...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Lie Detector
- 698 statements
- 134 feature instances
- 106 referencing feature instances
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The typical Hollywood Lie Detector is not like a polygraph. It is instead equipped with red/green lights or a loud buzzing/dinging to indicate truthfulness, which it decides accurately and instantly. The victim is usually betrayed by the machine to comic effect. The only way to beat it is through Exact Words, despite the fact intent to deceive should have the same physiological effect regardless of whether what you're saying is technically true or not. While Perp Sweating an especially naive criminal, the cops may employ a fake lie detector, often a photocopier with an ominous paint job. The device really is a photocopier, secretly loaded with pages that have been preprinted with the words "TRUE" and "FALSE". The cops use the machine's answers (sometimes along with a warning that this is a new and experimental model of lie detector that could cause cancer or erectile dysfunction) to coerce the perp into a confession. (Note: some people claim this has happened in real life, but Snopes has its doubts.) A real-life polygraph test typically works by asking you a mixture of embarrassing "control" questions in which everybody is expected to lie (for example "Have you ever lied to a loved one"), and relevant questions ("Did you do it"). If your physiological response on the relevant questions is the same or higher as on the control questions, you are deemed to be lying. Ironically, this means that being perfectly honest makes you more likely to fail the test. In real life, there is little to no evidence that polygraphs perform better than chance. Interpretation of the results is highly subjective and usually biased by prior suspicions. And even if polygraphs did work, it is trivial to beat them using measures such as biting one's tongue or thinking exciting thoughts to increase responses on the control questions. Most polygraph operators know this; the polygraph is a distraction, and it's the operator who's really watching you. For almost all cases, real life polygraphs are simply "Unreliable, Unscientific and Biased", according to the National Academy of Sciences, their findings not being admissible in court. After all, people can have their blood pressure through the roof, sweat buckets, generally being a nervous wreck and still tell the truth. Despite this, they are still given great weight by both the media and various governments. Interesting note: The polygraph was invented by William Moulton Marston, who also created the character of Wonder Woman... who happens to wield a magic lasso that forces people to tell her the truth! Compare with Living Lie Detector, when someone can discern falsehood as a superpower. |
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Lie Detector / int_10af6a70 | type |
Lie Detector | |
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In Anatomy of a Murder, the defendant's wife has taken a lie detector test, but its results are not admissible in court. Biegler mentions the fact anyway. | |
Lie Detector / int_10af6a70 | featureApplicability |
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Anatomy of a Murder | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_12c1bf34 | type |
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The Three Little Pigs: The 1939 short "The Practical Pig" features a lie detector, which notably goes off on Practical when, while punishing his brothers, he proclaims "This hurts me more than it hurts you!" | |
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The Three Little Pigs | hasFeature |
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In Worm, Armsmaster creates a lie detector that actually works. It's later used by Legend as well. | |
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Worm | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_15c6ea11 | type |
Lie Detector | |
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Wonder Woman (1942): Steve Trevor tries to hook Paula von Gunther into a lie detector before questioning her in the first issue, but she manages to hit him with it, so she is taken back to her cell instead. This story has the bonus of being written by one of the inventors of the lie detector, William Moulton Marston. | |
Lie Detector / int_15c6ea11 | featureApplicability |
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Wonder Woman (1942) (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_16fc4335 | type |
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The Heralds of Valdemar series has the Truth Spell, the only form of magic known to the Heralds between the death of Vanyel and Elspeth's becoming a Herald-Mage centuries later. The spell has two forms: the weaker form is a truth/lie indicator, the stronger form forces the target to tell the truth as they know it. | |
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Heralds of Valdemar | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_1830df3f | type |
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This is basically the first plot twist in The Sentinel (2006). Secret Service Agent Pete Garrison is blamed for treachery and has to go on the run because he failed a polygraph test. Why? Because he was scared they'd find out he's been having an affair with the first lady! | |
Lie Detector / int_1830df3f | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_1830df3f | featureConfidence |
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The Sentinel (2006) | hasFeature |
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The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension: Lord Whorfin hooks Buckaroo up to the Shock Tower, which not only detects when Buckaroo is lying but gives him a shock when he does. | |
Lie Detector / int_1c5e55fc | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_1c5e55fc | featureConfidence |
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The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_1c649ab3 | type |
Lie Detector | |
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The Rising of the Shield Hero has an unconventional way to compel the truth through creative application of a Slave Crest. Slave Crests function as a Magically-Binding Contract between master and slave. When applied to someone, they become physically incapable of disobeying their master's orders. If they try to disobey the order anyway, the crest gives the slave a magical electric shock until they do whatever it was that they were told to do. During a court trial, a Slave Crest can be applied to a witness with the judge as their master, who then orders the witness to "tell the truth". This would make the Slave Crest shock the witness if they lied in court. This application of a Slave Crest is how Malty's False Rape Accusation against Naofumi gets dismissed; Malty is such a Compulsive Liar that she can't help but lie in court, even after being told what the Crest would do and being shocked repeatedly from lying to the judge. Malty is eventually asked point-blank if Naofumi attempted to rape her; when Malty says that he did, she's zapped by the Slave Crest with such intensity that she's knocked flat on her back. Since it's clear that Malty is lying, the charges against Naofumi are dropped. | |
Lie Detector / int_1c649ab3 | featureApplicability |
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The Rising of the Shield Hero | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_22119589 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_22119589 | comment |
Avoided in Alias, which features a more realistic lie detector — that is to say, one that doesn't explicitly say "Truth" or "Lie", but just provides raw data such as heart rate and blood flow in particular areas of the brain, requiring the interrogator to use his own judgment to decide on the truth of a given statement, and being much harder to fool. Then, outright subverted, when the difficulty of tricking the device almost gives away the protagonist, when after extensive training and practice with her handler her results look too perfectly honest during the real interrogation. | |
Lie Detector / int_22119589 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_22119589 | featureConfidence |
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Alias | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_22147342 | type |
Lie Detector | |
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Arrow: Early in the first season, Oliver Queen is arrested on suspicion of being the Vigilante, and volunteers to take a lie detector test to prove his innocence. Laurel points out that such tests are inadmissible in court, but Oliver says it's for Laurel's father Quentin, the one who is suspicious of Oliver. Oliver passes, but Laurel notes a discrepancy: Oliver said he had never been to a specific location where the Vigilante had been seen, but Laurel knows he went there on a school trip as a kid. Normally that wouldn't be worth noting, he could have just forgotten, but there was a small blip on the lie detector, just not big enough to be registered as a lie. Laurel realizes that means he did lie intentionally, but kept his biometrics under control, meaning he could have been lying on any of the questions. A Batman Cold Open in Season 2 has Oliver Perp Sweating a lowlife while Felicity Smoak back at the Arrowcave does an audio test on his responses to check for deception. She gets Oliver to ask what color his shoes are to get a baseline. Oliver complies despite knowing how silly he's going to look asking the question. |
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Lie Detector / int_22147342 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_22147342 | featureConfidence |
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Arrow | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_222c2051 | type |
Lie Detector | |
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There's one beneath the Buy More in Chuck, which is used to question a character about Fulcrum activities. Too bad Chuck doesn't pay attention to the last answer... | |
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Lie Detector / int_222c2051 | featureConfidence |
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Chuck | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_2275c659 | type |
Lie Detector | |
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House: Dr. House once uses a CAT scan as a lie detector, observing which parts of the patient's brain are active to tell when he's lying. | |
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House | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_22b5dea1 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_22b5dea1 | comment |
Talk shows like Maury use this all the time, often to find out whether a spouse or significant other is unfaithful or for other purposes — so much so that the use on Maury has now become a meme. | |
Lie Detector / int_22b5dea1 | featureApplicability |
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Maury | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_22e004e2 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_22e004e2 | comment |
In Pan Am, Kate has to pass a lie detector test that she has to lie to in order to not incriminate herself regarding a man she shot. | |
