True story: FOX picks up 'Lie to Me'

Zap2It | May 13, 2009

Tim Roth of 'Lie to Me'

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FOX has renewed its freshman drama "Lie to Me" for a second season and hired a new showrunner to oversee the series.

"The Shield" creator Shawn Ryan has joined the series as an executive producer and will also supervise the show next season. The show, which has drawn healthy ratings this spring, ends its first season Wednesday night.

"'Lie to Me' came out strong, built a solid audience throughout its run and promises to be one of our big assets next season and beyond," FOX Entertainment president Kevin Reilly says. "We're incredibly excited to have Shawn on board to infuse 'Lie to Me' with even more creative energy next season."

Ryan is also an executive producer of CBS' " The Unit," which is on the fence for renewal. He has split time in the past between "The Shield" and the CBS show, so it's tough to read what his move to "Lie to Me" might mean for the future of "The Unit."

"Lie to Me" stars Tim Roth as Dr. Cal Lightman, an expert in recognizing deception via facial tics, changes in people's voices and body language whose firm helps law enforcement agencies and other groups figure out who's lying and who's not. Kelli Williams, Monica Raymund and Brendan Hines also star.

The show is averaging 11.6 million viewers and 4.0 adults 18-49 rating in the Nielsen live-plus-seven-day ratings this season. Part of that comes from airing as " American Idol's" lead-out for its first few episodes, but the show has also held its own before "Idol" on Wednesdays, usually winning its hour.

It's the second first-year series FOX has picked up in advance of next week's upfronts, following "Fringe." Ryan will join fellow exec producers Sam Baum (who created the show), Brian Grazer and David Nevins.