When I was a kid I remember reading Stephen King (as Richard Bachman)'s The Running Man - the futuristic story about the most popular TV show in the world where criminals play a life-or-death version of American Gladiators for their freedom. A lot of garbage on TV makes me wonder just how far we really are from that being a reality?

I recently started seeing commercials for a new Fox game show called The Moment of Truth. The premise seems simple enough: answer a few questions honestly for a chance at a half-million dollars. Before the show is taped in front of an audience, including the contestants friends and family, each contestant is hooked up to a polygraph machine and asked the questions they'll be asked while the show is being taped. This way the producers know what's true and what's not. Easy enough, right? Well, Fox being Fox, they wouldn't just make it that easy. In fact, they've managed to make the show downright sadistic.

The version of the commercial I saw showed three vignettes. The first was a man being asked "would you give your father a kidney to save his life" while his father looked on in horror from the audience. The second was a man being asked "have you ever touched a co-worker inappropriately" while his really-pissed-off wife shook her head in disbelief. The last was a young woman being asked "do you see yourself still being married to your husband five years from now" while her husband sat sadly waiting for the answer.

While participating on this show may not end a contestant's life, Fox is certainly promoting the idea of the possibility of ruining it. And for what? Money? Congratulations! You're an asshole. Here's your consolation check.

Sadly, millions of people will tune in for the promise of witnessing an emotional beat-down on "The Moment of Truth". Millions more tune in on a regular basis for the promise of a physical beat-down on the fastest growing televised "sport" in the United States, the UFC. I'm incredibly curious about how long it will take for life to imitate art, and for Stephen King (and tons of others, I'm sure) to say "I told you so!".