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Pan Am | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_22e860f4 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_22e860f4 | comment |
In the Psych episode "Shawn Rescues Darth Vader", Lassiter uses one on Shawn with excuse that he's just testing whether the machine is working or not to figure out whether Shawn's secretly dating Juliet. The machine appears at first to be a typical hyper-accurate bit of Hollywood Science (registering an honest response when Shawn blurts out that he's in love with Juliet while hooked up to it), but promptly subverted when Lassiter follows up with the question "Are you psychic?". Shawn lies and still passes the test. A flashback at the end of the episode reveals that learning how to beat a lie detector was one of the many skills Henry taught Shawn as a young boy (namely, trying to believe in the lie so that the polygraph registers an honest response). At the end of the episode, Lassiter invites Shawn into the interrogation room and hooks himself up to the machine. He then proceeds to tell Shawn that if he ever hurts Juliet in any way, he will discharge his pistol — repeatedly. The result? Zero deception. | |
Lie Detector / int_22e860f4 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_22e860f4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Psych | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_248a0d14 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_248a0d14 | comment |
Lie to Me: The show, which bases its detection off people's microexpressions, hates polygraphs. The characters point out that your reaction is going to be altered if say, a hot chick walks in and takes over the lie detector exam. Also, you might as well use a large egg being held in your hands as one, because if you are under stress and squeeze and break it, that could indicate that you're lying. One episode shows that it's possible to beat a polygraph by taking a depressant to decrease your body's stress reaction. The main character, Dr. Lightman, can make utter hash out of not just polygraphs but his own system — in the pilot episode, he tests a recruit by faking stress. In a later episode, a (fake) polygraph is used on a suspect who Lightman knows is going to try to trick the system. The idea is that he'll focus on trying to trick the polygraph instead of the people reading his facial cues. |
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Lie Detector / int_248a0d14 | featureApplicability |
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Lie to Me | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_24a6dfde | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_24a6dfde | comment |
In the lonelygirl15 episode "Man in the Suit", Bree tries out a "home-made lie-detector", i.e. a piece of paper and a pen, on Daniel. He has to draw a straight line on the paper while answering a question; supposedly, if the line wobbles, he's lying. In which case he is, or has in the past been, a member of a terrorist organisation, and he intends to eat P. Monkey, Thor and Owen if he runs out of food. | |
Lie Detector / int_24a6dfde | featureApplicability |
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lonelygirl15 (Web Video) | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_25369c5 | type |
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Lie Detector / int_25369c5 | comment |
In Freejack, Vacendak suspects a traitor in his team and wants to run everyone through a lie detector. When his Number Two (a longtime friend) starts to walk away, Vacendak tells him to "step up!" The other man puts his hand on the scanner and angrily recites his name, position, and his attitude towards being thought of as a traitor. Vacendak counters that he wasn't testing his friend, he was testing the machine. When the machine gives out the "truth" result, he adds that the machine works. | |
Lie Detector / int_25369c5 | featureApplicability |
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Freejack | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_2547d61f | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_2547d61f | comment |
White Collar: In season 2, episode 6, Neal confounds a polygraph by pressing a tack into his finger during sensitive questions. Later, in season 3 episode 1, a polygraph is used on Neal, who tells the truth, but his questioner is still not convinced. |
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White Collar | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_25dc04aa | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_25dc04aa | comment |
Norby, the Mixed-Up Robot: The truth wand used by Ing's minions will hurt someone if they tell a lie. A mild shock for a small lie, and bigger shocks for bigger lies. Fargo demonstrates its effectiveness by saying that he isn't interested in women, then scolds his brother for suggesting such an outrageous lie. | |
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Lie Detector / int_25dc04aa | featureConfidence |
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Norby, the Mixed-Up Robot | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_25f39000 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_25f39000 | comment |
In Between Planets, the protagonist Don Harvey is subject to questioning by Venus Republic soldiers while hooked up to a lie detector after first waiving his rights about self-incrimination. | |
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Between Planets | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_261c8d3f | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_261c8d3f | comment |
The Simpsons: Parodied in "Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part Two" when Moe was interrogated by the local police force and hooked up to a lie detector, which loudly exposes his attempts to mask his rather pathetic home life. "The Springfield Files", a Fake Crossover with The X-Files, has Agent Scully hook Homer up to a lie detector and explain how it works. When she asks him if he understands what she's told him, Homer says yes and the machine explodes. In "Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge", Bart tries out a lie detector, saying "Lisa is a dork!" over and over. Naturally, Lisa doesn't like that, but when Homer looks at the sheet, he says "According to this, he's telling the truth." |
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The Simpsons | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_2850dbb9 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_2850dbb9 | comment |
Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation: In "Truce or Consequences", Donatello invents a lie detector and uses it to see if Wick is serious about defecting. However, Wick is also gushing about Michaelanglo's radio show at the same time he says he wants to defect, so the lie detector reads his statement as true, causing the Turtles to walk into a trap. | |
Lie Detector / int_2850dbb9 | featureApplicability |
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Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_2d01f8dc | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_2d01f8dc | comment |
Beavis and Butt-Head are forced to take a lie detector test after being suspected of taking money from the Burger World cash register. Before they take the test, Butt-Head tells Beavis that they can trick the lie detector by holding their breath. When Butt-Head steps up, the lie detector buzzes when he claims that he understands how the lie detector works but dings when he gets the number of fingers the man holds up wrong; when asked if he ever stole anything in his life, he passes out before he can answer. When it's Beavis's turn, he successfully convinces them that he's a serial killer from the 1960s without even holding his breath. | |
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Beavis and Butt-Head | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_2e621178 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_2e621178 | comment |
An episode of The Good Wife revolves around the idea that NSA employees are regularly given lie detector tests. The results are never depicted (including when a character answers a question regarding removal of classified files from the office while unsure if he technically did so), and it's implied that the tests are more about presenting questions intended to manipulate people into revealing their own mistakes or wrongdoings. | |
Lie Detector / int_2e621178 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_2e621178 | featureConfidence |
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The Good Wife | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_32318e9a | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_32318e9a | comment |
In Roseanne, the employees of Rodbell's have to take a lie detector test. During the end credits, manager Leon is asked about Roseanne, and the machine explodes when he lies and says he thinks she's a good worker. | |
Lie Detector / int_32318e9a | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_32318e9a | featureConfidence |
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Roseanne | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_34e5ea29 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_34e5ea29 | comment |
Mr. Show: In this sketch, prospective employers are interviewing a job applicant and strap him to a lie detector that buzzes when it senses a lie. The interview starts with basic questions (like "Have you ever drank alcohol to excess?" "Have you ever stolen from an employer?" and "Have you ever taken an illegal drug?"), but they're soon flummoxed when the applicant — who answers everything in the affirmative — begins confessing to the most ludicrous things, including being addicted to every hard drug in existence, stealing pens and "space plans" from NASA, killing a man with his mind, skinny dipping with Michelle Goodwin, seducing a rich guy by posing as an affluent lady (which was made into a hit Broadway musical), and eating a train piece by piece after first derailing it with his penis (for charity). All the while, the lie detector is silent, indicating that he is telling nothing but the truth. Eventually, the employers — who are revealed to be the operators of a shoe store — give him a job, and the applicant says that he loves shoes. BUZZZT! | |
Lie Detector / int_34e5ea29 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_34e5ea29 | featureConfidence |
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Mr. Show | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_3626dc6d | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_3626dc6d | comment |
An episode of Nikita has Alex hooked up to a "FMRI" (it looks a lot more like an ECG). She is able to trick it through short and precise statements that are technically true. The problem is that avoiding a lie would cause a lot more activity in the brain than such short statements would produce normally. | |
Lie Detector / int_3626dc6d | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_3626dc6d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Nikita | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_36ee2abe | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_36ee2abe | comment |
The core rulebook for the "XP" version of Paranoia includes a picture of an Alpha Complex citizen strapped into one of these. He's grinning and giving a thumb's-up while behind him, an enormous video screen blares the word LIE. | |
