'Lie to Me' may be over-the-top but the "House-like" Lead Character is Great.

I just finished watching the second episode of FOX's new series 'Lie to Me'.  I must say, it hasn't jumped the shark yet. Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth) runs an operation where he and his staff make a living from telling if people are lying.  You would normally think of a small office suite that is pretty plain-looking.  The staff would be a few boring people.  Things around the office would seem quiet.  You would be poorly mistaken when it comes to "The Lightman Group".  They have set up shop in a large office complex.  The decor is white and modern.  They have several conference rooms and offices that look like they belong to a large-scale design firm.  The high ceilings are needed since almost every room has a huge screen to project images and video onto.  The other walls are artfully decorated with photographs of people's faces (along with discriptions of what their facial expressions are saying).  I'm sure there's decent money in what they do there, but it doesn't seem to be able to finance this over-the-top setup. Aside from my "complaints" about the unlikely workplace, Dr. Lightman is the new generation of the "cool boss that breaks the rules".  His predecessor is obviously Dr. Gregory House (of 'House').  House is still on the air and this show is in no way a replacement.  I just catch the drift that FOX realized what they were onto with House and wanted to milk the idea for a little more.  Dr. Lightman is an ace when it comes to finding the truth.  He will use uncommon methods of lying and deception is he needs to.  He did this a few times in the recent episode.  He took an old man's cane, threw it down and called out in pain.  Elder abuse?  Nope.  He did it to bring the old man's family member out of hiding.  Another example was his way of teaching his staff a lesson about the uselessness of  a polygraph.  He gave a victim some Valium to calm her down so she could tell lies.  In the long run, it worked out when a witness of the procedure actually admitted to his own wrongdoings.  If these types of actions don't just scream out "HOUSE!", then I don't know what will. I'll keep watching and enjoying the show for the time being.  Plus, I see a blossoming relationship that may be growing between two of the staffers.  When all else fails, throw in some bedroom action.  FOX knows that this will keep the viewers coming back. In all seriousness, though, I am learning quite a bit about visual cues that people give that show anger, frustration, sadness, etc.  This part is completely true since they are based off of the real-life scientific discoveries of Paul Ekman. If you have missed the first episodes of the show, click here to see them on Hulu. [digg=http://digg.com/television/Lie_to_Me_may_be_over_the_top_but_the_House_like_Lead_Ch]