pilot shows Lightman and his team looking into the case of a murder victim, trying to find out who the killer is, eliminating suspect after suspect and then pointing the finger at others, which makes for an intricate plot that keeps the audience alert.

It seems that the burden of the show’s success weighs heavy on Roth’s shoulders and his ability to make the viewers take to him instead of dismissing him as a jerk from the very first episode.

Nevertheless, if past experiences have taught us something, it’s that genius and witty trump jerk anytime, otherwise “House M.D.” would not have come into the critical acclaim that it has received from the beginning.

Moreover, the show has the advantage of being broadcast immediately after “American Idol,” which has a large audience that might just stay tuned in for the TV drama after having watched the competition.

“Lie to Me” is based on the work of Paul Ekman, who has brought forth the Facial Action Coding System that classifies every human expression and who has also conducted a study of the unconscious bodily mechanics of deception.