Lie Detector / int_36ee2abe | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_36ee2abe | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Paranoia (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_36ee2abe | |
Lie Detector / int_3ab71c22 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_3ab71c22 | comment |
Dungeon Keeper Ami: Ami tries to use her Mercury Computer as one in "Adamantine": | |
Lie Detector / int_3ab71c22 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_3ab71c22 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dungeon Keeper Ami (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_3ab71c22 | |
Lie Detector / int_3b11106f | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_3b11106f | comment |
Flash Gordon (1980): While Princess Aura is being interrogated by Klytus, she is hooked up to one of these. When she lies, a light blinks and a siren goes off. | |
Lie Detector / int_3b11106f | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_3b11106f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Flash Gordon (1980) | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_3ccd4125 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_3ccd4125 | comment |
The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You: Hahari has one that takes the form of a robotic chair, first using it on Rentarou in chapter 18 to determine his feelings for her daughter, and later in chapter 66 to interrogate the girlfriends most likely to submit questionable ingredients for the hot pot. | |
Lie Detector / int_3ccd4125 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_3ccd4125 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You (Manga) | hasFeature |
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Lie Detector / int_3e847cb0 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_3e847cb0 | comment |
Basic Instinct: During Catherine's interrogation at the station, she offers to take a polygraph test, which seems to confirm that she's innocent. Nick counters that she simply manipulated the results, because he knows people who have done it before — not mentioning that he's talking about himself. | |
Lie Detector / int_3e847cb0 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_3e847cb0 | featureConfidence |
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Basic Instinct | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_3e847cb0 | |
Lie Detector / int_3f3abe9 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_3f3abe9 | comment |
Rick and Morty: In "The ABCs of Beth", one item that Rick invented for Beth in her youth was a doll that very blatantly had a lie detector built in. | |
Lie Detector / int_3f3abe9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_3f3abe9 | featureConfidence |
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Rick and Morty | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_3f3abe9 | |
Lie Detector / int_402b4c55 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_402b4c55 | comment |
An episode of TekWar has a hardline investigation unit use a combination lie detector/shock collar — Hand Waved as a neural interface which detects "cognitive dissonance" instead of just reading biorythyms, and turns said dissonance into direct stimulation of the pain center. It's used once on a known criminal, who gives truthful information after realizing that his training (Truth in Television) can't beat the device. However, the designers never accounted for someone absolutely determined to defy the device; it's later used on a hotel maid who they suspect is concealing evidence. The Mob Boss Is Scarier, she hates the cops, so she denies knowledge despite increasing levels of pain until it renders her comatose. | |
Lie Detector / int_402b4c55 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_402b4c55 | featureConfidence |
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TekWar | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_402b4c55 | |
Lie Detector / int_40b4d50d | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_40b4d50d | comment |
Subverted as early as 1913, in the Father Brown story "The Mistake of the Machine". Father Brown is introduced to a Psychometric Machine that measures the suspect's pulse, and is rather scathing of the idea, saying American scientists must be great sentimentalists to try and prove things from heart-throbs. He proves his point when a man is accused of murder based on his pulse rate when the victim's name is mentioned, and Father Brown is able to demonstrate another reason for this. | |
Lie Detector / int_40b4d50d | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_40b4d50d | featureConfidence |
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Father Brown | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_40b4d50d | |
Lie Detector / int_40c8681 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_40c8681 | comment |
Forest Kingdom: In the first book of the Hawk & Fisher spinoff series, the suspects are questioned under a truth spell which forces people to speak only truthful statements. This attempt to find out who committed two murders fails, due to the murders having been committed by two different people, each of whom could truthfully deny having killed both victims. | |
Lie Detector / int_40c8681 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_40c8681 | featureConfidence |
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Forest Kingdom | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_40c8681 | |
Lie Detector / int_415543c4 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_415543c4 | comment |
The Dick Tracy Show: Hemlock Homes uses a lie detector (in the episode of the same name) on Stooge Viller and Mumbles. Not only does it tell when a lie is told, it washes a culprit's mouth out with soap if a flat-out whopper is told. | |
Lie Detector / int_415543c4 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_415543c4 | featureConfidence |
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The Dick Tracy Show | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_415543c4 | |
Lie Detector / int_41963414 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_41963414 | comment |
The War Against the Chtorr: During a therapy session, Jim McCarthy is told he's lying; he immediately jumps out of the chair he's sitting in. The therapist answers the unspoken question that yes, there are polygraph sensors in the chair, but he can tell Jim is lying from the stress in his voice. | |
Lie Detector / int_41963414 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_41963414 | featureConfidence |
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The War Against the Chtorr | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_41963414 | |
Lie Detector / int_41bfe7f2 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_41bfe7f2 | comment |
The Parkers has a lie detector watch that zaps when the wearer tells a lie. | |
Lie Detector / int_41bfe7f2 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_41bfe7f2 | featureConfidence |
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The Parkers | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_41bfe7f2 | |
Lie Detector / int_42ffb88e | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_42ffb88e | comment |
SCP Foundation: SCP-2128 is a stone furnace used as a torture device by a medieval cult. Whenever someone in the oven tells a lie, the SCP incinerates them. This happens even for things the person doesn't know the truth of, and it has ways of avoiding paradoxes. It's sentient, loves to eat human flesh, and isn't above roasting a truthful person. | |
Lie Detector / int_42ffb88e | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_42ffb88e | featureConfidence |
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SCP Foundation (Website) | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_42ffb88e | |
Lie Detector / int_4307aead | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_4307aead | comment |
Pacific Heat: One episode has a witness being subjected to a voice stress test, with Kwong measuring her vocal stress via sensors and determining whether or not the witness is lying. Of course, the sensors also track the voices of the Pacific Heat agents, and Kwong has fun announcing when they're lying. | |
Lie Detector / int_4307aead | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_4307aead | featureConfidence |
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Pacific Heat | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_4307aead | |
Lie Detector / int_4418fe63 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_4418fe63 | comment |
NSFW Comix has an Independence Day comic in which two fast food workers are interviewed by the secret service about the "secret ingredient" they added to President Obama's burger using a typical Hollywood Lie Detector. | |
Lie Detector / int_4418fe63 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_4418fe63 | featureConfidence |
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NSFW Comix (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_4418fe63 | |
Lie Detector / int_44e08ee8 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_44e08ee8 | comment |
The fifth season premiere opens with Bunk Moreland and a bunch of other detectives repeating the photocopier trick from Homicide: Life on the Street mentioned above, which trips up a suspect after the detectives convince him that his accomplice has flipped on him by having said accomplice led past the interrogation room with McDonald's food they purchased just for him. | |
Lie Detector / int_44e08ee8 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_44e08ee8 | featureConfidence |
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Homicide: Life on the Street | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_44e08ee8 | |
Lie Detector / int_4737c653 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_4737c653 | comment |
Elementary: In "On the Line", a man accused of kidnapping and murder voluntarily takes a polygraph test to prove his innocence. Holmes immediately works out that the man was tricking the machine (controlled breathing and biting his tongue on certain questions) to hide his guilt, but the evidence is in his favour so they have to let him go. Detective Gregson makes sure to note that polygraphs aren't considered reliable enough to be admissible in court. | |
Lie Detector / int_4737c653 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_4737c653 | featureConfidence |
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Elementary | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_4737c653 | |
Lie Detector / int_49a0a477 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_49a0a477 | comment |
In Snow Crash, the rump of the federal government (which pretends to still rule the USA) has its employees take weekly lie detector tests that may involve sedative drugs and NMR machines to detect activity in parts of the brain used for lying. It's a plausible technology for a reliable lie detector. Being that Stevenson is known for doing lots of research and Showing Their Work, the book naturally includes rarely documented steps like collecting urine samples to check for drugs that might throw off the machine, and being taken to the test in an elevator so that you can't claim your heart rate is up because you just climbed the stairs. | |
Lie Detector / int_49a0a477 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_49a0a477 | featureConfidence |
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Snow Crash | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_49a0a477 | |
Lie Detector / int_49ff762 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_49ff762 | comment |
In the Torchwood episode "Adam", Jack uses the "best lie detector on the planet" (complete with green/red light) on Ianto, who has had Fake Memories implanted. Since Ianto is convinced that he's murdered three girls, no lie is detected ... but Jack still knows that he's innocent. | |
Lie Detector / int_49ff762 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_49ff762 | featureConfidence |
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Torchwood | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_49ff762 | |
Lie Detector / int_4b33173f | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_4b33173f | comment |
In Death Note, L uses a polygraph on Light. (He does not do so in the manga or anime.) | |
Lie Detector / int_4b33173f | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_4b33173f | featureConfidence |
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Death Note | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_4b33173f | |
Lie Detector / int_4b57d678 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_4b57d678 | comment |
Murphy Brown: Murphy takes a buzzing lie detector test after she accuses a coworker of sexual harassment. Miles takes the opportunity to get Murphy to confess having switched his medical records with a guy from Accounting as a prank, causing the former to get an enema and the latter to get unnecessary stomach ulcer surgery. | |
Lie Detector / int_4b57d678 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_4b57d678 | featureConfidence |
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Murphy Brown | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_4b57d678 | |
Lie Detector / int_4d238cb5 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_4d238cb5 | comment |
RoboCop: The Series: RoboCop is a literal Living Lie Detector due to being a Cyborg, using "voice stress analysis" to make instant, near-infallible truth assessments. However, it's very plot-sensitive; Robo can easily use it to interrogate low-level criminals and witnesses, but the real bad guys always have some way to beat it. A recurring nemesis is able to make the system give null responses because he's a stone-cold sociopath. Once, he has to interrogate a career politician who just plain breaks the system; he's such a Consummate Liar that every statement he makes registers exactly halfway between truth and falsehood. He's able to make the system give a null response to a claim that he's Abraham Lincoln. He walks out because a female acquaintance (not his wife) explains that they were together at the time of the crime; the machine works this time. |
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Lie Detector / int_4d238cb5 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_4d238cb5 | featureConfidence |
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RoboCop: The Series | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_4d238cb5 | |
Lie Detector / int_53a0bd32 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_53a0bd32 | comment |
The Twilight Zone (1959): In "To Serve Man", the aliens' representative agrees to a polygraph test, after a few test questions suggest it works on him (i.e., "How did you come to this planet?" "I walked.") the alien claims that their intentions on Earth are solely to help humanity, and the polygraph reads it as truth. However, he never says why they want to help humanity. | |
Lie Detector / int_53a0bd32 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_53a0bd32 | featureConfidence |
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The Twilight Zone (1959) | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_53a0bd32 | |
Lie Detector / int_5ba6595e | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_5ba6595e | comment |
The sheriffs in Reno 911! frequently spend their downtime interrogating each other with the polygraph. Of course, the questions or responses invariably turn uncomfortably personal. | |
Lie Detector / int_5ba6595e | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_5ba6595e | featureConfidence |
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Reno 911! | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_5ba6595e | |
Lie Detector / int_5c00fceb | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_5c00fceb | comment |
The gimmick of Hot Seat is that couples are asked questions about their married life while attached to a device that measures emotional levels. | |
Lie Detector / int_5c00fceb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_5c00fceb | featureConfidence |
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Hot Seat | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_5c00fceb | |
Lie Detector / int_5c638d89 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_5c638d89 | comment |
In The Americans, Stan tells Nina that she will have to pass the lie detector in order to be exfiltrated, thinking Nina was sincere with him. As Nina was a Double Agent, she was trained by Oleg on how to beat the test. She did. | |
Lie Detector / int_5c638d89 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_5c638d89 | featureConfidence |
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The Americans | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_5c638d89 | |
Lie Detector / int_62aa95a6 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_62aa95a6 | comment |
In The Lost Fleet, interrogation rooms are actually brain scanners similar to an fMRI. The machine shows the interrogator when regions of the subject's brain associated with deception or various other emotions light up, so not only do they know when the subject lies, but they can also tell when one of their questions has really hit home, even if the subject is refusing to answer at all. There are ways to deceive without setting off the machine, but those usually involve Weasel Words that a skilled interrogator can spot. Of course, the machine can still only tell you what the subject believes, so false answers with no deception noted are still possible from a dupe or a delusional subject. | |
Lie Detector / int_62aa95a6 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_62aa95a6 | featureConfidence |
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The Lost Fleet | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_62aa95a6 | |
Lie Detector / int_671d5c19 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_671d5c19 | comment |
The Powerpuff Girls (1998): Every time the girls tell a lie in "Lying Around the House", a mysterious little figure starts to grow until it becomes unmanageably monstrous. The girls can only defeat it by renouncing their lies and telling the truth. First implemented in issue #21 of the comic book ("Big Fish Story", DC Comics run), in which the little fish the Professor catches grows with the girls' lies as it is manipulated by Him. | |
Lie Detector / int_671d5c19 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_671d5c19 | featureConfidence |
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The Powerpuff Girls (1998) | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_671d5c19 | |
Lie Detector / int_691be369 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_691be369 | comment |
The X-Files: The episode "Squeeze" uses a lie detector test to good effect, as the killer manages to fake his way out of the test quite effectively — except for two questions Mulder inserted implying the truth about his identity (that he was over one hundred years old and a human liver-eating mutant) that he most definitely was not expecting, which pinpoint the fact that he is lying. Of course, the other agents aren't willing to accept that he's one hundred years old and let him go anyway. As the other agent points out, any innocent man would likely have had some kind of reaction to that question. Mulder might have had a better result if he'd asked Tooms about the victims he killed decades ago, using their names but giving no other details. | |
Lie Detector / int_691be369 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_691be369 | featureConfidence |
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The X-Files | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_691be369 | |
Lie Detector / int_6b3b8320 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_6b3b8320 | comment |
In Wiseguy, Frank McPike says that he Experimented in College with marijuana. When Vinnie asks how he passed the polygraph when applying for the FBI, Frank says he didn't consider himself a user. | |
Lie Detector / int_6b3b8320 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_6b3b8320 | featureConfidence |
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Wiseguy | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_6b3b8320 | |
Lie Detector / int_6e1d5f36 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_6e1d5f36 | comment |
Farscape: In the episode "Dream a Little Dream", Chiana and Rygel must defend Zhaan against a murder charge on Litigara, a planet where 90% of the population are lawyers. One of the cornerstones of their legal system is the (generally considered to be metaphorical) "Light of Truth", which blazes brighter in the presence of lies. Chiana lights a broken chair leg on fire to serve as the Light of Truth when accusing a prominent lawyer of framing Zhaan. The accusation is true, but Pilot is manipulating the stick from orbit. Thanks for Sharing" has a straighter example in the form of an alien headcrab monster that has been trained by the local merchant guild to sit on people's heads and stab through their skulls if they tell a lie. It requires incredible force of will to fool, and Crichton would have been killed by it if not for the fact that he has access to an identical twin for whom the statements he has to say are indeed true. The villain of the episode manages to deny all of his crimes with much effort, but can't successfully say a false answer to a big question that Crichton asks completely by accident: "Well, aren't you just a good and loyal son?". |
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Lie Detector / int_6e1d5f36 | featureConfidence |
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Farscape | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_6e1d5f36 | |
Lie Detector / int_6f734712 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_6f734712 | comment |
In the Smallville episode "Committed", a psycho named Macy kidnaps couples and hooks them up to these, then questions them about their love lives and fidelity. For each lie, the other person gets electrocuted. When Macy mistakes Lois and Clark for a couple and kidnaps them (thanks to kryptonite), Lois answers "Yes" when she's asked if she loves Clark, which registers as the truth much to Clark's shock as the pair couldn't stand each other at this time. Later, after they are freed, Lois claims that she slipped the sensor off her when she gave her answer. | |
Lie Detector / int_6f734712 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_6f734712 | featureConfidence |
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Smallville | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_6f734712 | |
Lie Detector / int_70814599 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_70814599 | comment |
Stargate SG-1: A strange alien lie-detector appears on several episodes, which is somehow capable not only of discerning when the person is telling a lie, but also when they're lying even if their conscious mind thinks they're telling the truth. However, the Za'tarc detector only detects concealment, not the subject being concealed. This distinction becomes important when Jack and Sam come under suspicion because they trigger the Za'tarc detector. It's not because they've been compromised, but because they're trying to conceal that they care about each other "way more than they should". The operating principle of the Za'tarc detector assumes that (as was once widely believed in real life, but now has fairly little support) the human mind secretly keeps an accurate "recording" of everything it experiences, and therefore even an unknowing lie (and even, one supposes, an honest mistake) can be detected by comparing what is said to the infallible mental record. The device is related to the Mental Picture Projector technology sometimes seen in the series. Also, the comedic take is subverted in an early season 10 episode with an ordinary lie detector, while the tester is tortured: |
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Lie Detector / int_70814599 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_70814599 | featureConfidence |
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Stargate SG-1 | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_70814599 | |
Lie Detector / int_70c7b114 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_70c7b114 | comment |
Gilligan's Island: In "Lovey's Secret Admirer", the Professor builds a lie detector out of — what else? — bamboo and coconuts and tests all the men to find out who sent Mrs. Howell a love letter. One of the gags is The Skipper passing until he says, "See? I always tell the truth!", which sets it off. At the end of the episode, Gilligan is playing with it when Mary Ann comes in asking him what happened to a couple of coconut cream pies she made, and Gilligan denies seeing or taking them, which causes the lie detector to explode. | |
Lie Detector / int_70c7b114 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_70c7b114 | |
Lie Detector / int_730d6445 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_730d6445 | comment |
Batman: Assault on Arkham: Harley Quinn tells Batman that she doesn't know where the Joker has hidden a dirty bomb. The eyes on Batman's mask light up, and we see a scan of her physiology (heart rate, pupil dilation, etc.) which reads as normal to establish that she's telling the truth. (This raises some Fridge Logic — she had just fought Batman hand-to-hand, so why would her heart rate be steady?) | |
Lie Detector / int_730d6445 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_730d6445 | featureConfidence |
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Batman: Assault on Arkham | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_730d6445 | |
Lie Detector / int_74f1eb4c | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_74f1eb4c | comment |
Sneakers plays this oh-so-straight. The sneakers improvise a lie detector out of an old Cradle Modem and some miscellaneous equipment. They attempt to hand-wave it by saying that it's not as good as a real lie detector because it can only test the stress in the person's voice (note that this is through a phone line, and into a device that essentially puts a microphone up to the earpiece), but it still seems to work perfectly, and they trust the results implicitly. | |
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Sneakers | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_74f1eb4c | |
Lie Detector / int_7884ec15 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_7884ec15 | comment |
In Seinfeld, Jerry takes a surprisingly realistic lie detector test to try to prove that he doesn't watch Melrose Place. Instead of being asked directly, he's just asked to give his details before being asked a string of questions about events from Melrose Place ("Did Kimberley steal Jo's baby?", "Did Billy sleep with Allison's best friend?", etc.). Instead of lights or buzzers or wildly jagged needles, the needles just jiggle a little when he answers, but not in any significant way. In the end he breaks down under the pressure of endless Melrose Place trivia and confesses, and we never find out whether he was beating the machine or not. | |
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Seinfeld | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_7884ec15 | |
Lie Detector / int_7cc65757 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_7cc65757 | comment |
In The Marvelous Land of Oz, Glenda the Good possesses a magical white pearl that turns black in the presence of falsehood, which she uses to extract a confession from the witch Mombi. | |
Lie Detector / int_7cc65757 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_7cc65757 | featureConfidence |
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The Marvelous Land of Oz | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_7cc65757 | |
Lie Detector / int_7d5e591c | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_7d5e591c | comment |
Subverted in Camelot 3000 when King Arthur has each of those suspected of betraying Merlin hold Excalibur while swearing their innocence, saying that the sword can cleave truth from falsehood. The prospect of having to do this makes the culprit break down and confess, after which Arthur admits that he'd made up the claim that his sword can do any such thing. | |
Lie Detector / int_7d5e591c | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_7e9e3615 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_7e9e3615 | comment |
Cypher is build around the premise that neurograph machines have become able to tell for certain if somebody tells a lie. Thus, spies have to be brainwashed in order to protect their secret identities. | |
Lie Detector / int_7e9e3615 | featureApplicability |
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Cypher | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_7e9e3615 | |
Lie Detector / int_7f640c58 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_7f640c58 | comment |
In The Sims 2, a lie detector can be unlocked as a career reward item for the criminal track, although in this case, the use for it is not to tell when someone is lying, but to increase a Sim's creativity skill by learning how to lie without setting it off (it will give the Sim an electrical shock if they fail). | |
Lie Detector / int_7f640c58 | featureApplicability |
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Lie Detector / int_7f640c58 | featureConfidence |
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The Sims 2 (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_7f640c58 | |
Lie Detector / int_80a0a085 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_80a0a085 | comment |
A recurring theme in Slylock Fox is an apparently infallible lie detector which detects the actual truth of a statement rather than intent to deceive, leaving Slylock (and the reader) to explain how the criminals have used Exact Words to get round it. | |
Lie Detector / int_80a0a085 | featureApplicability |
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Slylock Fox (Comic Strip) | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_80a0a085 | |
Lie Detector / int_8281aef3 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_8281aef3 | comment |
KonoSuba: After Kazuma is accused of deliberately teleporting a bomb to the governor's house, he is arrested and interrogated via a magic item capable of detecting any lies told in the vicinity. After being forced to honestly answer a few questions that make him uncomfortable, Kazuma manages to convince the interrogator that he was genuinely trying to save the city of Axel; however, he accidentally sets off the lie detector by claiming to not be acquainted with any of the Demon King's generals, having forgotten that Wiz is still technically one of them; as a result, he is misunderstood as being in league with the Demon King's army and put on trial. During the trial proper, Kazuma's culpability is aggravated due to circumstantial testimonies from various people that are taken entirely out of context; when all seems lost and the judge is on the verge of pronouncing him guilty, Kazuma loses his patience and loudly asserts that he is not in league with the Demon King or his army and that he is not a terrorist, which does not set off the lie detector and therefore is taken as truth. Unfortunately for Kazuma, the corrupt governor doesn't give a shit about his allegiance and threatens the judge into declaring him guilty anyway, since Kazuma did get his mansion blown up. | |
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Lie Detector / int_892aa56a | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_892aa56a | comment |
In the Murdoch Mysteries episodes "Still Waters" and "Invention Convention", Murdoch has a device of his own invention called a pneumograph, which as the name suggests, measures the suspect's breathing. Instead of the lights, his machine has blue liquid that rises in a spiral-shaped tube. Despite not having any of the other measurements of a polygraph, it appears to be nearly infallible... providing Murdoch is asking the right questions. Murdoch himself is the subject when he first demonstrates it for his colleagues, a demonstration very much Played for Laughs. Of course, Dr. Ogden walks in, and the questions get very personal, and Murdoch is embarrassed by the accuracy of his own invention. Later episodes suggest that Murdoch is constantly working on improving it (because while it's always shown to be infallible, he keeps reminding us it isn't); in "A Study in Pink" it has a blood-pressure cuff, and the liquid tube has been replaced by dials, and by "The Ministry of Virtue", it has white and red lights for truth and lies. | |
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Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_89338352 | comment |
In The Waste Lands, Roland and company are on board a high-speed train run by a sophisticated AI. The AI informs them it can tell with great accuracy when they are lying by monitoring voice stress patterns. | |
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Lie Detector / int_89338352 | |
Lie Detector / int_8b957d5d | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_8b957d5d | comment |
In Life, the Universe and Everything, a witness is forced to tell the "whole truth" after being given too much truth serum. Sure enough, he begins spouting facts about everything the universe has to offer. It takes him several years. | |
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Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_8d81f086 | comment |
Monk: In "Mr. Monk and the TV Star", Monk highly suspects that TV star Brad Terry is guilty of murdering his ex-wife. For the benefit of the doubt, Stottlemeyer has Brad submit to a lie detector test, which he passes with flying colors. However, later, when Monk is talking with Brad in his trailer as Brad is working out on his treadmill, he notices that Brad's heartbeat doesn't waver even as he lies to an assistant about liking her script idea, which leads Monk to realize that Brad taught himself how to beat the polygraph. | |
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Lie Detector | |
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Superman once encounters an inquisitive college professor who begins to suspect that one of his students was Superboy and starts asking everyone if they're him as a demonstration for the workings of a lie detector. Superman avoids detection by realizing that he is no longer a "boy". | |
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Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_8dfbdff2 | comment |
Used repeatedly in all versions of Law & Order. The show frequently alludes to its fallibility and inadmissibility in court, at least. | |
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Lie Detector | |
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The Loud House: The Child Prodigy Lisa once develops lie detector technology and sets up lie detectors all over the house, forcing the entire family to be truthful at all times. Eventually, Lisa comes to realize that sometimes a little lying is okay. | |
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Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_919cd120 | comment |
The Crumpets: The first episode has Ma building one and having her family tested so she can find out who kidnapped her husband. | |
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Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_923dd091 | comment |
One episode of the CollegeHumor game show Game Changer features a "lie detector" that shows a green light when a contestant tells the truth and a red light when a contestant lies. The questions start with easily-checkable queries like "What is your name?" and become increasingly personal, and, to the mounting astonishment of the contestants, the device correctly evaluates every answer despite there being no apparent way it could possibly work. It's eventually revealed that the device is being operated remotely by the contestants' significant others hiding backstage. | |
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Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_950b8e88 | comment |
In Enter the Farside, Grandmaster can have his helmet customised to include one of these. It can also pick on responses and relay back their tells and ticks. In Beginnings 2-3, Shaun believes Artifex used one of these on him. | |
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Lie Detector | |
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The Drew Carey Show: | |
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Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_97c38790 | comment |
There's a short adventure from an early Dungeon magazine in which an elf suspected of murder steals a magical lie-detecting sword and flees before it can be used in his trial. He's innocent, but knew that the sword also detected elves, and was afraid its use to test his statements would ensure his wrongful conviction. | |
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Lie Detector / int_99055407 | type |
Lie Detector | |
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Family Matters: Steve's lie detector has the added feature of giving Carl an electric shock if he doesn't tell the truth. After Carl and Steve work out the issue they were having, Harriet decides to take the opportunity to ask Carl how many women he was serious about before her, resulting in him being continuously shocked. | |
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Lie Detector / int_9a7088bc | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_9a7088bc | comment |
In Star Trek: The Original Series, the Enterprise's computer has a lie detector function, seen in a few episodes. In "Mudd's Women", it states that Mudd's responses are "INCORRECT" when he gives a false name, claims he has no criminal record, and states that he is licensed to operate a spaceship. It's possible that the computer identified Mudd's face and then compared his statements to records, as it immediately provides the true answers. In "Wolf in the Fold", it gives the response SUBJECT IS RELAYING ACCURATE ACCOUNT when questioning serial killer suspects. |
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Lie Detector | |
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Little Fuzzy series has the veridicator, which shows blue for truth, red for lies, and mixed patterns for half-truths. The veridicator is an accepted and vital part of the judicial system, to the point that trying to prove that it works on the Fuzzy race is a major plot point in the third book—otherwise they can't legally testify in court. The books do explicitly point out a limitation of even perfect (i.e. fictional) lie detectors: A witness who sincerely but mistakenly believes a false proposition will be registered as "truthful" by the veridicator. In-universe, lawyers like to make the point by telling the old saw about the lunatic who said he was God and the veridicator backed him up. | |
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Lie Detector | |
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An episode of Sliders has the heroes find themselves in a world where the US is under a martial law, the Constitution has been banned, and all cops wear skirts. When Rembrandt goes to the police to trade the last known electronic copy of the Constitution for the freedom of a judge (one of the last "Constitutionalists"), the chief asks if he's willing to take a lie detector test to prove that they haven't made any copies of the disk. Rembrandt agrees, although the actual test is not shown. At the end of the episode, a copy of the document is emailed to everyone. | |
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Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_9c6174f9 | comment |
Used in great comedic effect in Meet the Parents. Already intimidated by Jack Byrnes, Greg is hooked up to the machine. When Byrnes asks "Have you ever watched a pornographic video?", Greg visibly stumbles through a "No" while the needles flicker about wildly. He later finds out that Byrnes is a Living Lie Detector, so the polygraph was just a prop. | |
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Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_9d3237c8 | comment |
An episode of Adam Ruins Everything has Adam debunk the usefulness of a polygraph, pointing out that even the machine's creator was horrified when he learned that cops were using it to seriously question suspects. Hell, the polygraph was once used to tell that a plant was lying. The cops then admit that they know it doesn't work, but they use it to Perp Sweat ignorant suspects. Of course, the whole thing is an Engineered Public Confession to the audience. | |
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The Good Place: Michael uses a cube which flashes green when someone tells the truth and red when they lie when investigating Eleanor. Justified, as the cube detects lies through explicitly supernatural means, so it makes sense that it would be faster and more reliable than normal lie detectors. | |
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ClueSweeper: You can buy one of these so that red herrings cost an additional penalty of one time unit instead of an additional penalty of three time units without a lie detector when found. | |
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Lie Detector | |
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Used in The Jeremy Kyle Show, and treated as if it has God-like infallibility. This led to the show's downfall when a guest in an upcoming episode was Driven to Suicide after a test determined that he was cheating on his girlfriend. | |
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Lie Detector | |
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Futurama: In "A Head in the Polls", Nixon's head is put under a "truth-o-scope" during the presidential debate. Cue flop sweat when he's asked whether he'd take candy from a small child. | |
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Lie Detector | |
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In the Jonathan Creek episode "The Tailor's Dummy", TV presenter Carla, who is preparing to host a talk show with a lie detector as the gimmick, uses it to prove to Jonathan she's happy in her marriage with the show's director. It announces that she's lying. Later, the director (who doesn't know about this) admits to Jonathan that it's completely random. | |
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Lie Detector | |
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SeaQuest DSV has a police officer in one episode with a sneaky lie detector. He hands people a roughly pen shaped object, tells them it was found at the scene and asks if they have any idea what it could be. After they answer in the negative, he proceeds to ask regular questions. The device is actually a lie detector which he owns, and he is tricking them into holding it while being questioned. | |
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Lie Detector | |
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The Fairly OddParents!: In "Inspection Detection", Timmy's parents suspect him of stealing, so he whips out a lie detector to prove his innocence. Unfortunately, it ends up working against him when Mr. Turner asks where he got the detector and Timmy, out of habit, says "Internet". | |
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Lie Detector | |
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The Commish: The title character knows that an informant is somehow beating the lie detector, and uses a Honey Trap to find out how. It turns out that he's placed a thumbtack in his shoe, and is pressing down on it so as to give the same response each time. The Commish schedules another test, then has him walk up and down an endless number of stairs under the excuse that the testing area keeps getting changed. Eventually, the informant realises that the game is up and removes the tack to give his by-now extremely sore foot a rest. | |
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Lie Detector | |
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Motu Patlu: Dr. Jhatka invents a lie-detecting robot in the episode "Lie Detector Robot". The robot, upon hearing anyone say a falsehood, gives them a big Dope Slap. However, John the Don and his minions try to steal it and accidentally damage it in the process, causing it to slap people if they say anything true instead. | |
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Lie Detector | |
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The LEGO Movie: In a deleted scene, Wyldstyle is captured and wired up to a lie detector. As control questions, she is asked "Is your name Wyldstyle?" and "Do you love Batman?" She says yes to both. Her real name is Lucy, and she is transferring her affections to Emmet. | |
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Lie Detector | |
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Used in The Unusuals against a serial killer of cats. It appears to be a Lexmark or Canon inkjet printer with the lid over the scan plate removed. | |
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Lie Detector | |
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The Incredible Hulk: In one story, General Ross tries to get Doc Sampson to take a lie detector test regarding his knowledge of the Hulk's whereabouts, forgetting that as a psychologist, Sampson is perfectly capable of deceiving it. Sampson's response is to threaten to cram it into one of Ross's orifices. | |
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Lie Detector | |
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The Star Beast: A "truth meter" is used on witnesses during a court trial. When the subject lies, a needle swings into the red zone, a ruby light flashes, and a warning buzzer goes off. As with the H. Beam Piper example, Heinlein notes the limitation that such a machine cannot actually detect sincere but mistaken beliefs. A witness is telling all sorts of lies and the device keeps going off (indicating that on at least some level she knows she's lying). At one time, however, she tells an obvious falsehood and the buzzer doesn't go off. The judge concludes that she really believes what she is saying... even though it patently is false. | |
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Lie Detector | |
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SpongeBob SquarePants: In "Can You Spare a Dime?", Mr. Krabs becomes paranoid that Squidward stole the first dime the former ever made, and isn't very subtle about it: | |
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Lie Detector | |
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The Voigt-Kampf test in Blade Runner, although it's more of an emotion detector. | |
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Lie Detector | |
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Lie detectors in Judge Dredd function on the basis of red and green lights, though they can apparently still be fooled, for instance by messing with the signal. Two spinoffs have shown undercover judges able to beat it. Aimee Nixon is a natural Consummate Liar and, as a result, her tests always give a true result no matter how ridiculous her lies are. Jack Point, on the other hand, has developed a technique where he rewrites the questions mentally so his answers are technically true and register as such on the birdie. For example, when asked if he has drunk alcohol, he takes it to mean pure alcohol and not whiskey. He notes that it's a pretty exhausting process. | |
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Lie Detector | |
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Goblins in the Castle: A magical variant appears in Goblins on the Prowl. Solomon's Collar, on top of letting the wearer understand and be understood by animals, tightens and starts to choke them whenever they lie. | |
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Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_c43df4d8 | comment |
Doctor Who: In "Frontier in Space", the Doctor is subjected to a Mind Probe which is basically used as this trope. Unfortunately, his interrogator refuses to believe that he's telling the truth and keeps asking the same questions until the probe blows up (which the Doctor predicted would happen earlier). In "Village of the Angels", Professor Jericho has Claire Brown wired up to a lie detector for a test of her psychic abilities, and gets annoyed when his baseline question about her date of birth registers as a lie. Unknown to him, she's a time traveler. |
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Lie Detector | |
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Blake's 7: "The Way Back" shows that this trope doesn't work on someone who's been brainwashed to believe their own lies. Blake is framed for molesting children, and it's mentioned that the accusers have all passed a lie detector test. However, he's been framed by the government so they Don't Create a Martyr, and his lawyer discovers the children have all been taken out of school for unregistered medical treatment on the days they said they were assaulted. In "Dawn of the Gods", our heroes are able to beat this through Exact Words. The Caliph is seeking Orac, not realising that it's actually a Master Computer. Vila insists that Master Computer Orac verify an offer of Servalan's is genuine, apparently because Computers Are Just Better at detecting these things. This is suggested in an earlier episode in which a Rebel Leader has been replaced by a Federation robot and kills a rebel who's become suspicious, because it would be able to pick up his body language showing that suspicion no matter how he tried to hide it. |
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Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_c75ae76b | comment |
Dick Tracy: "The Blank" has a classic scene in which an actual lie detector is used for a great trick. Tracy has a criminal in custody who apparently knows who the Blank is, but he will not cooperate, so Tracy convinces him to take an optional lie detector test and then asks him to look over some mug shots to indicate which one is the Blank. Sure enough, the criminal demands to be disconnected from the lie detector, only to be told by Tracy that by doing so, he just revealed that the real identity of the Blank has a criminal record, a vital clue to work with. | |
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Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_c75d67d | comment |
Person of Interest: In "Booked Solid", Detective Carter is polygraphed for her application for the FBI, and worries that it will expose her association with Team Machine. Finch advises her to lie on an early question to skew the result. Carter "confesses" to having smoked marijuana in college, and the polygraph operator congratulates her on being the first one to answer that question honestly. In "Proteus", Finch rigs up an improvised version with seismograph equipment, measuring the micro-tremors from the interviewees hands as they rest on the table. |
|
Lie Detector / int_c75d67d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_c75d67d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Person of Interest | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_c75d67d | |
Lie Detector / int_ca08598f | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_ca08598f | comment |
The Wire: In season four, when Greggs is investigating the death of a witness, she interrogates the man that was going to be testified against. After the test, the polygraph tech says that the results are inconclusive, but heavily insinuates that he'll sign on either way if the police want. The fifth season premiere opens with Bunk Moreland and a bunch of other detectives repeating the photocopier trick from Homicide: Life on the Street mentioned above, which trips up a suspect after the detectives convince him that his accomplice has flipped on him by having said accomplice led past the interrogation room with McDonald's food they purchased just for him. |
|
Lie Detector / int_ca08598f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_ca08598f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Wire | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_ca08598f | |
Lie Detector / int_ccf0819f | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_ccf0819f | comment |
In 2003, Vince McMahon suspected that Mr. America was Hulk Hogan in disguise (he was) and forced him to take a lie detector test. Mr. American passed when he said he wasn't Hogan. Angry, Vince took the test to prove it was rigged, only for the machine to buzz when he said things like he wasn't an asshole, wasn't a pervert, etc. | |
Lie Detector / int_ccf0819f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_ccf0819f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Vince McMahon (Wrestling) | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_ccf0819f | |
Lie Detector / int_cd713f4 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_cd713f4 | comment |
The Stainless Steel Rat: In the first novel, Slippery Jim diGriz breaks into the home of a politician and finds evidence of numerous corrupt deals. When confronted the politician denies everything, whereupon Jim reveals that the security robot holding him captive is also a lie detector. The robot confirms that 74% of everything the politician has just said is a lie...except about the case the Rat is investigating. Their conversation then proceeds on a more amiable basis. In The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge, Jim beats the polygraph by working himself into an artificial state of panic before the test, then thinking boring thoughts during it, so he looks like someone who's nervous about why he's being interrogated by the Secret Police, but then relaxes when the questions have nothing to do with him. In The Stainless Steel Rat for President, Jim insists on a lie detector while giving a statement to the secret police. He's told the chair he's sitting in is one, causing Jim to think, "I'm glad I didn't know that when telling those other lies!" Jim then proceeds to give a truthful but misleading statement that clears him. |
|
Lie Detector / int_cd713f4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_cd713f4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Stainless Steel Rat | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_cd713f4 | |
Lie Detector / int_cec99ed9 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_cec99ed9 | comment |
Appears in the Safehold novel Off Armageddon Reef as a piece of high-tech gear that looks like a glowing gem the protagonist recognizes but the locals regard as magical, with the color changing to indicate a lie. The protagonist very carefully phrases the answers to not set it off. | |
Lie Detector / int_cec99ed9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_cec99ed9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Safehold | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_cec99ed9 | |
Lie Detector / int_d21bea0e | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_d21bea0e | comment |
Steppe gives us swords whose edges glow one color if a person is telling the truth and another if the person is lying. | |
Lie Detector / int_d21bea0e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_d21bea0e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Steppe | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_d21bea0e | |
Lie Detector / int_d2d6de50 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_d2d6de50 | comment |
In one of the Ocean's Eleven films, the team nerd has to pass a polygraph test as part of a scam, and spoofs the system by keeping a thumbtack in his shoe and pressing his foot down on it while answering the calibration questions. Later in the same movie, the sophisticated computer systems can tell if a person was cheating at the games by reading various body signals. It is fooled when the rigged slot machine gives off the giant jackpot to a random woman who didn't know about the con. The first example even has the person administering the test point out that if he didn't have the machine, he would've sworn that Livingston was lying, but the machine passes him. | |
Lie Detector / int_d2d6de50 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_d2d6de50 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Ocean's Eleven | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_d2d6de50 | |
Lie Detector / int_d461f757 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_d461f757 | comment |
Battlestar Galactica (2003): In a flashback to before the war, Adama is seen applying for a job in which he must take a lie detector test. One of the baseline questions (used to establish the reliability of the other questions) is "Are you a Cylon?" (This was before anyone knows that human-looking Cylons exist). Adama walks out of the test after getting angry about having his word questioned. | |
Lie Detector / int_d461f757 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_d461f757 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Battlestar Galactica (2003) | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_d461f757 | |
Lie Detector / int_d46cc708 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_d46cc708 | comment |
Ed, Edd n Eddy strap Jonny 2x4 to one of these in the Pilot Episode when they suspect him of stealing possessions from the children of the cul-de-sac. | |
Lie Detector / int_d46cc708 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_d46cc708 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Ed, Edd n Eddy | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_d46cc708 | |
Lie Detector / int_d4f71db8 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_d4f71db8 | comment |
One episode of World's Dumbest... features a gadget called the "liar card" which acts like a phone version of a polygraph, telling you if the person you're talking to is lying. Of course, it also gives you the ability to lie to the other person with a fake phone number and/or a fake voice (which sounds like the classic "ransom demand" voice, for whatever reason); several commentators point out how morally gray this is. | |
Lie Detector / int_d4f71db8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_d4f71db8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
World's Dumbest... | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_d4f71db8 | |
Lie Detector / int_d4fdfff4 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_d4fdfff4 | comment |
In ER, after Doug tells his best friend Mark that he has reconciled with Carol, Mark teasingly asks him if she makes him submit to this as a condition (Doug cheated on her left and right the first time they dated). | |
Lie Detector / int_d4fdfff4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_d4fdfff4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
ER | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_d4fdfff4 | |
Lie Detector / int_db3b75ff | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_db3b75ff | comment |
In the Barney Miller episode "Voice Analyzer", the entire 12th Precinct is tested with a lie detector (a procedure that was the Hot Topic of the Day in the 1970s) after a newspaper report of corruption. Det. Wojciehowicz failed miserably due to being nervous and deliberately provoked, while Det. Dietrich passed perfectly (despite claiming to be from outer space) simply by remaining calm. | |
Lie Detector / int_db3b75ff | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_db3b75ff | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Barney Miller | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_db3b75ff | |
Lie Detector / int_dbe2a988 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_dbe2a988 | comment |
The Goblin Wood features an explicitly magical version of this; a bell that rings when a lie is told near it. This has its downsides, as indicated when its user is asked, "Are you sure this will work?" "Of course I'm sure—" Ding. Later, her captive turns the questions around on her, and in response to her Motive Rant asks whether her Actual Pacifist mother would appreciate the violent vengeance that has been taken for her murder. "If my mother was still alive, she'd be proud of me!" Ding. | |
Lie Detector / int_dbe2a988 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_dbe2a988 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Goblin Wood | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_dbe2a988 | |
Lie Detector / int_df07d96e | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_df07d96e | comment |
The first episode of Lois & Clark has a polygraph that works this way. Clark's 'baseline' questions are 'Is your name Clark Kent?' and 'Are you Superman?'; he's supposed to say yes to both and get a 'lie' response on the second, and even though he's totally freaked out at saying it to the Superman-hunters, saying 'yes' he's Superman gets a no-lie flatline. The hunters mutter "the machine is broken, or this reporter is so mild-mannered he hasn't got a pulse," to make things more confusing and funny. He sets it off by blowing on the needle with super-breath to get his no, then sets it off by saying he can't contact Superman. (Although it's fine with 'I've never met Superman.') Magic! On another question where he needs to set it off, he levitates an inch above the floor and drop the chair, setting off the needles. | |
Lie Detector / int_df07d96e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_df07d96e | featureConfidence |
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LoisAndClark | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_df07d96e | |
Lie Detector / int_e28573ba | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_e28573ba | comment |
In Electric Wonderland, Aerynn casts a spell that causes one's pants to light on fire if they tell any lies. | |
Lie Detector / int_e28573ba | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_e28573ba | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Electric Wonderland (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_e28573ba | |
Lie Detector / int_e5c5bc22 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_e5c5bc22 | comment |
GURPS: Subverted in High-Tech. Even if the polygraph works as advertised (by default, it doesn't), the machine still doesn't detect lies — the interrogator is the one doing that. By Ultra-Tech, lie detectors that operate on micro-expressions and brainwaves have been perfected. | |
Lie Detector / int_e5c5bc22 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
Lie Detector / int_e5c5bc22 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
GURPS (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_e5c5bc22 | |
Lie Detector / int_e5feb1e | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_e5feb1e | comment |
The Magatama in the Ace Attorney series sort of works like this. Whenever Phoenix Wright encounters a person who is either lying or is hiding a secret, the Magatama shows chains and locks over the person in question. The more locks there are, the harder it is to crack the person into spilling the beans. In one notable case from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice For All, this system is fooled by Phoenix's own client, who actually is the killer for once. He had the victim taken out by a hired killer, so when asked "Did you kill him?", he just says "No". The Magatama normally sees through Exact Words of that sort by detecting the associated guilt, but it's implied that he's The Sociopath to the point that he doesn't have any guilt over it. | |
Lie Detector / int_e5feb1e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_e5feb1e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Ace Attorney (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_e5feb1e | |
Lie Detector / int_e6e7aee4 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_e6e7aee4 | comment |
Strange Brew: The villains are trying to recover a data disk that Bob and Doug abesent-mindedly swiped from the brewery. Ted is puzzled when the machine barely reacts to Doug claiming he doesn't have it, but seems to confirm the machine is working when Doug denies loudly farting. | |
Lie Detector / int_e6e7aee4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_e6e7aee4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Strange Brew | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_e6e7aee4 | |
Lie Detector / int_ef076a36 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_ef076a36 | comment |
Star Trek: Voyager: In "Ex Post Facto", Tuvok uses an Autonomic Response Analysis to interrogate Tom Paris. It shows that he's telling the truth about not committing the murder he's accused of, which turns out to be a Frame-Up. However, in "Basics, Part One", Chakotay requests that the Doctor do an ARA to see if an alien prisoner is lying. The Doctor points out that they don't have enough baseline information on that species to give an accurate result. | |
Lie Detector / int_ef076a36 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_ef076a36 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Star Trek: Voyager | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_ef076a36 | |
Lie Detector / int_f15f622e | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_f15f622e | comment |
Used in MacGyver (1985); true to form, it works well enough to cause the villain of the week to give himself away. Notable components include an alarm clock and a sphygmomanometer. | |
Lie Detector / int_f15f622e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_f15f622e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
MacGyver (1985) | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_f15f622e | |
Lie Detector / int_f2da188a | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_f2da188a | comment |
The Batman: Batman gets hooked up to one in one episode. If he lies, though, Detective Ellen Yin gets shocked. The Riddler does this to play a Twenty Questions game with Batman where he uses Batman's answers to deduce his identity. When Batman lures Riddler into a position where he feels the shock, Batman answers "Yes" to Riddler's question about Batman being a cop. | |
Lie Detector / int_f2da188a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_f2da188a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Batman | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_f2da188a | |
Lie Detector / int_f3d1e57 | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_f3d1e57 | comment |
In one episode of Quintuplets, Pearce and Parker try to make a lie detector in order to find out which of the two their mutual crush likes better. Unlike most detectors, when someone lies, the detector makes toast. Pearce is the one to put the thing together, and tests it out on himself. He sets it up and tells Parker to touch it. The detector gives Parker a (very painful) shock. Pearce tells Parker, "I had no idea that was going to happen." Toast pops out, leading Pearce to gleefully exclaim "It works!" | |
Lie Detector / int_f3d1e57 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_f3d1e57 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Quintuplets | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_f3d1e57 | |
Lie Detector / int_f47db97e | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_f47db97e | comment |
Abbott And Costello Go To Mars: One is made by the Venusians using an electric chair that can read minds. | |
Lie Detector / int_f47db97e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_f47db97e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Abbott And Costello Go To Mars | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_f47db97e | |
Lie Detector / int_f60557db | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_f60557db | comment |
In Bionic Woman, the Berkut headshrink is impressed by Jonas Bledsoe's ability to beat a lie detector while saying "I love you." Jonas puts this down to his long marriage. | |
Lie Detector / int_f60557db | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_f60557db | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Bionic Woman | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_f60557db | |
Lie Detector / int_f6bc8d0c | type |
Lie Detector | |
Lie Detector / int_f6bc8d0c | comment |
Penn & Teller: Bullshit! has an episode on polygraphs and their operators. Their case study, a private contractor, uses the machine as his Bad Cop in a Good Cop/Bad Cop routine (despite not actually being a police officer or affiliate). | |
Lie Detector / int_f6bc8d0c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Lie Detector / int_f6bc8d0c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Penn & Teller: Bullshit! | hasFeature |
Lie Detector / int_f6bc8d0c |
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